In Siddharthanagar, the birthplace of The Gautam Buddha, without entering Lumbini. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established in 2011 BS. The association, which has jurisdiction across Rupandehi district, has played an important role in the development of the economy, capital formation and ensuring meaningful contribution. The Association has always been encouraging, supporting and collaborating with the private sector for industrial production to strengthen the national economy. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been playing a positive role in marketing by creating self-employment opportunities in rural areas through small and domestic industries and micro enterprises. The Association has always cooperated and supported in the protection and operation of large and medium industries in the district. In Bhairahawa, Nepal’s largest industrial corridor, the association has a role to play in promoting competitive commercialization by creating an investment-friendly environment for the private sector. The Association is always engaged in the protection of businessmen by focusing on the sensitivity of this area along the Nepal-India border. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry also plays a role in protecting the industrialists and traders who support the country’s economy and controlling those who create artificial scarcity in goods or services by maintaining monopoly in black market, smugglers and markets. The Association has been continuously advising the government agencies on the effectiveness of the supply price and quality of goods or services.
Bhairahawa is the pillar of Nepal’s economy, with trade confluences such as Bhairahawa Customs Office, Gautam Buddha International Airport, Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Lumbini, Devdaha, Buddhakalin Rohini Civilization, Bhairahawa-Butwal, Bhairahawa-Parasi and Bhairahawa-Lumbini Industrial Corridor. Billions of industries with domestic and foreign investment are in operation here. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has always collaborated with the government, political parties and local residents to protect it. It has always been active in facilitating the export of services or goods produced by the members of the Association with the aim of increasing the contribution of this sector to the country’s economic growth through the growth of export trade by creating a sustainable industrial foundation.
Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has always been active in delivering goods produced by its members from Nepal’s multilateral and regional trading system to the international market after Nepal’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), its entry into the South Asian Free Trade (SAFTA) sector and its inclusion in the Free Trade System (BIMSTEC). The Association is working to advise the government on economics, planning and implementation and to promote the commercialization here in collaboration with international trade organizations. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry continues to hold discussions and interactions with various bodies while protecting and promoting industry and industrial investment.
The Association, which has been continuously working to make the private sector responsible for strengthening the country’s economy, is taking special initiatives to operate the Gautam Buddha International Airport.
The Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has taken action to make the private sector responsible for boosting the country’s economy as Nepal is also at high risk due to the economic slowdown seen in the global market.
Nepal has also been touched by the slowdown of the economy seen in the global market due to banking interest. As a result, the industrialists here have come into operation partially. After many employer industries started operating in partial condition, the process of expelling workers has also started, showing that the economic condition is weak. This is because of the banking policy that has destroyed the industry. Industrial operators here have suffered a huge financial loss as banks have increased their loans at an interest rate of 7 per cent to 15 per cent. Rastra Bank also plays a role in raising the bank’s interest rate in the event of a bad economy. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been requesting to reduce the interest rate in single digits for the past two years. It has now dropped to one limb. But businessmen are in trouble.
The state should give subsidy on the interest of businessmen who are in trouble due to compulsion. Otherwise, the private sector in the country may face a difficult situation to keep the economy moving. Due to this, the rate of youth migrating abroad is also increasing due to the closure of industries and factories here. More than 3.2 million Nepali youth have migrated abroad. According to the data, more than 2,500 people leave the Tribhuvan International Airport every day. There are no people going to India for employment. Therefore, it is necessary for the state to prepare a way to keep the economy moving by providing interest subsidy to industrialists. The state has been describing the economy as strong by showing remittances. This is a process of creating problems in sustainable economics. The Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been advising the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to send the country’s products abroad by creating employment for the youth of the country instead of bringing remittance.
Nepal’s capital expenditure has decreased
in recent times. Projects of national pride are increasingly being contracted and broken here. There is a shortage of money in the market due to lack of spending money in the state treasury. Although the state has allocated budget for the physical infrastructure sector, there is a weakness in the expenditure. The state budget has not reached the market due to low development expenditure.
Although the government always talks about good governance in
Nepal, there is a lack of implementation. Here, stun’s politics has increased and the work to be done in practice has decreased significantly. There is a lack of good governance as the working political leadership is publicity-oriented. As a result, there is a problem in development construction and law enforcement. Yesterday, 90 kilometres of road from Bhairahawa to Gorakhpur had to travel for four hours, but now it can be reached in one hour, but the 105 kilometers road of Bhairahawa Narayanghat took two hours yesterday.
Gautam Buddha International Airport, which is expected to start a life line in the state-depressed country, has not been able to operate relatively despite the foundation stone and inauguration of the airport. Although more than Rs 35 billion has been spent on the construction work at the airport, the government’s apathy towards full operation has disappointed the private sector entrepreneurs who have invested in this sector. As a result, tourism entrepreneurs here have not been able to bring millions of Buddhist tourists who want to come directly to Lumbini. With the support of the Asian Development Bank and large investment from the state, this infrastructure has been submerged without full operation. Many tourism entrepreneurs, who have invested billions of rupees with the expectation of operating the airport, are now on the verge of turning upside down. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry is working to discuss and interact with various agencies of the government and the state for the full operation of this airport. Nepal Airlines has operated weekly flights from Kathmandu to Malaysia via Bhairahawa despite submitting a memorandum to the Prime Minister last time. But there needs to be more than a dozen international flights every day. The government’s attention should be paid to this. In the absence of regular flights, the country’s economy is likely to face further problems due to the collapse of trade in the region.
Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, which is attracting the attention of the world, has not been promoted. Not only Lumbini, but buddhist places like Rohini, Devdaha, Ramgram, Tilaurakot, Gotihawa, Kudan, Niglihawa, Sagarhawa have not been able to attract tourists due to lack of publicity in the world market. India has recently opened the Ram temple to visit and converted its local houses into hotels and brought a boost to tourism. But even the tourist hotels built in a holy place like Lumbini in Nepal have always been empty. For this reason, Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been raising its voice for the construction of Buddha Circuit by promoting Lumbini.
Bhairahawa: The construction of integrated customs check post (ICP) at Bhairahawa Customs Office is progressing at a rapid pace. Its construction is essential for trade facilitation in the region. However, the ICP being constructed here has been constructed with only container entry route as the focal point, so it seems that the entrepreneurs will not be able to build as per the expectations. Railway connectivity seems to be very important in this ICP. We urge the state to pay attention to that. Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry has already informed the finance minister and the Prime Minister in this regard.
Due to the lack of full operation of Nepal’s first special economic zone SEZ, the industrialists here have not been able to export Nepali products abroad as expected. There has been a problem as the state has not formulated an economic policy to produce goods by the entrepreneurs despite the propaganda to operate the SEZ. Due to the difficulty of laws, acts and bye-laws for the operation of SEZ, the traders are in adversity. Due to this, the SEZ has not been operational. For this, the state should construct SEZ private in a way that suits the businessmen as soon as possible. As a result, production in SEZs will increase.
Bhairahawa Customs Office, at the initiative of Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has imposed a fine of Rs. Customs duty is levied on goods worth more than 100 rupees. With the launch of this campaign from Bhairahawa, most of the customs offices in Nepal have implemented it. It needs to be continued.
Finally,
Bhairahawa is now in the process of becoming the main economic center of Nepal. Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, Gautam Buddha International Airport, Bhairahawa Customs Office and SEZ are located here. There are also large industrial corridors in Nepal. With safe, easy roads and air routes for businesses, the region is expected to become one of the world’s best industrialized cities in the next few years. Nepal is a landlocked country. International trade is not as easy as in other countries. But Nepal gets the facilities that landlocked countries get.
The writer is the president of Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
