High import duty and production
cost, coupled with poor quality of power supply, lack of skilled manpower, and
competition from imported plastic goods due to the open border, have hit the
growth of the domestic plastic industry, according to Nepal Plastic
Manufacturers' Association (NPMA).
The domestic plastic industry can
grow rapidly, provided the government reduces the import duty, supports the
industry in waste collection and management, and subsequently supports in
establishing recycling plants, said president of the association Shailendra Lal
Pradhan at an extensive seminar on 'Showcase of Plastic and Growth of its
Industries', organised jointly by the association and Esskay Pvt Ltd, here
today.
There are about 300 organised
plastic processing units and about 200 more secondary units making it a total
of 500 plastic traders in Nepal, which provide direct employment to 25,000
people and indirect employment to a similar number, he said, adding that the
total investment in the plastic sector is expected to be around Rs 30 billion,
contributing an annual tax of more than Rs 5 billion. "The industry also pays
more than Rs 2 billion as import duty and VAT."
Despite quality production under
the most advanced technology, the annual growth of the domestic market is
restricted to only five per cent, the lowest in the South Asian region, said
convener of the programme and MD of Esskay Pvt Ltd Sharad K Tibarewala.
"Nepal has the highest
import duty on plastic products as compared to other South Asian nations,"
he said.
Similarly, export is hampered due
to the sole dependency on India for the use of sea ports, said vice president
of the association and convener of the seminar Sharad Sharma, shedding light on
different aspects of the plastic industry, its growth and future perspectives
in Nepal.
"The use of plastic goods is
increasing in geometric ratio as it is widely used in our society, and is
nothing but simply a recycling process," said participants in the second
session on 'Sustainability and Environment'.
"Used plastic and its
products are valuable resources and cheap to produce, and does not decompose
but can instead be recycled," they said, adding that plastic has enabled
numerous technological advancements, new design solutions, enhanced performance
and furthered cost savings in recent times. "The production of plastic
products is also not energy intensive as compared to metal, glass and
paper."
The seminar will be jointly
inaugurated by National Planning Commission (NPC) vice chair Deependra Bahadur
Kshetry as chief guest and industry minister Anil K Jha as guest of honour
tomorrow.
The seminar will also see some prominent
personalities representing the major plastic companies and their associations
like MD of Chevron Philips, Singapore Jim Becker and other distinguished
personalities both from Nepal and abroad.
Though plastic granule as
polypropylene and polyethylene was invented by Philips Petroleum, USA in 1950
AD, it was introduced in Nepal about four decades back only.
Some 150 KT of polymers are
consumed annually in Nepal to produce hundreds of plastic products like
household goods, bottles for packaging for oil, water, drinks, medicines, and
syringes, furniture, ropes, polyester yarn, lubricants, pipes and fittings,
packaging sacks, and construction materials.
The domestic industry
manufactures a wide range of plastic products for both the domestic and export
markets.