Major forex earners perform miserably Garment

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KATHMANDU, May 2:The slump in the garment industry that began late 2000 has continued with exports to United States, the largest absorber of Nepali garments, dropping by over 52 per cent in the first quarter of 2002 as compared to the like period last year.

While the 2001 first quarter garment exports to the US, which absorbs over 85 per cent of total Nepali exported garments, stood at US$ 70 million, it dropped to US$ 36.9 million in the same period in 2002.

Latest figures release by Garment Association-Nepal (GAN) show that exports to US fell by 49 per cent in the month of April alone. The exports during the month amounted to US$ 5.37 million, down from US$ 10.47 million in the same month last year.

The series of slumps in the first three months of 2002 has been 45 per cent, 56 per cent and 60 per cent respectively as compared to the same period in 2001.

The drop in garment exports to the US is not just due to the recent US recession but due mainly to the diversion of orders from Nepal to the Caribbean and sub-Saharan African countries, which receive duty- and quota-free market access to US.

The facility received by the African and Caribbean countries is proving a disaster to the once-vibrant Nepali garment industry. Nepali garment entrepreneurs as well as the government have long been demanding with the US to grant similar facilities. However, the US response so far has been cold.

Garment entrepreneurs view that the industry, which once earned the largest chunk of the foreign exchange and gave employment to thousands, will collapse if curative actions are now not taken. The government recently had declared the export-oriented industries as sick promising to provide various incentives, but is yet to implement the decision, causing mass disgruntlement amongst the garment entrepreneurs.

‘Govt committed to protect intellectual property rights’

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KATHMANDU, May 2:Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Bal Bahadur KC today said that the government is committed to sincerely implement laws formulated for the protection of intellectual property rights.

His statement comes at a time when a new Copyrights Act has been passed by both the Houses and is awaiting the Royal seal. Once the new Act is promulgated by the
King, it will replace the Copyrights Act, 2022.

Minister KC was speaking at a programme entitled ‘Copyrights Protection in Nepal: Present Situation and Future Challenges,’ organised jointly by the ministry and Nepal Copyrights Protection Society (NCPS).

"A lot of infringements are taking place in intellectual property rights in Nepal. Intellectual property needs legal protection," said Minister KC.

However, KC also added that implementation needs to be strengthened. He also said that the government would work for the establishment of an institution that would ensure that laws are properly implemented and intellectual property protected.

On the same occasion, KC added that there is also a need for a Copyrights Regulation to ensure that some elements missed by the Act is covered and to define the modality by which the Act can effectively be implemented.

Likewise, Bhanu Prasad Acharya, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said that copyrights protection is a must in the context of globalisation and liberalisation.

"With Nepal poised to join the World Trade Organisation, protection of intellectual properties, as required by agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights, is of paramount importance," he said.

He also assured that the new Copyrights Act in the offing is compatible to WTO agreements. "The implementation of the new Act should be done keeping in view the TRIPS agreement to ensure
that Nepali intellectual property rights are promoted and protected," he said.

Santosh Sharma, General Secretary of NCPS, said that innovation needs promotion and protection. "In this era, holding rights over an intellectual property is a competitive edge," he said.

Likewise, Uday Nepali, Secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affair, said, "Intellect is also a property. It should be protected and the new copyrights act should be sincerely implemented."

The programme was organised to mark the World Intellectual Property Day, which fell on April 26.