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Kathmandu Sunday May 27, 2001 Jestha 14, 2058.
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SMEs meet
adopts KTM Declaration
Post Report
KATHMANDU, May 26 - The two-day National Conference on
Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nepal concluded here Saturday,
adopting Kathmandu Declaration,2001.
The conference has pointed out the need to provide clear
and consistent overarching objective of SMEs for poverty alleviation, employment
generation, redistribution of income and regional development.
The Kathmandu Declaration has suggested to initiate
appropriate fiscal, legal and regulatory policies, hence, to reform Labour, Company,
Industrial Enterprises, Foreign Exchange Acts and taxation policies and to provide high
priority to establish venture business in areas of information technology (IT) and biotech
to stimulate the SMEs’ progress.
Presenting the Declaration, Dr Subarna Bajracharya said it
has also noted to provide assistance facilities and incentives to private institutions ,so
as to devise innovative strategies, to build institutional framework, to enhance
productivity and for SMEs, to be quality-conscious for their sustainability,
entrepreneurship and self-management.
The Declaration has recommended to establish close linkage
between the leading educational institutions and SMEs for vocationalizing education
sector, so that adequate manpower would be produced and IT infrastructure like
telecommunication network, bandwidth facilities etc would be enhanced.
In the finance sector, it has advised to make finance and
credit support easily accessible and for SMEs to follow economics of speed, scope and
networking and to encourage establishing backward as well as forward linkage between small
and large-scale enterprises to increase their growth.
Likewise, it has suggested to explore the promotion of
linkages between multi-national companies and local SMEs in the areas of joint venture,
subcontracting, licensing, franchise, and to initiate support program to SMEs to encourage
women participation.
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan
Mahat said that he would make necessary arrangement in the forthcoming budget for the
government bodies to purchase the available goods from the domestic market, in order to
boost the local enterprises.
He suggested the private sector to exploit the IT
potentiality and urged entrepreneurs to come up with concrete agenda for seeking
government support and making commitment to raise the software export remarkably.
"I am ready to accept the recommendation of the
private sector. Let us sit together and discuss what can the government do to promote
IT", he said.
Former finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari underlined
the need of political consensus for the growth of SMEs and urged the government to review
the economic policy adopted by it since the restoration of democracy.
Minister of State for Industry, Commerce and Supplies
Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Third Vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), former foreign affairs minister Kamal Thapa and Dr Narayan
Manandhar also opined on the occasion.
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