Cottage industry festival to be held in February next year

Published On: December 9, 2018 09:11 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Dec 9: The Federation of Nepal Cottage and Small Industries (FNCSI) is set to organize the 15th International Industrial Trade Fair and Cottage Industry Festival on February 7-11, 2019.

The trade fair will carry the motto of national campaign 'Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali', according to Umesh Prasad Singh, acting president of the federation. It aims to promote the message of respecting domestic creativity and using Nepali products.

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies; Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC); Micro, Cottage and Small Industries Development Fund; Department of Women and Children; and President Women Empowerment Fund (PWEF) are the co-organizers of the festival.

"There are around 400,000 small and cottage industries across the country," he said, "Our exhibition will showcase all those industries and their products during the five-day-long trade fair."

"Although the small and cottage industries have stood as a backbone for the country's economic development and prosperity, the entire sector has been lagging behind in lack of modern technology and skill development efforts," he added. "Despite its great potential, the Nepali cottage industry lacks adequate branding and promotion. It is because of this that Nepalis prefer imported goods over Nepali products,” he said.

He further added that as the country was preparing budget and necessary framework for all levels of the government, the exhibition will make it easier for the government to address the needs of the country's industrial sector.

Encouraging the youth to become entrepreneurs, he expressed disappointment over the low involvement of youth in the industrial sector.

The trade fair will include B2B, B2C and B2G interaction sessions. It will also include cultural and food stalls.

There will be around 200 stalls of entrepreneurs from different parts of Nepal as well as foreign entrepreneurs coming from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries of South Asia.

The organizers have expected that more than 200,000 people will visit the event and make transactions worth over Rs 70 million. In the previous year, the event had recorded transactions of Rs 147.5 million.