President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Chandi Raj Dhakal has categorically said that the government should take action against ‘willful’ defaulters.

Speaking at the 11th annual general meeting of Advertising Agents Association of Nepal (AAAN), Dhakal, whose name also appeared in the black list of willful defaulters presented by Nepal Rastra Bank to the Economic Committee of the parliament, said, “However, entrepreneurs are under survival threat due to severe financial and other problems. Therefore they need to be rescued to keep the economy afloat.”

“If the present environment continues for some time, entrepreneurs would fly away and the economy would be paralysed,” he feared.

Dhakal also criticised the government for its irresponsibility. Dhakal also demanded facilities for the advertising industry at par with other industries. “In the issue of protecting national industries, the government, the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) are all hopeless,” he complained.

Dhakal’s comment came at a time when donor communities have warned that they will boycott the programme organized by person or institutions, whose leadership was engaged in controversies.

Recently, country representatives of the World Bank, Ken Ohashi refused to participate in the programme of Joint Economic Forum proposed by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) saying that the leadership of CNI engaged in controversies.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank, 29 individuals and companies have defaulted Rs 10.51 billion from the Rastriya Banijya Bank while the Nepal Bank Limited is yet to recover Rs 4.69 billion from 25 blacklisted willful defaulters.

Immediate past president of AAAN Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar said, “Due to the lack of national policy, the advertising sector is reeling under various difficulties.”

He informed that in 2011, Advertisement Asia event is being organised in Nepal which is a golden opportunity for Nepal to explore the advertising sector in a vibrant way.

They alleged that Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) did not try to boost national expertise. It, instead, invited foreigners to design the logo for ‘Naturally Nepal’ campaign.