Govt identifies 30 goods for self-reliance while similar previous plans gather dust

Published On: July 21, 2020 06:00 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, July 21: The government has identified 30 goods as high-potential items with a plan to make the country self-reliant in these products while similar plans endorsed earlier have failed to yield rewarding results.

According to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, it has considered steel, cement, jute products, wool, wooden furniture, plastic products, footwear, yarn, cotton, pashmina, woolen carpet and herbal products in the list of the high potential goods. Similarly, handmade paper, soap, paints, sugar, tea, coffee, ginger, general medicines, drinking water, turmeric, noodles, egg, chicken, wheat flour and granulated wheat are among other such goods.

Ministry officials said these goods have been included in the list following consultation with the producers and traders. The ministry has prepared the list based on the study of the forward and backward linkages and the market demand for these products. It is studying the possibility of including additional products in the list and is set to enforce a work plan soon to promote these products, according to the officials.

Once the goods are finalized, the government has planned to subsidize the customs duty on the import of raw materials and their processing equipment of the identified products and to implement mechanisms to maintain their supply chain.

In most cases, the government seems to announce a number of new programs almost every year. But most of them fail to be implemented properly to the rewarding end.

Earlier, the government through the budget for 2017/18 had announced to make the country self-reliant in agriculture by 2020/21. The government had further announced that the country would double agro produce by the end of Fiscal Year 2022/23. However, no such measures have been taken so far, which clearly reveals the policy inconsistency of a two-thirds majority government.

Nepal Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) endorsed in 2010, which was later revised in 2016, is another example of the failed program forwarded by the government. Despite being one of the ambitious government-forwarded programs to boost the export of the identified goods, the NTIS so far has been unable to benefit the country in any significant manner due to the government’s apathy.