NSO, NCC sign MoU to support National Economic Census 2082

KATHMANDU: National Statistics Office (NSO) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support completion of the National Economic Census 2082 and to cooperate on developing and managing economic and commercial data.

On behalf of the NSO, Deputy Chief Statistician and Spokesperson Dhundi Raj Lamichhane, and NCC Director General Devendra Lamichhane signed the MoU. The agreement takes effect from May 19 and will remain in force for five years.

Dr Kamal Prasad Pokhrel, Chief Statistician at the NSO, said that more than 871,000 economic establishments have been enumerated so far under the census. He recalled that 923,000 establishments were covered in the first economic census of 2075 BS and said the current target is to cover around 1.5 million establishments.

Pokhrel said field enumeration began on April 15, 2026, and is scheduled to complete by June 21, 2026. He called the progress to date encouraging and expressed confidence that the target will be met. He also emphasised the importance of private sector cooperation for the census’s success and said the agreement with the NCC will make the campaign more effective.

On the occasion, NCC President Kamlesh Kumar Agrawal said the national economic census is “the economic mirror of the nation” and argued that long-term economic planning cannot be effective without reliable data. He added that updated data is essential for an accurate picture of the changing economic structure, the size of the informal sector, investment trends, employment status, and developments in services, tourism, information technology and innovation-oriented businesses.

Agrawal said only fact-based policies succeed in the long term and expressed confidence that the census will help bring informal enterprises into the formal economy. He also stressed the need to build trust by assuring entrepreneurs that the information they provide will remain confidential and will be used only for statistical purposes.

Under the agreement, the two organisations will collaborate on data collection, analysis, dissemination and promoting economic literacy for the National Economic Census 2082. The partnership includes producing audio and video materials related to the census, conducting awareness campaigns, organising literacy programmes for entrepreneurs and economic journalists, and improving data reliability through automated systems.

The NCC pledged to mobilise its nationwide network to encourage industrialists and entrepreneurs to participate actively, provide accurate information and raise public awareness about the census’s importance.

Speakers at the MoU signing ceremony urged active participation from government bodies, private sector, industrialists, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to ensure the success of the national economic census.