Kathmandu. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Gauri Kumari, said that trial production is being carried out at the Hetauda garment factory through the Directorate of Military Materials Production.

Responding to the queries raised in regard to the appropriation title of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies under the Appropriation Bill 2083 BS in the National Assembly meeting today, Minister Khatiwada said that the assessment of the assets and liabilities of seven sick state-run industries was moving forward.

“We have tried to operate the textile industry in Hetauda in a way to promote import substitution, self-reliance, employment generation and increase the contribution of the industry sector to the economy,” he said.

The Industry Minister pledged that the Ministry would remain active for increasing production, productivity and employment by boosting the morale of private sector by making the inter-ministry and inter-level coordination more effective.

Informing that the Investment Protection and Promotion Strategy was in the phase of being approved by the Council of Ministers, he expressed the belief that the strategy would help protect private property, protect investment and establish industry establishment as zones of peace.

“The strategy has also arranged various discounts and concessions to bring back the industries and businesses closed and sick due to losses incurred during the past agitations,” he said.

The Minister said that the scheme would be implemented with the objective of creating more employment opportunities by providing plots for the establishment of new industries in the industrial areas announced earlier under the Employment Linked Production Sector Programme.

According to him, the Ministry has already started the process to run the industries and establishments operating within 10 industrial zones established in different places for the country’s industrialization.

On the occasion, Minister Kumari said that the Industrial Area Management Limited has been engaged in the process of increasing production and employment by providing land to real productive industries by clearing dues of around Rs 435.6 million.

Stating that a taskforce has been formed for long-term solution to the problem of tea export from Nepal to India, he said the export of tea was being smoothed at present after removing the obstruction seen through diplomatic initiatives.

“Resource management has also been made for the construction of storage warehouse of tea and cardamom in order to solve the problem of storage of tea and cardamom and expand market access,” he said.

According to him, the procurement and sale distribution arrangement of paddy and wheat by fixing minimum support price has been made through the Food Management and Trade Company Limited and it has been prioritized in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year as well.

Minister Kumari shared that various programmes on entrepreneurship promotion and skill development have been included in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year to create employment opportunities in the country. “Programmes such as Bhagatsarjee Entrepreneurship, Women Entrepreneurship, Business Promotion Centre, National Entrepreneurship Service and GenG Entrepreneurship would provide incentives and skills and technology to entrepreneurs,” he added.

Stating that programmes were being implemented through Trade and Export Promotion Centre for packing, marketing and export promotion of organic products, he said various programmes have been proposed in the coming fiscal year as well.

Stating that the ‘Investment Express Policy’ has been introduced for promoting domestic investment and attracting foreign investment, Minister Kumari said that a system of accepting foreign investment through online has already been adopted for the same. “This will reduce time and cost to investors. All types of services are being transformed from a single point service center to a virtual medium,” he said.

112 in the Jaljale area of Dailekh. According to him, a preliminary study has confirmed that 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves have prepared the theoretical basis for the production of 200 MW electricity, 22 tons of urea fertilizer daily and production of auto fuel. “The major challenge in the project is to develop basic infrastructure including roads, electricity and drinking water, and to manage large scale investment for commercial extraction,” he said.

The budget for the coming fiscal year has been presented with the target of achieving 7 per cent economic growth, building a $100 billion economy in five years, creating over 1.2 million jobs and increasing the production and productivity in the country, he said.

He said that the government was committed to the development and promotion of industry and business, investment encouragement, concessions and concessions to the domestic industries, and support in the promotion of loans without collateral to the skilled and risky youths.

He said the government was sincerely working towards increasing domestic production and creating employment opportunities by making arrangements including improvement in service delivery through the use of digital technology.