Kathmandu, March 20: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) has submitted its recommendations for the government’s policies and programs for the fiscal year 2025/26. President of the Federation Chandra Prasad Dhakal submitted the suggestions to Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Damodar Bhandari on Wednesday.

During the meeting with the Minister, Chairman Dhakal appreciated the recently amended laws of the government and asked to guarantee the implementation of the rules at all levels by making necessary rules and procedures for their implementation.

"The new policy has sent a positive message," Dhakal said, "but for its implementation, the guarantee of good governance should be given from all sides."

The Federation has suggested that the use of technology is necessary for business registration, renewal, revenue submission system and withdrawal. The Federation has suggested that arrangements should be made in the policy and program of the next financial year so that the entire business service can be given by putting a business icon on the citizen app. It has also suggested that all government services should be streamlined in the name of smart services.

During the last two years, foreign investment has been limited to 0.2 percent of the GDP, the Federation has also suggested launching an Investment in Nepal Campaign at home and abroad to mobilize investment resources. The Investment Board and the Department of Industry need to be restructured in tandem with each other. For the full implementation of the One Stop Center, the government will have to make arrangements so that investors should not have to go elsewhere after submitting the file in one place.

Since there is a sudden change in the laws related to revenue by bringing the Economic Act every year, it is necessary to formulate a unified law code and pass it through the House. This will maintain policy stability by reducing arbitrariness in the implementation of the annual budget. Investment will be encouraged when the business facilities provided by various laws are guaranteed.

At the same time, more than six trillion rupees of investible funds have been deposited in Nepal's banking system for six months. Interest rates have fallen by 3% in three months. But there is no demand for investment. The central bank's current capital lending guidance, introduced two years ago, is the first policy to discourage lending. It needs to be modified when there is dissatisfaction in the market. The guidelines should be relaxed to allow for a moratorium of at least two years or so that it can be decided by banks and creditors.

Due to the problems in cooperatives and small finance, facilities such as refinancing should be provided for easy flow of funds to small-medium entrepreneurs. Remittances are the lifeline of Nepal's economy. It is equally important to increase tourism and exports to meet the decreasing demand in the Nepali market.

There should be policies and programs to export Nepali agricultural products and water to the Gulf countries immediately. There are 12 daily flights from Nepal to the Middle East. Cold storage, X-ray machine and warehouse facilities should be provided at the airport to send Nepali products on these aircraft.

Businessmen, debt protection corporations, the government and development partners will have to make arrangements to provide loans up to ten million rupees in project mortgages.

The Federation has also suggested providing facilities to entrepreneurs under Start-up Nepal, Small Entrepreneur Development Program and Prosperity through Technology Program.

The Federation has suggested that Indian tourists and other investments can also be attracted by providing facilities to hotel resorts, poly-technical institutes, other educational institutions, teaching hospitals, etc. to be established in hill stations near the Indian border.

The federation has also suggested making electricity available as a raw material for industries and stopping the tendency of load-shedding in industries.

Since going to a multi-pronged system of value addition will require extensive managerial arrangements, including extensive tax awareness, skilled manpower, and systemic infrastructure, work should be started immediately by forming a task force involving the private sector to prepare for it.

The tax on the manufacturing industry should be gradually reduced by 5 percent in five years. It has also drawn the attention of the government to reduce the rate of income tax and increase the limit of tax exemption.

The Federation suggested the need for a tax policy to promote the indigenous industry, taking into account the impact on the indigenous industries.

People’s News Monitoring Service.