Election delays reconstruction process

Kathmandu, Aug. 26: The local elections and adjustment of internal accounts of the government offices at the end of the fiscal year have affected the reconstruction process.

Both have created obstructions in the distribution of the reconstruction grants to the quake-affected families for more than a month, and slowed down the grant distribution and house reconstruction works.

According to the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) deputy-spokesperson Dr. Bhishma Kumar Bhusal, the local elections changed the political and administrative structure of the local government, and it took more than a month to overcome the transition period after the polls.

“Similarly, the District Treasury Controller Offices (DTCOs) were busy in auditing and making adjustments in government accounts. Auditing is still going on in some of the districts. We hope that it will be completed in about a week,” he said.

Although the NRA had claimed that about 150,000 houses would be reconstructed by the end of monsoon, only 650 new houses were built in August.

The statistics don’t look impressive as, according to NRA statistics, 119,687 houses are under construction, and 47,199 houses have been already reconstructed.

Similarly, the third tranche of the reconstruction grant has been deposited into the bank accounts of 3,776 households, up by 1,000 from last month.

But, the government has distributed the third instalment of the grant to only about 15 per cent of the households.

More than 85 per cent households that completed the houses received the grant money from the national and international Non-Government Organisations (NGOs).

Dr. Bhusal said that the NGOs have deployed their engineers in the field who conduct timely inspection of the house under construction and recommend for the grant while the government engineers and grant distribution were affected due to elections and internal adjustments.

He said that I/NGOs are supporting about 12,000 families in reconstructing their houses.

Initially, I/NGOs wanted to support 100,000 families but as there was delay in releasing their money, the quake-affected families applied for the government grants.

As per the rules, a family can obtain the grant money either from the government or I/NGOs.

The NRA said that the grant agreement was signed with 635,272 households, and 603,690 families have received the first instalment of the money.

Likewise, the second instalment was received by 62,552 families.

Of the 996,162 families surveyed, 765,618 were included in the beneficiaries’ list.

Non-tariff barriers hampered Nepal's export to India

Kathmandu, Aug. 25: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has said that the non-tariff barriers like quarantine and sanitary phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers of trade, and stringent rules of origin have hampered Nepal’s export to India.

“To address these non-tariff problems, we seek India’s technical assistance in enhancing the quality of Nepali products, and making quarantine and SPS lab certification compatible to Indian standard,” said FNCCI President Bhawani Rana during a meeting with Indian Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi the other day.

According to a press statement issued by the FNCCI, she requested India to relax stringent rules-of-origin criteria for goods manufactured in Nepal and simplify to a single criterion of 20 per cent value addition.

India is Nepal’s largest trading and economic partner but the trade imbalance between the two countries is ever increasing, with Nepal’s export to import ratio to India reaching 1:15.

Rana said that India could play a pivotal role in narrowing down the gap by bringing investment and technology to Nepal to enhance productivity and competitiveness, and enhancing bilateral intra-industry trade and giving an opportunity to Nepali investors to be a part of the ‘Make in India’ campaign by supporting the complementary industries in Nepal.

“We request to provide Goods and Services Tax (GST) waiver facility in services export as well, irrespective of the currency of payment as there is still not clarity about the GST waiver on services export and transit cargos. It has made the procurement of services from India expensive,” reads the statement.

The FNCCI has urged the minister to issue the ‘Explosive Certificate’ to Nepali LP gas industries by the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) of India.

Due to the lack of such certificates, Nepali gas bullets are not allowed to carry LP gas from India to Nepal.

It stressed on the need to reform the Trade and Transit Treaty between the two countries.

The FNCCI is establishing a ‘Nepal-India Economic Cell’ in Kathmandu with the Indian Embassy’s support to facilitate in addressing concerns raised in bilateral economic relations.

The FNCCI delegation included immediate-past President Pashupati Murarka, Senior Vice-President Shekhar Golchha, VP Chandra Prasad Dhakal and Treasurer Gyanendra Lal Pradhan.

Nepal to chair Group of Asia-Pacific States

Kathmandu, Aug. 25:

The Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York is set to assume the chairmanship of the Group of the Asia- Pacific States in New York for the month of September 2017.

According to a press statement issued by the Mission, such arrangement was announced at the Group's monthly meeting in New York on Friday.

“Group’s chair for August, Ambassador Marlene Moses, Permanent Representative of Nauru, extended special thanks to the delegation of Nepal for accepting the responsibility despite September being a hectic month in New York and assured of her delegation's full cooperation,” reads the statement.

On behalf of the group, she also extended heartfelt condolences on the death and suffering caused by recent floods and landslides in Nepal.

Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Durga Prasad Bhattarai, welcomed the opportunity as an honour for his delegation to serve the group as its chair.

He also expressed gratitude for the condolences expressed by the chair and other friends of Nepal on the deaths and damage Nepal sustained due to Monsoon induced floods and landslides in recent weeks.

This is the first time that Nepal will be chairing the Group since September 2012.

All elected positions in the UN System are distributed among Member States on the basis of their respective geographical regions.

For that purpose, countries are currently arranged under five regional groups, of which Asia-Pacific is the largest comprising 55 states.

The other groups are Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Western European and other countries.

DFID to support in entrepreneurship development

Kathmandu, Aug. 24: The Department for International Development of the United Kingdom is supporting 22 companies in entrepreneurship development programme, Acceleration and I-Cube Incubation Programme.

The programme is implemented by Accelerator Nepal in partnership with Rockstart Impact and Nepal Communitere.

According to a press statement issued by the Rockstart, the programme will focus on business incubation and acceleration, actively nurturing and supporting high potential companies for growth via incubation, acceleration and investment.

“The applications for the programme are open from 1 August to 5 October. Out of all the applicants 22 companies will be selected for the entrepreneurship development programmes,” reads the statement.

Ten companies will go for the 100-day acceleration programme at Rockstart Impact while other twelve will be incubated for a year at Nepal Communitere’s I-Cube Incubation Programme, before going for further business development and investment.

The company said that the goal of the 100-day business acceleration programme was to make 10 high potential entrepreneurs ‘investment-ready’ each year.

“Such entrepreneurs will have a clear vision and understanding on how they can realistically grow their business in a sustainable way. These programmes provide entrepreneurs with critical coaching and mentoring needed for business development, along with other tools required to grow their business to the next level,” said Rabi Rayamajhi, Private Sector Development Advisor at the DFID Nepal.

“The development of Nepal is taking a turn whereas the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are playing the role of a leader, an inspirer, and, a provider. We want to contribute as partners in this quest that these truly brave entrepreneurs have started," said Willem Grimminck, Rockstart Impact initiator. 

Upper Trishuli 3B signs PPA with the NEA

Kathmandu, Aug. 23: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and Trishuli Hydropower Company Tuesday signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the Upper Trishuli-3B Hydropower Project.

The 37MW project is being developed with the joint investment of the NEA and Nepal Telecom.

NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghishing and Project chief of Trishuli Jal Vidhyut Company Limited Mohan Prasad Gautam signed the PPA on behalf of their respective organisations.

As per the agreement, the NEA will buy 134.88 gigawatt hours (GWh) from the company in the dry season (December to May) and 157.71 GWh in the wet season (June to October).

The PPA rate is Rs. 4.80 during the wet season and Rs. 8.40 during the dry season.

Gautam said that the construction of the project would begin from January next year.

“We are selecting the contractors for the construction of the project. As per our estimates, the construction work will be completed in three years,” he said.

According to him, the company has signed the primary agreement for the financial closure.

A consortium of Nabil Bank, Hydropower Investment and Development Company Limited, Citizen Investment Trust and Nepal Bank has agreed to finance the project.

NEA and Nepal Telecom will have 30-30 per cent shares in the project.

Likewise, municipalities and rural municipalities of Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts will have 5 per cent share, local financial institutions 5 per cent, common people 15 per cent, and employees of NEA and Telecom will have 5 per cent shares in the project.

The Upper Trishuli 3B is a cascade-type project of the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project which is being developed by the NEA.