Govt planning to bring in slew of new laws to bolster investment climate

The government is preparing to revise, replace and formulate around half a dozen laws including Industrial Enterprise Act (IEA) to make them in compliance with the Industrial Policy 2010 and offer new favorable legal framework to investors in the Investment Year 2012/13.
The Ministry of Industry (MoI) is working on amendment in IEA 1992 and Company Act 2006, and replacement of Nepal Standard (Certification) Act 1980, tuning them in line with the new Industrial Policy.
Likewise, it is formulating a new Nepal Accreditation Board Act, which will pave the way for establishment of an accreditation authority that will certify quality and standards of Nepali goods and services for exports.
“The existing Acts related to enterprises, establishment of companies and standards were formulated long before the new Industrial Policy. Hence, amendments are being worked out to make them in sync with the new policy,” Joint Secretary at MoI, Yam Kumari Khatiwada, told Republica on Monday.
The new Act on Nepal Accreditation Board, meanwhile, is being formulated as per the long time demand of the private sector.
So far, the ministry has prepared a draft of the revised IEA and circulated it among the stakeholders for consultation. “We will submit it to the Council of Ministers for endorsement once we incorporate the feedbacks received from all concerned,” she said.
Unlike the past, when a new would focus solely to serve the policy, the new amendments would also take into account government´s latest drive to lure more foreign investments, particularly in the upcoming investment year, and incorporate special provisions to make it more investment friendly.
Nepal Standard (Certification) Act would be completely replaced because it was formulated way back in 1980 and has turned obsolete amid changes in the way standards have been defined across the globe. “The new Nepal Standard Act 2012 that will replace the existing Act will help to accelerate promotion of Nepali products in the international market,” Khatiwada stated.
The Ministry has already initiated the process to draft the Act, but it is yet to give it a final shape.
New amendments in the Nepal Company Act 2006 are expected to make the Industrial Policy more functional.
Once new laws are put in place, MoI hopes the country to have a better investment climate. However, they will still not be able to address labor and security related problems that have been driving away the investors.
Moreover, the government will soon set up a new office to deal with Intellectual Property Right (IPR) issues. “A process for this has already begun,” said Khatiwada, elaborating that the office is being set up as per the new IPR policy. The ministry is also leveraging efforts to make effective the policy provision of single-window service for all business activities.

TIFA meeting rescheduled to Sept

The meeting of Nepal-US Council on Trade and Investment (NUSCTI) under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) has been postponed to Sept.
The meeting was scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in March.
The Nepalese Embassy in US, which notified the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies about the fresh development on Sunday, has, however, not mentioned why the meeting has been rescheduled.
Both the countries had intensified preparations for finalizing the possible agendas for the meeting that is crucial for creating environment for bi-lateral trade and investment.
Lal Mani Joshi, secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS), said the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) communicated with the MoCS through the Nepalese Embassy in this regard.
“Our embassy in the US has informed us about the postponement of NUSCTI meeting,” Joshi told Republica on Sunday. He said the letter undersigned by Nepali ambassador to US, Dr Shankar Sharma, only stated that the meeting was rescheduled as USTR preferred to hold the meeting in the last week of Sept.
The TIFA agreement signed in April, 2011 stipulates that the NUSCTI meeting -- a forum to discuss bi-lateral trade issues -- can be held once a year.
Nepali business people are anticipating bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at the upcoming meeting in a bid to boost exports of garment and pashmina products to US that has been falling gradually since 2000.
Uday Raj Pandey, president of Garment Association Nepal (GAN), said they would push for Generalized System of Preference (GSP) facility on Nepali Readymade Garment (RMG) and pashmina products from the US in the upcoming meeting.
“Attempt to reclaim market for RMG and pashmina products will be one of the key agendas from of Nepali exporters in the meeting,” added Pandey.