Confederation of Industries Chairman Emphasizes Need for Private Sector-Led Skill Development

Kathmandu. Chairman of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Birendra Raj Pandey has emphasized that increasing labor productivity is essential for the country's economic development and prosperity, stressing that skill development programs should be conducted under the leadership of the private sector.

Speaking at a discussion with industrialists and businessmen organized at the Ministry of Youth, Labor, and Employment in Singha Durbar on Thursday, Chairman Pandey stated that Nepal's labor productivity is very weak compared to neighboring and similar countries. He noted that according to currently available data, Nepal ranks third from the bottom, and commented that current skill development efforts are scattered and not result-oriented. Chairman Pandey said that due to government-level training being scattered across various ministries and departments, the expected achievements have not been realized. He argued that weak human resources could become a major challenge in achieving the national goal of building a $100 billion economy. He stressed the need to adopt a 'demand-driven' approach, focusing on what kind of manpower industries need, rather than a 'supply-driven' approach that focuses on the number of people trained by training centers.