Vice chairperson of PAF Vidyadhar Mallik and president of FNCCI Kush Kumar Joshi signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of the respective institutions here today to work together on promoting opportunities for both the poor and the local entrepreneurs in 40 districts of Nepal.
"The agreement is a strategic alliance between the two institutions, and it reinforces the crucial role of the private sector on alleviating poverty," Mallik said, adding that it is a win-win partnership as it ensures mutual benefit for both the poor and the local entrepreneurs.
"The business and industrial communities are pleased to join hands with the largest anti-poverty programme of Nepal," Joshi said, adding that they are hopeful that the partnership will contribute in the improving livelihoods of the poor and development of rural economy.
The understanding entails both the institutions engagement on capacitating the Community Organisations (COs) to carry out agriculture and livestock related business and establishing small processing enterprises that produce high value products, they said.
The umbrella organisation of domestic private sector and the largest poverty targeted programme have joined hands also to pave ways for involving COs in profitable and market oriented production and improved access to market through the provision of technology and information service as well as critical public infrastructure for promoting agribusiness, according to them.
The agreement -- to be implemented in PAF's 40 PAF programme districts -- is also expected to create and strengthen industry-wide partnerships along the value chain and thus forging linkage between producers, traders, processors and other stakeholders.
According to the agreement, both the institutions will work jointly on establishing backward and forward linkages, provide business development support and training to the local communities and ensure easy access to farmers and entrepreneurs with market information system through the application of ICT, among others.
The FNCCI -- through its Agro Enterprise Centre (AEC) -- will provide Agri Price information System and MIS network for the local COs and conduct training on enterprise related business plan for the them.
The FNCCI will extend help to the PAF COs in reducing existing obstacles to agriculture and food trade to increase the ability of farmers and agribusiness to respond to Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures and food-quality standards to meet domestic and international market requirements, reads the joint statement, according to the agreement. "The district based Camber of Commerce and Industries will also coordinate for the use of Youth Self Employment Fund data and the trainees in PAF programme districts.
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