As the Covid-19 pandemic subsides, job pledges by newly-registered industries at the Department of Industry rose to a four-year high in the last fiscal year.
- The job pledges of industries registered in DoI jumped by a whopping 141 percent in FY2021/22.
- Manufacturing sector is the largest job creator
- 71 newly-registered industries have proposed employment for over 100 people.
- 13 industries pledged more than 400 jobs.
the HRM
As the forces of the Covid-19 pandemic became weaker, investors, both domestic and foreign, are back to what they love the most i.e., drawing new investment plans and registering new businesses. This has been reflected in the data of the Department of Industry (DoI) which shows there has been impressive growth in the new industries’ registration in FY 2021/22.
A total of 309 industries were registered at DoI in the last fiscal year with investment pledges amounting to Rs 343 billion. More industry registration means more employment opportunities in the domestic job market. The job pledges offered by these industries have also jumped by a whopping 141 percent in the last fiscal year. The DoI data shows new industries registered in FY 2021/22 have pledged to create 28,527 new jobs. The number of such pledges in FY2020/21 totaled 11,833. Employment opportunities in FY2020/21 remained weaker as the country went through lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of the pandemic.
With economic activities gathering momentum following the slowdown of the pandemic, registration of new industries resurged from the start of the last fiscal year. Manufacturing, services, construction, and even hospitality were the sectors that saw registration of businesses in large numbers.
Manufacturing Sector is the Largest Job Creator
DoI data shows that 116 manufacturing establishments were registered in FY2021/22 pledging employment opportunities to 14,601 people. In FY2020/21, manufacturing industries pledged 4,284 jobs.
The services sector is the second largest job pledgor in the last fiscal year. The employment pledge of the services sector businesses rose by a massive 228 percent. In FY2021/22, a total of 46 services sector businesses were registered at the DoI, pledging 5,835 jobs compared to 1,778 jobs in FY2020/21.
Surprisingly, the tourism sector, which was hardest hit by the pandemic, has become third largest in terms of employment commitment. The newly-registered 58 tourism businesses have pledged a total of 3,836 jobs in the last fiscal year.
“Along with the improvement in tourist arrival, the investment in the sector is growing again. These are positive signs. But it will take some more time for the tourism and hospitality sector to recover from the impacts of the pandemic,” said Binayak Shah, First Vice-president of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). “As the number of businesses grow, the sector will need more employees in the next few years.”
The energy sector pledged the fourth highest number of jobs. The data released by the DoI shows as many as 50 energy-based companies have pledged to create 1,721 jobs.
71 Industries Proposed Over 100 Jobs
Of the registered industries, 71 had proposed employment for 100 and above jobs. Of them, 13 industries pledged to provide jobs to more than 400 people.
In the manufacturing sector, Suryatara Cement Udhyog has proposed the highest employment for 600 people while Kailali Ceramics, Lumbini Ceramics, and Singapore Beverages Nepal have proposed above 500 jobs. Sarbottam Itta Udhyog has proposed 471 jobs while Shreerram Tobacco Udhyog, SG Autocraft, Prime Steel, and Samriddhi Metallics have pledged 445, 431, 400, and 400 jobs, respectively.
Two companies have proposed employment for above than 300 people while eleven companies have proposed employment for 200 and more people.
In the service sector, 2 medical colleges, namely Nobel Medical College and Kathmandu Medical College, have pledged to provide the highest number of jobs. The upcoming Kathmandu-based hotel project of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd, an Indo-Nepal-UK joint venture and a subsidiary of ITC Limited, India, has pledged over 300 jobs.
According to DoI, as many as 91 large-scale industries were registered in the previous fiscal year, creating job opportunities for 12,555 people. Even among the large-scale industries, the manufacturing sector is the highest job pledger with 6,323 jobs followed by the service sector with 3,378 jobs. In the meantime, medium-scale industries proposed to offer 9,700 jobs while small-scale industries pledged a total of 6,272 jobs.
FDI Projects to Create 16,905 Jobs
In the last fiscal year, DoI registered 295 industries with foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments worth Rs 54.15 billion. These industries pledged to create 16,905 new jobs.
Among the FDI projects, the tourism sector saw the highest job pledge followed by the services sector. The 125 FDI projects belonging to the tourism sector proposed 6,825 employments while 98 service sector projects offered 4,929 jobs.
According to Ram Chandra Tiwari, Director General at DoI, FDI commitments increased by 68.84 percent in FY2021/22. “As the government has made necessary policy reforms in the FDI regime, the investments increased in the previous fiscal year,” he said.
