Kathmandu, November 29: Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada has said measures would be taken so that entrepreneurs engaged in small, medium-scale and cottage industries would not have to face shortage of capital. Inaugurating the 17th Handicraft Trade Fair and 15th Handicraft Competition organized by Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal at local Bhrikuti Mandap here yesterday, the Finance Minister expressed the commitment that the entrepreneurs would be provided with concessional loans.
He assured that he would extend whatever cooperation was required of him if the entrepreneurs came to him with an annual work plan with clear objectives for the promotion of the handicraft business. The Finance Minister said handicraft has special significance among the exported goods.
Stating that a pavilion would be constructed in coordination with the handicraft entrepreneurs for exhibiting handicraft goods for observation by tourists coming during the Visit Nepal Year 2020, the Finance Minister said the entrepreneurs would be benefited if the tourists purchased the traditional handicraft items. Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Baikuntha Aryal said the government is committed to revise and improve the policies for facilitating the entrepreneurs to produce quality goods at low investment.
Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Fine Arts, KK Karmacharya stressed that the entrepreneurs engaged in handicraft sector should now produce goods by using technology as demanded by the international market. President of the Federation, Surendra Bhai Shakya, said that handicraft transaction in the domestic market was about 10 billion rupees.
He added that the development of handicraft and cottage industries would contribute to job creation and making the country prosperous. There are 200 stalls in the Handicraft Trade Fair that will last till December 2. Traders from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have also put up their stalls in the event. RSS
