November 27: The 54^th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), which was disrupted for a long time due to coronavirus, has finally kicked off.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli along with office bearers of FNCCI inaugurated the AGM through a virtual medium from the prime minister’s official residence in Baluwatar on Thursday (November 26).

During the inauguration, PM Oli praised the effort made by the private sector to uplift the country’s economy that has been badly affected by the pandemic. He said that the contributions made by the business sector and entrepreneurs during this difficult time was highly commendable.

He was of the view that the government and private sector together can revitalize the economy at a time when the economic growth has become less than what was projected due to the impact of coronavirus.

PM Oli said that the private sector can do much more than the government to uplift the economy and therefore the government is ever ready to promote the private sector.

PM Oli also stressed on moderinizing the  agriculture sector, and moving ahead toward industrialization and commercialization. But he expressed sadness that instead of achieving those dreams, the country’s industries were investing abroad.

“The government is ready to provide any kind of support to create a conducive environment for expansion of business and industries,” he said.

Representatives of FNCCI responded to the PM’s appeal by saying that the government needs to immediately announce Covid-19 recovery programme to provide relief to the sectors affected by the pandemic.

Speaking at the programme, Senior Vice President of FNCCI  Shekhar Golchha, who is poised to lead the umbrella body of industries and entrepreneurs from the upcoming term, said that although the topics included in the annual budget and the monetary policy are positive, the government must bring a special programme for Covid-19 recovery.

He also urged the government to immediately implement the programmes announced by the government to support the sectors affected by Covid-19. He added that the programmes announced by the government have not been implemented so far.

Meanwhile, outgoing president of FNCCI Bhavani Rana informed that the current crisis has created unemployment to a great extent and urged the government to address this issue.

She said that hundreds of thousands of youths have returned home from above after job cuts and urged the government to capitalize on their expertise by creating job opportunities in order to avoid further crisis.

During the programme, FNCCI felicitated Ravi Bhakta Shrestha, Mahesh Lal Pradhan, Binod Chaudary, Padma Jyoti, Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, Binod Bahadur Shrestha, Anand Raj Mulmi, Chandi Raj Dhakal, Suraj Vaidhya, Pashupati Murarka and Pradeep Jung Pandey for their immense contribution to the industrial sector.

FNCCI is scheduled to hold the closed session of AGM through virtual medium on Friday (November 27), which will be followed by election on Saturday.