‘Footwear zone’ in the offing

Kathmandu, Dec. 24: The government and private sector have been preparing to establish a dedicated ‘Footwear Industrial Zone’ with leather processing and footwear production industries.

The Footwear Manufacturers’ Association of Nepal (FMAN) and Ministry of Industry (MoI) are scheduled to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) within a week to establish such an area on the periphery of a metropolitan or sub-metropolitan city in the country. 

Spokesperson of the MoI Pradip Kumar Koirala said that government and businessmen are in the phase of identifying land for the project. 

The ministry has asked the local bodies to propose a prospective area if they have any.

“We have asked the local bodies to recommend a suitable area for the project. They will submit a proposal to the ministry with the preliminary study and the ministry will conduct the detailed study,” said Koirala. 

The ‘first of its kind’ industrial zone will expand on about 1000 ropanis of land.  

As per the initial discussions, the businessmen will buy the land themselves, and the government will develop the land to set up the industrial zone. 

The government will also support in acquiring the public land if required. 

“The MoI and the Association have agreed to materialize the special industrial zone in order to facilitate the industry and promote footwear export,” said Rabin Kumar Shrestha, President of FMAN. 

According to him, the industrial zone will have a common facility centre where heavy and modern equipment will be installed, and will be used by all the manufacturers by making a certain payment. 

I t will also feature a training centre for human resource development and capacity building of the workers, a health centre as well as a day care centre or Montessori institute to look after the children of workers. 

As most of the workers in the Nepali footwear industry are women, the day care centre and Montessori school are needed in the zone, said Shrestha. 

“We are very excited with the development in terms of establishing a separate industrial zone for footwear and leather products. The common facility centre will support us in becoming self-sustaining,” he said. 

The government will develop infrastructure such as roads, water supply, electricity and information technology in the project area. 

Another good news is that some international development partners and donor organisations have shown keen interest in the project and pledged to provide the required support, added Shrestha.

There are 1,501 footwear industries, including large, medium and small enterprises. These industries produce 43.9 million pairs of shoes annually although they have the capacity to produce 111.9 million pairs per annum. 

According to FMAN, Rs. 19.94 billion investment has been mobilized in the footwear industry sector which has created about 50,000 employments. 

About half of the footwear demand is met by the domestic products.