June 15: The private sector is expecting the industries and businesses along the Bara-Parsa corridor to gain momentum after the government eased prohibitory order after  75 days. The restrictions that were imposed on April 29 have been relaxed since June 15.

As per the government's directive, the local Covid-19 crisis management centers have eased public movement. However, there are fears that the virus might reappear due to the relaxation in restrictive orders.

Earlier, shops in Birgunj were allowed to open till 10 am, but it has now been extended till noon. In Bara, the opening time has been set at 11 am. The supply of daily essentials, construction materials, and agricultural products and equipment will be facilitated by opening shops.

Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is confident that business activities will pick up pace as the restriction on production and supply has been eased.

At present, industries other than food and medicine are almost closed,” Gupta said, adding, "There is no problem in transportation and production of raw materials. However, the manufactured goods could not be sold in the market.”

Ganesh Prasad Lath, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Province 2, claimed that 60 percent of the industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor have been shut down due to the restrictions.

"Except for producing essential goods, manufacturing of other products is closed. Producers of essential commodities have not been able to operate at full capacity,” Lath told New Business Age.

The business community argues that trade and business will not pick up pace unless markets and transportation are opened. Lath said that the workers have started returning to work. 

"The supply of workers has eased somewhat. Coronavirus infection is under control and relaxation of the prohibitory order would help business activities to gain momentum," he said.

Gupta said that most of the industries and commercial establishments were facing crisis. He said that they were unable to recovery money from the market due to the restriction on mobility and market activities. Due to this, there has been a problem of keeping the enterprise running, he added.

Chief Customs Officer at Birgunj Customs Harihar Poudel said that the decline in industrial and commercial activities has also affected the number of goods entering the country.  Poudel informed that the import of most of the trade items has declined. According to Poudel, imports of food items, shoes, slippers, machinery parts, tools, paint industry materials, vehicles, fuel, and other items have declined.

Although the surge of the virus has decreased in recent days, there is a fear that the number of infections will increase after the prohibitory order is relaxed.

Gupta fears that the number of infection has declined due to the reduction in tests.