Enactment of IEA, SEZ law not possible: Minister Jha

The government on Thursday made clear that the enactment of new laws related with the private sector such as Industrial Enterprises Act (IEA) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act was not possible anytime soon, as its priority for now was to put in place laws that would enable it to hold elections and end the long-running political deadlock.
"In the absence of parliament, we can enact laws only through ordinance. And the government´s priority at this juncture is definitely not the bills related to the private sector," said Industry Minister Anil Kumar Jha.
To a delegation of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) that met with him and requested for the enactment of long-pending bills related with the industrial sector, Jha said enactment of laws such as IEA and SEZ Act was not feasible at this juncture.
Newly elected CNI President Narendra Kumar Basnyat and his team members had reached Ministry of Industry (MoI) on the day to pay a courtesy call to Minister Jha, and in the course, urged the government to endorse at least laws such as IEA and SEZ to boost investment confidence and improve industrial environment.
"The industrial sector is reeling under problems such as acute power shortage and labor disputes," Basnyat said. "Additionally, we also don´t have policies that guard our investment and get some relief package from the government," he stated while requesting the Minister to take some initiatives to normalize the situation.
The CNI delegation had also expressed its disappointment with the minister over the government´s apathy to industries´ concerns such as poor industrial climate, rigid labor law and power crisis.
"We know that lack of parliament and the long-running political deadlock are major concerns, but we still request the government to put in place basic requisites for economic development," said Hari Bhakta Sharma, vice president of CNI.
Addressing the delegation, Minister Jha said that the government was seriously working to provide necessary support to the industrial sector. "Your demands such as subsidy on diesel consumed by industries and enactment of new acts are genuine. But the truth is we are not in a position to fulfill them," Jha said.
During the meeting, businessmen also asked for a separate power grid for the industrial clusters. "We also need subsidy on diesel so that we could optimally utilize our capacity and improve productions."
Businessmen, expressing their worries over labor problems, also asked Minister Jha to take some measures to control unethical behavior of the trade unionists in the manufacturing sector. "We are being intimidated by unreasonable activities of the trade unions affiliated to different political parties, including Madhesi parties," Basnyat said. "The entire production system has been disturbed due to labor unrest."
However, Minister Jha remained mum on the issue.