The NTIS 2010 had so far tagged 19 products, including 12 goods such as cardamom, ginger, honey, lentil, tea, instant noodles and hand-made paper, and 7 services like tourism and healthcare as sectors in which the country possess comparative advantage. [break]
Though Nepali entrepreneurs strongly pushed for the inclusion of RMG and woolen carpet in the list, experts had dropped them, saying that those products are ´not dependable´ for attaining sustainable export growth.
But now the government is preparing to include RMG in the NTIS product list after the High-Level Business Forum (HLBF) chaired by the Prime Minister under Nepal Business Forum (NBF) - a public-private forum working for improving the investment climate - decided to include it in the NTIS on Thursday.
"The decision was taken after holding intense discussions at different levels and in various working groups," reads a statement of NBF.
RMG, which is exported mainly to the US and the European countries, was one of the largest exportable items till the new millennium. In 1999/00, its export had stood at around Rs 12 billion. But after the elimination of quota regime in apparel trading in 2005, special facility by the US to African Sub-Saharan competitors and labor stirs at home affected RMG exports over the past decade.
Despite dismal scenario of the industry, Nepal still managed to earn foreign currency worth Rs 4 billion from its export in 2011/12.
“The HLBF has also decided to implement the concept of a single trade union by holding elections among workers in industries," says the statement. The Forum has also decided to set up Technology Development Fund of Rs 10 million, establish a second tier institution to regulate savings and credit cooperatives and open stock market to foreign institutional investors.
Additionally, the meeting also decided to form a high-level committee under the leadership of Vice Chairperson of the National Planning Commission (NPC) to ensure fair and speedy distribution of export cash incentive.
The government had launched the incentive two years ago, but the Ministry of Industry (MoI) has failed to implement it efficiently. “The proposed committee will work on making cash incentive program more effective,” the statement said.
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