By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar. 6:  Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chandra Prasad Dhakal has said that it is necessary to promote domestic industries to substitute imports and increase foreign exchange reserves.

Addressing the 4th general assembly of the Federation of Nepal Printers’ Association held in the capital on Friday, Dhakal said that if the government takes initiative to solve the problems faced by the domestic industries, it can substitute imports and stop the outflow of large amount of capital from the country.

"Due to the lack of new and quality technology, a large amount of money has gone out of the country only for the import of goods related to the printing business. If the problem can be solved and the domestic industries can be promoted, the huge amount of capital will be retained in the country and imports substituted,” he said.

Stating that he will take initiative on behalf of the Federation to solve the problem of the printing industry with a market of Rs. 80 billion, he has requested to submit written suggestions for this. Dhakal, who is also the chairman of the IME Group, said that his group had also expanded its investment in the paper industry.

“At present, quality paper is not produced in Nepal. In view of this shortcoming, the IME Group has expanded its investment in the paper industry. We are confident that this will prove to be a milestone in quality paper production in Nepal,” he said. Talking about the differences between the public and private printing industries, he said that the government should treat all industries and businesses equally.

“I have heard complaints of discrimination between the government-owned printing press and the private sector-run printing firms. If so, it needs to be ended immediately. FNCCI expresses its solidarity with your demands and let us take joint initiative to bring a programme to address this in the forthcoming budget,” he said.