Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has met with newly appointed Chief Secretary Suman Raj Aryal today.

A team of office-bearers led by NCC President Kamlesh Kumar Agrawal suggested to Chief Secretary Aryal about the steps to be taken for the economy and reforms after the Genji movement.

The Chamber of Commerce has suggested to Chief Secretary Aryal that the morale of the private sector and attraction towards investment cannot increase until there is political stability and economic policy stability.

In a statement, the chamber said, “On the one hand, there is the risk of policy change and on the other hand, the entrepreneurs are afraid of agitation and vandalism.” Stating that the private sector contributes around 81 per cent to the country’s economy and is the source of overall economy, the expansion of economic activities, investment, employment generation and revenue mobilization could not take place until the private sector was strengthened, the NCC said.

The NCC has also drawn the attention of Chief Secretary Aryal that the provisions enforced by the banks and financial institutions regarding the blacklist are harsh and non-transparent.

In a statement, the NCC said, “When an individual or firm is blacklisted, its partial ownership or involvement prevents other firms from accessing banking facilities, and those innocent partners and directors are also in trouble.” ’

Chairman Agrawal said that the investment-friendly and industrial environment could not be created due to impractical provisions related to the blacklist, current capital loan directives and other factors. On the occasion, NCC President Agrawal suggested that the current capital loan directive issued by the Rastra Bank should be scrapped.

“Guarantee of good governance is the first requirement for creating investment-friendly environment,” the NCC suggested to Chief Secretary Aryal. The NCC has also suggested making policy arrangements related to investment promotion and security by expanding the scope of insurance.

The chamber has also suggested the formation of an asset management commission to resolve the problems of the cooperative sector and to manage the bad loans in banks and financial institutions.

The NCC has also drawn the attention of Chief Secretary Aryal to ensure continuity of the grant and payment of approved grants as the export grant provided by the government in the past has been stopped for now.

According to the Chamber, revenue mobilization in Nepal is the highest in South Asia as compared to the gross domestic product (GDP). “Due to the open border on one side and the drastic reduction in GST rates in India on the other, there is an urgent need to revisit the customs rate and double rate of value-added tax,” the chamber said.

The Chamber has demanded removal of excise duty on all goods produced except negative list and the 24-year-old Income Tax Act, 2058 should be made simple, easy and taxpayer-friendly.