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Nepal garment sector urges quick approval of SEZ Bill

05 Mar '12
2 min read

Garment manufacturers and exporters in Nepal are seeking speedy approval of the Bill for setting up two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for garment, carpet and handicraft industries, which is awaiting the Senate's approval for the past three years.

Mr. Uday Raj Pandey, President of Garment Association - Nepal (GAN) told fibre2fashion, “The SEZ Bill is pending in the Senate, where it was tabled by the Ministry of Industry about three years ago. At the Annual General Meeting of GAN, we requested the Ministry of Industry to quicken the process of approval of the Bill as it would make exports from Nepal more competitive.”

Giving reasons for the Bill not being approved by the Government, he says, “As per the Ministry of Industry, the Bill is facing opposition from some of the members of the ruling party. According to the Ministry, they cannot table the Bill unless there is a consensus among all the parties that are in the ruling coalition Government.”

Informing about the benefits after the SEZ Bill is passed, he says, “One SEZ is going to be set up in Simara, near the dry port and another at Bhairahawa, bordering India. These locations will reduce our transportation costs and make our goods more competitive.”

“The SEZs would benefit not only the garment sector, but also other sectors like carpets, handicrafts, etc. Further, according to the SEZ Bill, there will be benefits like rebate on income tax, relaxation on the Labor Act, etc., which are not available outside the SEZs,” he adds.

“Inside the SEZs, we are planning to have a cluster type of backward linkage where various processing units such as dyeing, finishing, etc. will be set up in the garment processing zone to speed-up the production process,” the GAN President reveals.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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