Investment will be discouraged if private sector brought under ambit of CIAA: NCC

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has called attention of the Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal to amend the provision, in the proposed bill, of bringing the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).     

A team led by NCC President Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal drew the attention of the newly-appointed Chief Secretary on this matter in course of extending him congratulations and best wishes.     

The Chamber stated that the bill which is under consideration at the State Affairs Committee of the Federal Parliament, if passed in the present context when the economy is in a slump, will make the private sector more vulnerable and the investment will also be discouraged.     

"The private sector has been discouraged by the provision of keeping the private sector businessmen and companies also under the jurisdiction of CIAA as stated in the proposed draft of the CIAA Third Amendment Bill, 2076 which is under the consideration of the State Affairs Committee. This will also dampen down the investment from the private sector," the NCC stated in a press release.     

The NCC has stressed on policy-level stability for the nation's economic prosperity, stating that an investment climate can be created, production increased and employment created only when there is policy stability.     

Likewise, the NCC has drawn the Chief Secretary's attention to the need of revising the provision that says those having more than one per cent share cannot take loans from any institution.     

"The amendment proposal to the Bank and Financial Institutions Act stipulates that those with more than one per cent share shall be barred from borrowing from any institution, which will affect the private sector that has played a significant role in the promotion of the banking sector in Nepal. If this provision is to prevail, then it will certainly directly affect the investment and thereby in the economic growth itself," the NCC said in a memorandum letter it handed to the Chief Secretary.     

The NCC has called for bringing the Department of Revenue Investigation and the Department of Money Laundering Investigation under the Ministry of Finance.     

Immediate past president of NCC, Rajendra Malla, on the occasion said the provision preventing the sale of shares owned by the proprietor for one year is impractical and it has to be corrected.     

Senior vice-president Deepak Malhotra said that problems were seen in the real estate business sector due to the Nepal Rastra Bank's policy that requires showing the income source two times more than the loan taken for this purpose.     

Vice-president Deepak Shrestha said attention should be paid on the impact on the Nepali industries when patent rights are issued to the foreign companies.     

During the meeting with the NCC delegation, Chief Secretary Aryal said that the government is committed to moving ahead collaborating with the private sector for the economic prosperity of the country.     

He said the government also collaborates with private sector organizations as NCC for checking unusual price hike and black marketing occurring in the market during the festival season.