KATHMANDU, Nov 14: The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has identified dearth of skilled workers, lack of sufficient electricity supply, and limited availability of raw materials as obstructions for the full-fledged operations of industries in the Gandaki Province.
According to the NRB study, the production of most industries in the Province is below fifty percent of their total capacity. The central bank in its study has reported issues, challenges, and possibilities in the industrial sector. The skilled labor shortage has been assessed as one of the major factors hampering the efficacy of industries in the Province.
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As the study suggests, the industrial sector in the province faces a shortage of workers with the right skills as such a workforce required for the industries in the Province is presently abroad for jobs.
One of the major challenges industries in the Gandaki Province face is that they need to enhance their competitiveness. Policy-level complexities while seeking permission for the establishment of the industry, its renewal, and complex monetary payment are other issues facing the industrial sector, according to the NRB report.
The NRB has stated that there is a need to encourage the implementation of the single-point service and the utilization of information technology to minimize policy-level complexities and reduce the time and cost. New industries are finding it hard to get a proper location to operate their businesses due to skyrocketing prices of land in the past few years.
The NRB study shows that the rise in start-up costs has failed to attract foreign investment in Nepal. The expected achievement remains unmet due to lack of sufficient power supply, and reliable transport facility.
Above all, the NRB has pointed out some possibilities to address these challenges. While maintaining that industrialization is essential for the building of a sustainable economy and prosperity of the province, it has emphasized on the need to cooperate with tourism entrepreneurs and local producers to operate agro-based industries as the local community and tourism sectors are the prime consumers of such industries.
