Kathmandu. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anil Kumar Sinha has said that the government was committed to the promotion and development of small industries.

During a meeting with a delegation of Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI) at Singha Durbar today, Minister Sinha, who is also serving as Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, said, “Cottage and small industries, which are important parts of economy, are my and the government’s priority sectors.” I have come to this responsibility for a short period of time, I will take the initiative to what extent I can do it. ”

Minister Sinha said that the government has adopted a policy of giving priority to the use of domestic products and it is expected that such use will create employment, strengthen local industries and reduce imports.

Stressing the need of using local resources and indigenous materials in the reconstruction and repair works of the country, he made a special request to the government to give priority to the materials available at the local level for the upcoming elections.

Stating that domestic production was given priority in the procurement process of public bodies, he said that a policy would be implemented to use domestic production especially in furniture and construction materials in reconstruction.

Umesh Prasad Singh, president of the Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI), drew the attention of the minister towards reducing the interest rate as small and cottage entrepreneurs are unable to repay loans due to high interest rate of banks.

Pointing out the need of rescheduling the loan taken by the industrialists and restructuring the loan, he drew the attention of Minister Sinha to increase the scope of concessional loan to Rs 30 million in the case of such industries and to provide concessional loan facility at 2-3 percent interest rate.

Pointing out the need of the government policy to give priority to domestic production as it is difficult for domestic products to compete with imported goods, he said the use of domestic products should be promoted in public bodies. Stating that incentives and process simplification were necessary for export promotion, he stressed on the need of providing separate facilities to small and big industries instead of keeping them in the same basket.

Rita Awal, senior vice-president of the Central Women Entrepreneurs Committee of FNCCI, said that small and cottage industries run by women were in a difficult situation and urged the government to facilitate through subsidized loan to overcome such problems.