KATHMANDU, Jan 11:  The cooperatives have collected savings of Rs 302 billion, the National Cooperative Federation of Nepal (NCFN) has said. 

The total 35,512 cooperatives operating across the country collected this much amount of savings. 

NCFN deputy manager Babul Khanal said that of the amount collected as savings, Rs 272 billion has been issued as loan investment. He added that the cooperative, which is one of the three pillars of the national economy, has been providing employment to more than 60 thousand people. 

According to Khanal, 20 various types of cooperatives are affiliated to the federation and the cooperatives’ contribution to the GDP is four per cent and to the financial sector is 20 per cent. The cooperatives have 6.3 million share-holders and 51 per cent are women. 

More than 300 people associated with the cooperatives have assembled in Kathmandu for promotion of entrepreneurship through the cooperative, concluding that the cooperatives have a key role to boost the national economy in the context of the Constitution of Nepal envisaging national prosperity with the participation of the public, private and cooperative sectors in a mixed economy. 

Federation advisor Hari Krishna Upadhyaya insisted that cooperatives have a paramount role in achieving national prosperity. 

He opined that since the cooperative is a social business it helps promote micro, medium-scale and big enterprises thereby creating employment. 

Registrar of the Cooperative Department Shiva Kumar Karki said the cooperatives should live up to the State’s expectation as one of the three pillars of the national economy. 

Federation former president Deepak Prakash Banskota urged the cooperatives to improve the living standard of the marginal farmers. He also suggested the cooperatives to invest in the development of large scale industries. 

Federation president Keshav Badal stressed on the need of promotion of industries through the adoption of new technology and of expanding the role of cooperatives in production, distribution and service sectors through the diversification of traditional businesses. 

Workshop to discuss cooperatives role 

Meanwhile, discussions are on regarding enhancing the cooperatives’ role in the national economy in the two-day workshop organized by the Federation. The national workshop is organized with the objective of promotion of entrepreneurship. 

Secretary at the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation, Gopinath Mainali, presented a paper on the theme of existing legal framework for the promotionof cooperative entrepreneurship. 

Similarly, the workshop is discussing former minister Ganesh Saha’s paper on ‘Use of New Technology for Entrepreneurship Development, yoga science expert Dr Raju Poudel’s paper entitled ‘Development of Positive Thinking for Professional Success’, ILO Nepal program coordinator Nabin Karna’s paper on the theme, ‘Cooperative-to-Cooperative Business: Possibilities and Challenges’, and entrepreneurship expert Tara Dhakal’s paper on ‘Promotionof Small Enterprises through Cooperatives’. 

Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada inaugurated the workshop on Thursday. 

RSS

 
• Cooperatives
 
• NCFN
 
• 302-billion