FNCCI brainstorms at 44th AGM

The umbrella organisation of Nepali private sector -- Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) -- is holding its 44th annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday.
FNCCI's AGM comes at a time when the country is passing through crucial economic and political transitions. "The economy has been forced to take a backseat. The AGM will hold an interaction on 'Economy Under Political Shadow'," said Kush Kumar Joshi, president, FNCCI.
"Political parties must have a clear vision on where they want to see the country economically after one year or so," he added.
According to him, the first session of the AGM will have an business captains having an interaction with representatives of all major political parties. Next day, Finance Minister Surendra Pandey is expected to outline government's response to private sector's concerns during an interaction on 'Youth Self-employment Programme and government's role'.
The business fraternity urges that there should be an environment, where everyone can work for his livelihood. "The government has been unable to create an investment-friendly environment despite its repeated promises," Joshi said.
"Continuous hours of load-shedding, insecurity, and liquidity crunch have been bleeding the private sector white," the president of the umbrella organisation of the Nepali private sector said.
According to a Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) report, imports to the country have grown seven times the exports. "Nepal's merchandise exports during the nine months of 2009-10 has declined by 10.4 per cent to Rs 45.67 billion against a growth of 20.3 per cent in the same period last year. Similarly, the merchandise import has increased by 41.3 per cent to Rs 284.14 billion against the growth of only 25.3 per cent in the same period last year," the NRB report said.
A strong private sector with committed political backing can alone encourage exports. "Growing trade deficit in the nine months of 2009-10 has grown double to 58.9 per cent (Rs 238.47 billion), compared to a rise of 27 per cent in the same period last year," Joshi said adding that the government should take serious stock of the situation.