April 30 : Economists here have said that the government shall prioritise the development of agriculture sector so as to reinvigorate the national economy paralysed by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They came with such a view while speaking at a discussions programme organised by the Morang Trade Association and Industry organisation here on Wednesday (April 29).
According to them, it behooves upon the government to promote the industries based on local raw materials, immediately engage the youths returned after overseas employment the agricultural activities and related enterprises, and formulate policies for fostering agro-industrial linkages. “This could well be the best to prevent the economy from further slipping into the vortex of slump.”
They also urged the government to promptly bring short-term and long-term policies for the revival of the national economy and turning the present challenges posed by COVID-19 into opportunities.
Economist Dr Bhesh Prasad Dhamala suggested reviewing all previous policies and plans and formulating new plan to address the fresh challenges, making structural changes and focusing on agriculture sector.
Economist Dr Arjun Baral said emphasis should be laid on setting up agro processing industries and fostering agro-industrial linkages by bringing change in the entire policy to tide over the global economic recession. Another economist Dr PK Jha underscored the need of involving the human resources who have returned home from foreign employment in agriculture and of development of the agriculture economy through the creation of conducive environment for the same.
Likewise, economist Dr Vedraj Acharya spoke of the need of promoting good-governance along with the improvement in other sectors of the economy, stressing on the effective implementation of policies to get the desired results.
Professor Biju Thapaliya suggested bringing specific action plan for revival of the economic, and the industry and business sectors from the present situation. He emphasised on creating employment opportunities and on implementation of policies to stimulate the private sector.
Member of the State-1 Planning Commission, Purna Loksom, urged the State-1 government to give priority to enterprises based on local resources, maximum utilisation of local products and creating employment opportunities at home. RSS
