KATHMANDU: Economic Digest, a daily morning email digest, is basically a relatable summation of important business news from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.
Govt accords top priority to industrial development: DPM Pokharel
Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel has asserted that the government has highly prioritized the development and promotion of the industrial sector. The government, he said, has been working towards establishing the industrial areas in all States, commending Deurali-Janata for establishing itself as a robust industry.
He suggested the pharmaceutical company to produce quality drugs. He also advised the company to conduct researches on medicines and spoke of the need to raise awareness among the public about health and wellbeing. Furthermore, DPM Pokharel pledged that the government was serious about lowering the custom duty in the raw materials needed to manufacture medicines.
Govt seeks more teeth to make market inspection effective
The government is making an amendment to the Competition Promotion and Market Protection Act, 2007 when authorities have not been successful in implementing provisions in the current act, allowing dishonest traders a safe door to form cartels and exploiting consumers.
The weak implementation of the law is also seen in the number of goods on which consumers are cheated on time and again. Meanwhile, consumer rights activists have called the government’s move to revise the law ‘futile’ claiming the existing law has adequate room to check market anomalies.
The government built a separate board that is assigned to assess the lists of enterprises which produce or distribute various goods or services and hold a central position based on the provision act.
But, the board failing to adopt its responsibility has led consumers to sustain irregular price hike, consume low-quality products and face a fake shortage of essentials.
Request to lift ban on palm oil imports remains unanswered
India has not yet responded to the government’s request to lift the import ban on refined palm oil from Nepal even though weeks have passed after a formal letter was sent to India.
Citing from Nepali oil traders and manufacturers, even though the ban was declared, Indian traders who hold a special permit are given access to purchase processed edible oil from Nepal.
However, this arrangement has not been realized. Following the imports of edible oil from Indonesia and Malaysia were halted, prices increased by 5 percent in the Indian wholesale market, according to the Economic Times.
Tourism Ministry okays to table bills to break up civil aviation body
The plan to divide Nepal’s civil aviation body into two separate units is finally coming close to its realisation, after 10 years it was set in motion.
Last Thursday, the cabinet had given a ‘green signal’ to the Tourism Ministry to prepare two pieces of legislation in Parliament — Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Bill and Air Service Authority of Nepal Bill — to implement the division.
Based on the draft bills, regulatory functions such as flight crew and non-flight crew licensing, among other tasks– will be under the authority of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal while airports, air navigation services, and the civil aviation academy will fall under the jurisdiction of the Air Service Authority of Nepal.
The proposed law envisions integrating previous acts to remove conflicts and contradictions at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, which is at present functioning as both regulator and service provider from the same office, and there is no clear outline of the difference between its duties and organizational structure.
(Compiled and prepared by Swastik Aryal, Akash Shrestha, Nitish Lal Shrestha, Diana Zulkifli)
Nepal Economic Digest is a daily morning email digest, basically relatable summations of the most important business news, happenings from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries. The Institute for Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR), Nepal’s independent think tank, and Khabarhub — Nepal popular news portal — have joined hands to disseminate news from Nepal in the form of Economic Digest.
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