Trade deficit up in Western Nepal

Butwal, Nov. 12 (RSS): Foreign trade export and import trade deficit has increased in the Western Development Region.

According to the Siddharthanagar Trade Office, the region suffered a trade deficit of Rs. 3.2952 billion with third countries last year while the trade deficit with India was Rs. 13.9885 billion.

The statistics revealed that the trade deficit with India was Rs. 7.1177 billion in fiscal year 2054/55 BS and Rs. 10.2840 billion in the following year.

Ginger production has a good prospect of export. Ginger worth Rs. 54.5 million was exported last fiscal year, office chief Krishna Prasad Khanal said.

The ginger cultivation is done in the districts of Palpa, Syangja and Tanahun and this is likely to have a good place among export items.

Less export as compared to the volume of import, no diversification in trade, more dependence on India, no identification of exportable items can be attributed to the trade deficit.

Meanwhile another report from Butwal stated that a total of 306 labour related disputes (cases) have reached the labour court since the labour court was first established in Nepal four years ago.

Out of the cases taken to the court, 71 per cent of the cases have been filed from the labourers' side while the rest 29 per cent have been filed from the management side.

It is learnt that the 71 per cent of the cases filed from the side of the labourers are confined to the textile, hotel and the manufacturing industries.

Out of these cases, 57 per cent cases concern job expulsions.

It is also learnt the court has decided 64 per cent of the 120 settled cases in favour of the labourers and 36 per cent in favour of the management.

Sixty-five per cent of such disputes came from the Kathmandu Valley and 56 per cent of them from Kathmandu district.

Similarly, out of 150 disputes, only one dispute has been settled through deeds of reconciliation between the disputing parties while in the case of most disputes, the procedural errors have been made the basis for the settlement.

Out of the 150 cases, 11.33 per cent are concerning salary, 9.33 per cent concerning suspension from jobs, four per cent concerning trade unions, 12 per cent concerning warnings and the rest 6.67 per cent are miscellaneous cases.

Most disputes in textiles

Sector-wise, the largest number of cases come from the textile industry followed by the hotel industry, the manufacturing industry, distillery, airlines, transport, travel, printing, trading, painting, biscuit industries, iron and steel plans, the insurance sector, carpet industry, handicraft industry, the NGO sector and the trade unions in that order.

Region-wise, the largest number of disputes, 85, have been registered in Kathmandu whereas only one has been registered in Rupandehi.

Similarly, only two labour related cases have been registered in Nawalparasi, Kavre, Kaski and Bara districts while in the rest of the districts, 19 such registered cases have been decided in Morang, 11 in Parsa, nine in Lalitpur, eight in Sunsari, five in Janakpur and four in Bhaktapur.

This information was given at an interaction programme "Management of Labour Disputes" organised in Bhairahawa recently under the joint auspices of the industrial relations forum and the Siddharthanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Altogether 40 persons including industrialists, labourers and journalists attended the programme presided over by president of Siddharthnagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dhruba Kumar Shrestha.

Small industries in Kailali struggling

Dhanagadhi, Nov. 12 (RSS): Though cottage and small industries are increasing in number in Kailali district, most of them are reported to be really sick or in a state of closure.

In the district there were there altogether 2128 registered industries in the district including 66 joint ventures, 105 private limited companies, and 1957 private ones but many have closed down, according to the Cottage and Small Industry Office.

Though eighty per cent of industries like saw mill, furniture, cement and tile, brick, computer, concrete, sandal are still operating, others like chalk, refill, garment, tobacco, agarbati, workshop, dairy, bamboo and cane, soap, and agricultural tools industries have mostly closed down for shortage of raw materials and skill manpower and failure to compete with imported items.

There were a large number of rice and oil mills in the district and 213 of them have closed down.

Meanwhile, 494 industries have renewed their licence in the district.

Meanwhile in Bhaktapur, member secretary of the Centre for Technical Education and Vocational Training Jivan Raj Adhikari gave away certificates recently to the participants of an 18 month-long technical diploma training programme organised by the institute with the objective of making technical education and vocational training more effective, qualitative, timely and more productive.

At the function presided over by Director of the institute Devi Prasad Dahal, various other speakers including the chief of the Training Department of the institute Kabir Kumar Chitrakar, Dean of the Institute of Engineering Dr. Jivraj Pokhrel, and Trainee Raj Bahadur Giri and Sanyog Bhattarai shed light on the utility of the training.