BICCI suggests to double the limit of taxable income

 Kathmandu, Mar. 25

Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BICCI) has suggested the Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma to double the limit of the taxable income.

According to it, the limit for the taxable income should be raised to Rs. 800,000 for a single person and Rs. 850,000 for a married couple.

"The country should also change the current single rate Value Added Tax (VAT) to multi-rate and impose minimum VAT on necessary commodities," BICCI President Subodh Kumar Gupta said at a press conference organised in Kathmandu on Friday after meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand, FM Sharma, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari and other high government officials over a period of five days.

He said that the government should recognise the GST receipt while importing goods from India and refer to the website of the respective company for the price of the goods imported from the third countries.

The business body also demanded that there should be a difference of at least 15 per cent in the imports of raw materials and finished goods and remove the customs duty of Rs. 1 per kg in pulses. It suggested set the rent of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to Rs. 5 per square per month from the current Rs. 20 per sq. feet a month.

"Likewise, SEZ should welcome industries that export 25 per cent of their product instead of current policy of 60 per cent export. Income tax discount period should be increased to 5-10 years from 2 years," read a statement issued by BICCI.

Similarly, in the meeting with Governor Adhikari, the BICCI delegation urged for a policy to mobilise agriculture loan at 2 per cent interest rate.

 

   Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 26 March 2022. 

PM to address BIMSTEC summit on March 30

Kathmandu, Mar. 25

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will virtually address the Fifth Summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to be held in Sri Lanka on March 30.

The Nepali delegation led by the Prime Minister will include Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka, Principal Personal Secretary to the Prime Minister Bhan Bahadur Deuba, Chief Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi, Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and senior officials from Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

FM Dr. Khadka will participate in-person in the Eighteenth BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on March 29, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement on Friday.

Dr. Khadka is flying to Colombo on March 28.

On the sidelines, he will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BIMSTEC member states.

Similarly, the Nepali delegation led by Ghanshyam Bhandari, Joint Secretary and Head of Regional Organisation Division at the Ministry, will participate in the Twenty-Second BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting physically on March 28.

The Fifth BIMSTEC Summit and its preceding meetings are being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on March 28-30 in a hybrid mode. The theme of the Summit this year is ‘BIMSTEC – Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy Peoples’.

FM Khadka will return to Kathmandu on March 31.

 

Meanwhile, Dr. Khadka addressed the Ministerial Meeting of the Champion Countries of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) held today in Rabat, Morocco, in hybrid format, said the ministry.

In his pre-recorded address, he underlined Nepal’s commitment to GCM and highlighted that partnership and cooperation with sending and destination countries, regional consultative groups and other entities are indispensable to maximising migration's contribution to securing mutual development benefits.

Minister Dr. Khadka said that Nepal looks forward to working with the international community for the realisation of the vision of safe, orderly, and regular migration.

   Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 26 March 2022. 

Wang arrives in Kathmandu

 Itinerary includes project signing and Pokhara Airport completion ceremony

 

Kathmandu, Mar. 25

State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi arrived in Kathmandu on Friday for a three-day official visit to Nepal.

He is in Kathmandu at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka.

Upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Wang was received by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) this afternoon.

The visiting Chinese Foreign Minister will hold delegation-level bilateral talks with Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka on Saturday, according to the MoFA.

Following the meeting, there will be a signing ceremony for a couple of projects to be developed in Nepal under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – an initiative for connectivity and infrastructure development announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Nepal had already signed agreement for the implementation of infrastructure and industrial projects in Nepal under the BRI.

He is making the first high-level visit to Nepal since Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assumed the post of the Prime Minister in July 2020. During his visit, he will pay courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday.

A virtual completion ceremony of the Pokhara Regional International Airport will be organised Saturday evening in the presence of Prime Minister Deuba. The airport was constructed with the support of China.

Wang will also meet former PM and chairman of CPN (UML) KP Sharma Oli and former PM and chairman of CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Sunday.

FM Wang is leading a 20-member delegation, including China's Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi, Assistant Ministers of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Commerce, Wu Jianghao and Sheng Qiuping respectively.

Likewise, Nepali delegation led by Dr. Khadka includes Foreign Secretary Paudyal, and secretaries of Ministry of Finance, Tourism, Home Affairs, Energy, Agriculture, Industry, Physical Infrastructure, Health, and Land Management, and high officials from the MoFA.

The Chinese FM had arrived in Kathmandu after concluding his visit to Pakistan, Afghanistan and New Delhi, India. He will depart for Beijing by a special aircraft Sunday afternoon.

Wang had made a 3-day sojourn of Nepal in 2019 September, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit China and the world, to make preparations for the official visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping who arrived in Kathmandu in October that year.

Xi's visit was the top-level exchange in an interval of 23 years. 

  Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 26 March 2022. 

12 Local Bodies Running Sans Budget Outlays

 Kathmandu, Mar. 24: 

Even after four years’ experience in federalism and governance, some of the local bodies failed to formulate and execute their budget in time.

While the third quarter of the current fiscal year 2021/22 is nearing its end, 12 local governments haven’t been able to pass their budget document. According to the constitutional provision, local bodies should formulate and pass their budget by the local assembly 20 days before the end of the fiscal year.

However, experts said that the budget formulation was affected not by the poor technical capacity but political interests or conflict of interest among the representatives of the respective local body, especially between the chair and vice-chair.

No government can spend money, including the development financing and salary payment, without getting their budget passed from the municipal assembly. Such expenses are illegal and unconstitutional, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Baburam Subedi, said at an interaction on ‘Five years of fiscal federalism and implementation’ organised by the National Association of Rural Municipalities in Nepal (NARMIN) on Wednesday in the Capital.

Basanta Adhikari, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA), said that 151 local bodies failed to present their budget in time this year.
Likewise, 59 local bodies couldn’t perform the audit of their financial activities in the last fiscal.
He said that the ministry is initiating dialogue with the local bodies to get the feedback and suggestions on governance which is expected to help in the policy and planning for the forthcoming leadership in the subnational governments.

According to Adhikari, lack of exit plan for the local representatives is the immediate challenge. “This is the first experience for the staff of the local bodies as well. Issues like clearing arrears and other financial liabilities, returning goods they received from the local government are the major issues in the exit plan. The ministry is launching orientation programmes for the local representatives,” he said.

He maintained that the mindset at the federal level should be changed. Number of civil servants is increased at the federal level while the local bodies are facing shortage of required human resources.
If local bodies have failed to bring about the budget, the federal and provincial governments or National Natural Resource and Fiscal Commission should help them in resolving the obstructions and finding ways to move forward, said Rameshwore Khanal, former Finance Secretary.

However, Khanal said that there was great reform in terms of service delivery at the local bodies. They immensely contributed to the prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19 pandemic, and performed well in physical infrastructure development, waste management and sanitation.

In many local bodies, enrolmen in government/community schools is increased compared to the private schools in the past four and half years. Physical facilities and quality of
education of public schools have been considerably improved, said Khanal.

“Arrears, training for human resources are the challenges for the local bodies. Representatives and administrative staff lack knowledge about arrears and clearing them,” he said. Former Chief Secretary, Dr. Som Lal Subedi said that provinces should transfer more resources to the local bodies, current share of 4 per cent is not enough.
Local government representatives said that the implementation of federalism had primarily rested on their shoulders and local bodies performed better than expected although they got negligible support from the federal and provincial governments.

Krishna Prasad Dahal, Chairman of Finance Committee at the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament, said that increasing trend of conditional grant from the federal government is not a good sign. It is being used to mobilise the party cadres and influence public opinion in targeted areas, he said.

Federal government should not dictate the local governments about the development projects and activities. The Finance Committee will soon issue a directive to the federal government, said Dahal.
He urged to create a document incorporating learning, shortcoming and weaknesses of the first five years in fiscal federalism. According to him, one of the reasons behind the damning opinion against federalism is the poor performance of the local governments.

  Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 25 March 2022. 

Agriculture to get top priority in next budget

Kathmandu, Mar. 25

Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini has said that agriculture would be top priority sector in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2022/23.

"The Finance Ministry has begun the preparations for the next budget. It is unfortunate that the country with 61 per cent people's involvement in agriculture imports agriculture produces worth billions of rupees while youth migrate to other countries in search of jobs," he said while speaking at the national dialogue on financial access in agriculture organised at the Agriculture Credit Fair which is ongoing in Bharatpur of Chitwan district.

The fair is a part of the fifth National Agricultural Mechanisation Exhibition 2022.

Marasini said that the government is ready to create favourable environment for agricultural development. According to him, government's duty is to create favourable environment while the private sector, banks and farmers need to work to develop the sector.

Government is committed to creating better policies, he said and indicated that farmers lack financial literacy. Many of them couldn't obtain the concessional loan facility due to the lack of financial literacy, said Marasini.

Former Minister Ganesh Shah said that it is necessary to connect water, energy and food procession. "Farmers should be taught about the marketing strategies not only production techniques. They need education and awareness about the financial facility as well," he said.

Chairman of Nabil Bank Upendra Poudel urged to find out the activities that have high potential to support farmers and farming. 

  Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 26 March 2022. 

Wang Yi arriving today

Kathandu, Mar. 24

State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, is arriving in Kathmandu on Friday for a three-day official visit.

He is making the first high-level visit to Nepal since Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assumed the post of the Prime Minister in July 2020, at the invitation of Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka.

During his visit, he will pay courtesy calls to President Vidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meetings with the President and PM are slated for Saturday.

On the same day, he will lead his delegation for bilateral talks with Dr. Khadka.

Wang is also scheduled to meet former PM and Chairman of CPN (UML) KP Sharma Oli and former PM and Chairman of CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'.

Spokesperson of the MoFA, Sewa Lamsal, said that the ministry is finalising the updated itinerary of Wang during his stay in Nepal. 

  Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 25 March 2022. 

Entrepreneurship conclave ends

Kathmandu, Mar. 24

The 3^rd edition of International Entrepreneurship Conclave–Connect [IN], successfully organised the other day in Kathmandu.

The event was co-inaugurated by Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki and Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra.

The event aimed at building upon the success of previous two editions to further cement the growing linkages between the startup ecosystem of India and Nepal, said the Embassy of India in Kathmandu in a statement.

The day-long Conclave saw participation of about 25 entrepreneurs, including five from India, working in domains as diverse as e-commerce, life sciences, fintech, education technology, social entrepreneurship, food tech, and financial services.

"Aspiring entrepreneurs, business leaders, media persons and bankers benefited from the discussions and deliberations that took place during the conclave. A much larger number watched the conclave over live stream," read the statement.

The Conclave comprised of four Entrepreneur InShots: stories from founders of key startups which have made it big in India and Nepal.

From India, these stories included Meesho, a unicorn, worth over US $ 1 billion, and one of India’s largest social e-commerce and resale portals, and Elucidata, an upcoming firm that uses data analytics to bridge the gap between life sciences and engineering. From Nepal, it included the well-known fintech player F1Soft Group and the e-commerce portal Sastodeal.

The Conclave also featured three panel discussions focusing on salient matters in the startup space, such as challenges faced by startups during their early stages, funding of startups from venture capitalists’ perspective, and on how technology can help overcome barriers in traditional businesses.

Among the Indian participants were Yatra Angel Network, a VC firm focusing on funding of fintech ventures, and Credenc, a startup using technology and data analytics for better decision making on disbursal of educational loans.

From Nepal, these included well-known startups such as Tootle, Hatti Hatti, Pick and Drop, Pad2Go and SweetFix, and VCs such as Dolma Impact Fund and Business Oxygen. The event also featured speakers from Standard Chartered Bank and King’s College Kathmandu.

  Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 25 March 2022. 

Chinese FM to arrive Kathmandu on Friday

 Kathmandu, Mar. 22

State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi will pay courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Wang is coming to Nepal on a three-day official visit from 25 to 27 March, 2022 at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka.

This is the first high-level exchange from the northern neighbour since Prime Minister Deuba assumed power in July last year.

FM Dr. Khadka and his Chinese counterpart Wang will hold bilateral talks, leading their respective delegations on 26 March.

Wang will also meet former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli, and former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.

  Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 23 March 2022. 

Provision sought to end frequent transfer of civil servants in local levels

 Kathmandu, Mar. 22

Provincial policy and planning commissions of all seven provinces and local governments have recommended a provision not to transfer the civil servants deployed at the subnational government offices for at least two years.

In a declaration issued after the conclusion of a two-day coordination meeting on ‘plan formulation, implementation and reporting of governments in federal structure’ on Tuesday, they said that the federal government should immediately provide required human resources to all local levels.

Earlier, in the meeting, organised by the Provincial Policy and Planning Commission of Bagmati Province and managed by National Association of Rural Municipalities in Nepal (NARMIN), representatives of various rural municipalities across the country had said that they were facing challenges in service delivery due to lack of sufficient man power and frequent transfer of executive officers.

A local body in Solukhumbu had witnessed transfer of six executive officers in the past five years, and this has become a trend in many local bodies, said Hom Narayan Shrestha, president of NARMIN.

He demanded that the local bodies should have the right to appoint the needed staff to ensure timely and smooth service delivery.

Likewise, the 13-point declaration read that the fiscal year should begin with the beginning of the Nepali New Year on Baisakh 1 (mid-April) to better utilise the resources. “Although this is not the remedy to the practice of making haphazard expenditure at the end of the fiscal year, ending fiscal year by mid-April would save a significant amount of resources that are wasted in development works after the advent of monsoon,” said Dr. Krishna Raj Pant, Vice Chairman of the Policy and Planning Commission of Bagmati Province while announcing the declaration.

Likewise, the declaration includes a suggestion to the National Planning Commission to inform its important programmes and projects and role of provinces by mid-March each year and the provincial PPCs to inform their target, priority and programmes to the local bodies by mid-April in order to make the development work and budget mobilisation more effective.

“A project monitoring information system should be developed and institutionalised. Result-oriented monitoring system should be applied and level-wise reporting system should be developed,” read the document.

It has suggested categorising the development projects as national pride, large, transformative, and medium and small.

It also demanded that the practice to include non-budgetary projects should be discouraged and budgets should  be allocated to the projects with preparedness including the detailed project report (DPR).

 Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 23 March 2022. 

Entrepreneurship Conclave on March 23

Kathmandu, Mar. 22

The 3^rd edition of International Entrepreneurship Conclave – Connect [IN], slated for 23 March in Kathmandu, aims at building upon the success of previous two editions to further cement the growing linkages between the startup ecosystem of India and Nepal, said the Embassy of India in Kathmandu.

The conclave is also part of the year-long celebrations to mark 75 years of India’s independence.

“In its current edition, Connect [IN] will include stories from founders of key startups which have made it big in India and Nepal.” said the embassy in a statement on Tuesday.

From India, these stories will include Meesho, a unicorn and one of India’s largest social e-commerce and resale portals, and Elucidata, an upcoming firm that uses data analytics to bridge the gap between life sciences and engineering. From Nepal, it will include the well-known fintech player F1Soft Group and the e-commerce portal Sastodeal.

The Conclave will also feature three panel discussions focusing on challenges faced by startups during their early stages, funding of startups from venture capitalist’s perspective, and on how technology can help overcome barriers in traditional businesses.

Among the Indian participants are Yatra Angel Network, a VC firm focusing on funding of fintech ventures, and Credenc, a startup using technology and data analytics for better decision making on disbursal of educational loans.

From Nepal, these would include well-known startups such as Tootle, Hatti Hatti, Pick and Drop, Pad2Go and SweetFix, and VCs such as Dolma Impact Fund and Business Oxygen. The event will also feature speakers from Standard Chartered Bank and King’s College Kathmandu.

The Conclave was earlier scheduled for 1^st week of February 2022 but had to be postponed to March in view of the worsening pandemic at the time.

In its previous two editions, Connect [IN] provided an enabling platform to young entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists and experts from Nepal and India to learn from and connect with each other on a range of domains – from ideas to business models, problems to solutions, and businesses to funding, said the embassy. 

Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 23 March 2022. 

IBN, UNDP sign MoU to promote investment, improve service delivery

Kathmandu, Mar. 22

The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) and UNDP in Nepal have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to forge cooperation in the areas of mutual interest.

Chief Executive Officer of the IBN Sushil Bhatta and UNDP’s Resident Representative in Nepal, Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe signed the MoU on Tuesday.

The two organisations have expected that the MoU would support achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by fulfilling the financing gap by promoting investment in Nepal through public private partnership (PPP) and blended finance.

The MoU also mentions enhancing the institutional capacity, and promoting private investment and PPP model in the country. It also includes the issues like conducting studies on social and environment impact assessment standards in project development, and formulation of project development agreement (PDA) and project investment agreement (PIA), and establishing support in such activities.

According to the MoU, the UNDP will also support the investment body in the development of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to make the service of the board more effective.

CEO Bhatta said that the MoU had boosted hopes in investment promotion. He stressed on the cooperation in the areas of internal capacity building of the board, minimization of risks for the investors and promotion of viability.

UNDP’s Medagangoda-Labe said that the cooperation with the IBN will play an important role in the capacity building of the three levels of the government. 

Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 23 March 2022. 

IFC, NEPSE ring the bell for gender equality

Kathmandu, Mar. 22

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has joined the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) to 'Ring the Bell for Gender Equality,' an annual global event that highlights how the private sector can spur women’s participation in the global economy and promote sustainable development.

This is the second consecutive year NEPSE joined the event.

Accelerating the pace of gender parity could lead to important economic, environmental, social, and governance gains in emerging and frontier markets, said the IFC in a statement on Tuesday.

It said that if women fully participated in formal labour markets, the global gross domestic product (GDP) would increase by $28 trillion, according to the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative.

"For the second year in a row, we join hands with IFC and the UN Global Compact Nepal for the ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’ event," said Krishna Bahadur Karki, CEO of NEPSE. "We recognize that stock exchanges can play a key role by nudging listed companies to do more to promote equality." 

A growing body of research shows a range of business benefits associated with gender diversity on corporate boards and in senior leadership. It also underlines the positive influence of gender-diverse management and boards on a company’s sustainability profile, including improved financial performance and shareholder value, and rising investor confidence, among others, read the statement.

"With countries gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the right time to push for increased participation of women to accelerate the recovery process," said Pradeep Man Vaidya, President of United Nations Global Compact Network Nepal.

An IFC study in Nepal's power sector shows that out of 132 board members from 20 companies, only 12 (9 per cent) are women. Despite Nepal's Companies Act 2066 BS requiring at least one or more female shareholders, only three out of 10 public companies have women on their boards.

"The Ring the Bell initiative is designed to highlight the catalytic role that stock exchanges can play in fostering gender equality and driving inclusive growth,” said IFC Resident Representative in Nepal Babacar S. Faye. “It is encouraging to see the commitment of private sector companies in Nepal as demonstrated by 19 power sector companies that worked with IFC’s Powered by Women Initiative to level the playing field.” 

Published in The Rising Nepal dialy on 23 March 2022. 

Representatives stress capacity enhancement of local bodies

Lalitpur, Mar. 21

"Should we still make rounds of Singhadurbar with cans of ghee?" asked Man Bahadur Dangi, chairman of Triveni Gaunpalika in Salyan district.

Still the culture of mobilising budget on the basis of access is intact, he expressed frustration over the slow progress in institutionalisation of federal system in Nepal.

Dangi is one of the many representatives participating in a two-day coordination meeting on 'plan formulation, implementation and reporting of governments in federal structure' that kicked off in Lalitpur on Monday.

Vice chairperson of Gajuri Rural Municipality of Dhading district Sita Dhungana said that capacity of local bodies should be enhanced in terms of capital budget mobilisation.

According to her, contractors have invested the mobilisation cost of the projects in real estates and left the projects incomplete while some of them could not begin at all. Contractors get 20 per cent of the total project's budget to begin construction work as per the law.

Representatives of various local bodies said that frequent changes of administrative officers in the local bodies had also serious repercussion in the development works and other programmes.

Speaking at the meeting organised by Provincial Policy and Planning Commission of Bagmati Province and managed by National Association of Rural Municipalities in Nepal (NARMIN), they said that the public procurement law should be simplified and there should be a provision of stern action against the contractors that don't complete their job in the prescribed time.

Fragmented development

Provincial policy and planning commissions (PPCs) have said that the fragmented development activities and distributive budget planning have become the main culture among the local bodies.

"Since the planning bodies are not supported with adequate resources, they could not exhibit effective performance," they said.

Dr. Krishna Raj Pant, vice chairman of the PPC of Bagmati Province, said that all provinces should move ahead with the project planning and implementation through the project banks so that there could be better preparedness.

"We are suggesting the provincial government not to invest in the projects smaller than Rs. 5 million and have strategic importance," he said.

Dr. Pant stressed on integrated planning system, and enhanced and effective cooperation among the three levels of governments in policy and programme formulation as well as implementation.

According to him, monitoring of development and programmes is limited to just observation, and it couldn't be made result-oriented.

Likewise, vice chairman of Province Policy and Planning Commission of Madhes Province Dr. Bhogendra Jha said that there was no discipline to maintain good governance in any level of government. "Recurrent expenditure of provinces can be brought down by at least 40 per cent," he said.

Failure of the governments

However, Chairman of District Coordination Committee (DCC) Nawaraj Gelal said that it were the governments that failed to implement the development projects. "There is no policy constraint in federal system but implementing stakeholders couldn't perform as per the expectation," he said.

Purushottam Nepal, Executive Chairman of the Institute of Local Governance Studies (INLOGOS), said that mobilisation of internal resources has been enhanced and public concerns and scrutiny in local development activities and policy formulation have increased.

"Local bodies did not get the budget ceiling in time nor received the budget as per commitment. Budget ceiling was far from reality which caused programmes failures in various local bodies," he said.

According to him, institutional capacity of local bodies is poor and no effort was made to enhance their capability in the past five years from any stakeholders including the federal government.

"Most of the political parties adapted the national election manifesto to the local body needs which largely ignored the local needs and realities. More sensitivity in the part of political parties is needed," said Nepal.

Balananda Sharma, chairperson of the National Natural Resource and Fiscal Commission, said that the country is yet to fully adapt the spirit of federalism.

Local representatives said that the federal government should increase the equilisation grant and gradually reduce the conditional grant to the local bodies.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 March 2022. 

Bagmati to introduce Civil Service Act

Lalitpur, Mar. 21

Chief Minister of Bagmati Province Rajendra Prasad Pandey has said that the province would soon formulate a Civil Service Act.

Speaking at a coordination meeting on policy and planning on Monday in Lalitpur, he informed that the province was all set to come up with a new Civil Service Act as the provinces and local bodies are facing problems due to lack of sufficient human resources to deliver service and operate the government programmes.

He said that the federal government should formulate and implement projects over Rs. 1 billion, provinces above Rs. 10 million and local bodies above Rs. 100,000.

Likewise, the federal government should look after the national pride projects, foreign affairs while previous projects managed by the central government should be handed over to the provinces, said CM Pandey.

He also said that according to the constitution, the local bodies are expected to deliver services to people. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 March 2022. 

Country Should Have Self-Reliant Economy: PM

Kathmandu, Mar. 21: 

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said that development of the country will be impossible without building a self-reliant economy.

Addressing the sixth meeting of the Board of Trade in the capital on Sunday, the Prime Minister stressed production of domestic goods to minimise the growing imports and directed the ministry to follow policy and programmes that focus on creating the self-reliant economy. Currently, PM Deuba is also looking after the portfolio of the Ministry of Industry.

"Enhance exports by identifying the goods that have high export potential and have comparative advantages, promote and prioritise domestic goods, and formulate laws that motivate the private sector," he directed the concerned agencies and authorities.

Joint Secretary at the ministry Dr. Narayan Prasad Regmi said that Prime Minister Deuba directed the MoICS to form a task force to provide necessary suggestions on the course of action to be taken to address the current liquidity problem and pressure on foreign exchange reserve.

Secretary at the ministry Dr. Ganesh Prasad Pandey had presented a working paper on the current status of Nepal's international trade, its challenges and alternatives for the imports management.
Members of the board from the private sector had demanded review of the policies related to investment, and promotion of production and use of domestic goods. Likewise, they suggested creating investment-friendly environment in education, health and agriculture to attract foreign investment in those sectors. The participants also suggested formulating an inter-governmental mechanism with the participation of the private sector to find out policy alternatives to the management of imports and promotion of exports.

State Minister for State Umesh Shrestha, Vice-chairman of the National Planning Committee Dr. Bishwo Nath Poudel and member Dr. Ram Kumar Phuyal, Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari and experts of the commerce and industry were present during the meeting.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 March 2022. 

IBN approved Rs. 179 billion investment in 8 months

Kathmandu, Mar. 10

The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has approved the investment of about Rs. 179.6 billion in the last eight months of the since the beginning of the current fiscal year 2021/22. It has approved the investment of Rs. 1 trillion so far.

The projects approved by the board include Upper Tamor Hydropower, Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower, Jum Khola Hydropower, capital increment of Arun III Hydropower, and capacity increment of Dabur Nepal. Of the approved projects, Upper Tamor is the largest programme in terms of investment – Rs. 62.2 billion, followed by Arun II Rs. 62.2 billion and Manang Marsyangdi Rs. 33.4 billion.

Likewise, the investment size of Jum Khola is Rs. 10.5 billion, and Dabur Nepal is Rs. 9.6 billion.

According to a report the investment facilitation body presented to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, IBN facilitated two projects – Hongshi Shivam Cement and Waste to Energy Project in Dharan – are in operation.

The 900 MW Arun II, and 216 MW Upper Trishuli 1 Hydropower Project, and Huaxin Cement Narayani Project are under construction. They are Rs. 144 billion, Rs. 73.15 billion and Rs. 14.8 billion projects respectively. Huaxin Narayani has started test production from its plant in Dhading district.

Likewise, 900 MW Upper Karnali Hydroelectricity Project of Rs. 116 billion has got extension for study time.

According to the IBN, five projects are approved and in different states of implementation. They include Upper Marsyandi Hydropower, China-Nepal Friendship Industrial Park, Vehicle Manufacturing and Assembling Plant, Dang Cement Project and Samrat Cement. Combined investment of these projects will cross Rs. 200 billion.

Similarly, West Seti Hydropwer, Nijgadh International Airport Project and Kathmandu Outer Ring Road Project are under procurement. Tamor Hydropower, Lower Arun Hydropower and Solar Power Project are under study. About a dozen other projects are under evaluation and preparation.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sharma directed the IBN to invest in a large-scale project by raising the capital on its own.

"The board should not wait for the investors to develop the projects. It should concentrate on developing projects on its own. The government is ready to support in such initiative," he said in a meeting organised at the IBN the other day.

He expressed dissatisfaction over the failure to implement of the one-door service centre to the foreign investments.

Chief Executive Officer of the IBN, Sushil Bhatta said that a policy decision was needed to manage space to develop large manufacturing industries. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 March 2022.

Gold price falls after reaching all-time high

Kathmandu, Mar. 10

After touching an all-time high record on Wednesday, price of gold came down to Rs. 102,000 per tola on Thursday. It witnessed an overnight fall of Rs. 3,500.

Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers' Association (FENEGOSIDA) set the price of hallmark gold for Wednesday at Rs. 105,500 per tola, an increment of Rs. 2,500 from the day before. The price was set at Rs. 103,000 per tola on Thursday.

Likewise, the price of worked gold is set at Rs. 102,500 per tola. The price of the yellow metal has been increasing in the last few days owing to the tensions in the eastern Europe. Silver has also followed the same suit and its price per tola reached Rs. 1405. Its price the other day was Rs. 1,450.

About one-and-a-half years ago, on August 7, 2020, gold price had reached Rs. 103,500 for a tola before it caught a downward trend. It had touched Rs. 88,000 mark before climbing up again.

Traders and entrepreneurs said that the price of the precious metal in Nepal had just reflected the trend in the international market. It has reached US$1999 for an ounce (28 grams) on Thursday afternoon after touching $ 2,017 the other day.

Gold price increases due to short supply, fluctuations in the price of the US dollars, increment in bank interest rates and international geopolitical crisis. This time, the price is fluctuated in the wake of Russia-Ukraine tensions and it peaked along with the growth in the intensity of the war.

Gold is one of the safest bet for investment during crisis situation and many investors resort to its purchase physically as well as in the derivative market. Therefore, we can attribute this price hike to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Dwarika Bishwokarma, second Vice-President of Federation of Nepal Gold Silver Gem and Jewellery Associations.

The price of gold in the international market on Wednesday recorded an increase of $227 in a month – an exponential growth compared with the rise of $325 in a year.

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs of this sector have urged the government to formulate a clear policy for the operation of gold and silver-related businesses.

A delegation of FENEGOSIDA led by its President Manik Ratna Shakya called on Director General of the Department of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection, Prem Kumar Shrestha the other day to tell him that the businesses were facing hurdles in absence of clear policy.

"We have been demanding an exclusive policy for gold and silver business for more than a decade but no government listened to it," said Shakya. The government and entrepreneurs had reached an agreement about nine years ago to formulate a policy and implement it but there has been zero progress so far. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 March 2022.

Saudi FM to arrive Nepal on Monday

Kathmandu, Mar. 13

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Fahran Al Saud is arriving Nepal on a 2-day official visit on Monday.

He will be in Nepal on 14 and 15 March 2022, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement on Sunday.

During the visit, FM Faisal is scheduled to pay courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka will hold a meeting with his Saudi counterpart on 15 March 2022. He will also host a luncheon in honour of the visiting dignitary, the MoFA said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 14 March 2022.

Local government, first school of democracy: PM Deuba

Kathmandu, Mar. 13

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said on Sunday that the local government is the first school for the democracy.

Addressing the 29^th Establishment Day of the Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) in Kathmandu he said that the local government is the government at the doorstep of the people and is the strong foundation of federalism.

According to him, some law and acts mention the local government as local level but it will be changed to 'local government' in all documents.

"Following the three-tier governance system in the country, the constitution has given important rights and responsibilities such as development, construction and service delivery to the local levels, especially the municipalities," he said.

He said that the municipalities have significantly contributed to various areas like the development of model law, municipal planning, localisation of sustainable development, and capacity building of judicial committee.

PM Deuba stressed on the commitment of the municipalities in maintaining good governance by delivering service to the people without any biases.

Stating that most of the municipalities are facing unplanning urbanisation which has compromised the natural beauty of the cities and originality while they are becoming unsafe for the inhabitants, he pointed to the need of applying sustainable development strategy in all cities across the country.

"There is a need for a deliberate and integrated approach to develop infrastructure by checking haphazard construction in the cities. I would like to urge all municipalities in the country to work to establish them as model local bodies with original identity and uniqueness," said PM Deuba.

He urged them to develop cities with safe and healthy residential areas and centres of economic activities.

Founding Chairman of MuAN, Dormani Poudel said that since the local government is the foundation of the federalism, they should be strengthened for the institutional development of the federalism.

PM Deuba felicitated municipalities that performed the best. Waling and Putalibazar municipalities were felicitated for their contribution in the development of participatory approach and financial good governance, and Nilkantha Municipality for its best work in the area of urban infrastructure planning and development and disaster management.

Likewise, Ilam Municipality was felicitated for good works in forest, environment and climate change management, Tilottama and Rapti municipalities for social development, and Rapti Municipality. PM Deuba also unveiled a book titled 'Nepalma Sanghiyata'.

MuAN has 293 municipalities as its members. Every district across the country, except Humla, Rasuwa, Manang and Mustang, have at least one municipality.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 14 March 2022.

'People's aspiration must be met to sustain democracy'

 Kathmandu, Mar. 13

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka, has said that people's aspirations must be met in order to sustain democratic governance.

Addressing a panel on 'Democratic Governance and Security' during his visit of Turkey to participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Sunday, he underlined that 'democracy is the best guarantor of security', informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement.

He shared his perspectives on the role of democratic governance in creating a peaceful, stable and prosperous society while highlighting Nepal's journey through struggles in the institutionalisation of today's inclusive democracy.

On the sidelines of the Forum, Minister Dr. Khadka continued his high-level engagements. He met with Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.

Minister Al Marri said that his government accorded priority to countries like Nepal for trade, investment and other areas of cooperation and requested for a list of feasible investment projects in Nepal. Minister Dr. Khadka appreciated the the UAE for its continued goodwill and support.

Kairat Sarybay, Secretary-General of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), paid a courtesy call on the Minister on the sidelines. During the meeting, Sarybay briefed about the organisation's activities in promoting multilateralism and connectivity in the region.  

Earlier, Dr. Khadka attended a reception hosted by the President of Turkey in honour of the visiting delegates.

Previously, he had held meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu where they agreed to further expand the opportunities of bilateral trade and investment between the two nations. According to MoFA, Cavusoglu had expressed commitment to enhancing productive partnership in mutually beneficial areas.

Likewise, on the sidelines, FM Dr. Khadka held meeting with his Bahraini counterpart Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani. He appreciated Bahrain for safeguarding the interest of Nepali migrant workers there.

 Over 50 foreign ministers together with a cross-section of policy makers and experts are attending the event. The theme for this year’s annual Forum was ‘Recoding Diplomacy’.

The FM left for Kathmandu in the evening on Sunday.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 14 March 2022.

Impunity In Transport Sector Leaves Passengers High & Dry

 Kathmandu, Mar. 12: 

Rohit Thapa of Pokhara boarded a microbus, Ba 4 Kha 2977, from Amarsingh Chok for Kathmandu last week. He was surprised to see 3+1 seats in the microbus but remained silent even though he was having problems in even taking his cell phone from his pants' pocket after three passengers were crammed in a seat that was actually meant for two.

His frustration crossed the red line when the helper sent another passenger to sit on a slab put between the two seats blocking the narrow aisle. He shouted and protested but all in vain. Thapa completed the journey in discomfort, he cursed the driver and helper multiple times. The micro that was made for 15 passengers was carrying 22 people, about a third higher than its actual capacity.

The microbus fearlessly moved ahead and without any restriction and checking reached Nagdhunga, the entry point to the Capital city Kathmandu. However, before reaching the last bend to get the view of the police checking, the driver and the helper asked four passengers to get off the bus and cross the inspection spot on foot. The helper accompanied the passengers. Post the checkpoint, the microbus waited for more than five minutes for them.

This bizarre incident is not an isolated event but an everyday phenomenon. Almost every microbus from Pokhara and surrounding areas coming to Kathmandu has modified the industry-set seats and accommodations to carry more passengers. It makes the journey of about six hours a disappointedly bad trip.

Nagdhunga, only check-point
Vehicles from Pokhara, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, cross three other districts to reach the Kathmandu Valley but there is hardly a thorough check of the fitness of the vehicle, quality of service, safety and comfort of the passengers and adherence to other transport regulations. 

The only check-point that they encounter is Nagdhunga which means their illegal and unethical activities go unnoticed up to this point and such practice is replicated in return from Kathmandu as well.

Police personnel at the checkpoint say that they take action against vehicles that modify the industry standards and carry more passengers than the allowed number.

Mohan Prasad Bhattarai, former mechanical engineer of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), said that the maximum capacity of microbuses that run in the Kathmandu-Pokhara route is 16, including the driver and helper.

Every vehicle has industry specifications and standards for the number of seats, length and width and leg space. Microbuses have 14-15 seats, minibus 16-25 seats and buses above 26 seats.
"Passenger vehicles, except large buses, can reduce the number of seats to offer more luxury in their services but they can't put extra seats. Companies design the ambiance of the vehicle in a scientific way so disturbing it can be risky as well," said Bhattarai.

Stern actions required
Traffic police said that it was serious and vigilant about the activities that endanger the safety of the passengers. "We have intensified the checking and punishment in the recent days but regular inspection is not possible with insufficient manpower," said SP Sanjib Sharma Das, Spokesperson of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division.

According to him, the traffic police confiscate more than 50 temporary seats and collect about Rs. 36,000 in fines in a day. But it has been insufficient to discourage the passenger vehicles, especially the microbuses from their misconduct.

Likewise, Gandaki Province Traffic Police Office in Pokhara said that they also lack the manpower to conduct regular inspections. According to it, the number of vehicles per traffic police in Gandaki province is 1,395.

However, an inspection of vehicles is not the duty of the traffic police but of DoTM which occasionally conducts surprise checks.
"We have only one team for inspection which cannot conduct regular activities so it acts on the basis of complaint registered at the DoTM," it said.

Nobody's job
But consumer rights activist Madhav Timalsina said that it was not the lack of manpower or technology but the lack of will and accountability that allowed errant vehicles to go unpunished. "It is the duty of the government to ensure quality service to and safety of the consumers. However, it has become the job of nobody," he said.

Most of the passengers do not complain about it, rather silently curse the driver and helper and complete the journey. "Many of the passengers do not know about their rights. Quality and comfortable journey is their fundamental right. Although there are legal instruments to punish such acts and people, their implementation is very poor," said Timalsina.

Article 44 of Nepal's Constitution has ensured the quality goods and services as the fundamental rights of the people. But they are humiliating themselves even after paying the price for the service.

What is in the law?
Vehicle and Transport Management Act, 1993 has a provision that no vehicle is allowed to keep passengers in other space besides the seats and board more passengers than the total seat capacity.
The law also contains punitive measures for such acts. It has a provision of 'transport inspectors' who can inspect if the vehicles have followed the rules. But there are no inspectors to conduct regular inspections.

The Chief District Officer chairs the traffic management committee in the respective district. The very provision makes it a weak mechanism as the CDO has so many responsibilities that this task doesn't receive his attention and priority.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 13 March 2022.