The Indo-Nepal Printers’ Meet was an effort to develop business and to improve the bilateral relations between the printers of these two neighbouring countries.

In his speech, Madhav KC elaborated upon the status of printing industry of Nepal and stressed on the need for mutual understanding between the printers of both the countries. “Most of the printing machinery in Nepal is imported from India. We are also dependent on India for other raw materials. Thus, organising such a meet is a welcome step,” he said.

Speaking about Indian printing industry, Kamal Chopra said, “We always consider Nepal as our younger brother and I wish printers of both the country may grow. As per the available statics, printed material falls in the top 10 exported items from Nepal. At the same time, it is evident that Nepal is importing the printing machinery and equipment mainly from India. Thus, the printing industries of both the countries are complementing each other. Today, we are here to jointly discuss the ways and means to further improve the printing business in each country.”

The Indo-Nepal Printers Meet was organised under the guidance of KV Chopra, president, MPWA and Manish Chopra, programme convener, MPWA.

The event was made possible by the support of TechNova, AutoPrint, Creed Engineering (Vinsak) and some other industry leaders.

In her keynote address, Dr TKS Lakshmipriya, Prof and head, department of printing & technology, Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore, stressed on the need of transformation. While speaking on future printing, she said, instead of simply ink on paper, we must look for value addition to get more profit and to retain the customer.

Pankaj Tiwari, assistant professor, GJ University of Science and Technology, Hisar, elaborated on the role of print education and announced that now GJU is also giving print education to foreign students. He invited students from Nepal for education in printing.

During the Indo-Nepal panel discussion, Dr Lakshmi Priya offered to open a printing institute at Nepal with the support from the government of Nepal.

The printers of Nepal were worried about the performance of some of dealers/ manufacturers of machinery because they are not giving after-sale service. Kamal Chopra assured the Nepal printers that if they feel any Indian manufacturer or dealer is cheating, they can write to him so that the matter can be discussed on national level.

Chopra also suggested forming a redressal forum to look in such complaints, if any. At this juncture some of the printers from Basti and Gorakhpur also highlighted such complaints. Chopra assured the printers that in case of any such complaints, he will talk directly to the concerned company for the redressal of the same.

Other dignitaries present during the event included AK Sinha, former director of printing, government of India; Subhash Chander, former President of AIFMP; Dr Ambrish Pandey, chairman printing department, GJ University of Science & Technology, Hisar; and Rakesh Tiwari, HoD, Northern Regional Institute of Printing Technology, Allahabad.