Concerted efforts needed to safeguard the rights of Nepali migrant workers: Mainali

Kathmandu, Nov. 3: Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) Laxman Prasad Mainali the other day said that concerted efforts were necessary to safeguard the fundamental rights of the Nepali migrant workers abroad.

In a meeting with Director General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Guy Ryder at the latter’s office in Geneva, Mainali said, “A large number of Nepali youths are migrating for foreign employment, therefore we want cooperation from the ILO and other international organisations to safeguard their rights.”

Mainali is now in Geneva to attend the 331^st Governing Board Meeting of the ILO. The meeting started from 26 October and will continue till 9 November.

According to a press statement issued by the Permanent Mission of Nepal in Geneva, the meeting discussed issues related to strengthening cooperation between ILO and Nepal, and the secretary requested the DG to consider launching result-oriented projects in Nepal, particularly in the areas of skill development and green jobs creation.

Mainali also underlined the need for creating decent jobs for the youth back home and asked the ILO to support Nepal in this endeavours.

The DG said that a number of ILO programmes were going on in Nepal and there was a possibility of integrating those in decent work programme.

“Migration should be well managed and make safe and secure. However, it should be optional and the nation should work towards creating decent jobs within the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nepali Ambassador to Geneva, Deepak Dhital welcomed the 7 centenary initiatives launched by the DG and said that the programmes underpinning the centenary initiatives were relevant to Nepal specially in the areas of creating decent and green jobs and women at work initiatives.

Binda Pandey, deputy member from the workers group to the Governing Board of ILO, raised concerns related to the decent work and labour migration agenda.

“She requested for technical support that ILO could extend to Nepal in implementing some of the social measures of new Labour Act, 2017, including capacity building and the labour inspection,” reads the statement.

Land-pooling for Outer Ring Road to conclude in 8 months

Kathmandu. Nov. 2: The Outer Ring Road Project in the Kathmandu Valley has planned to conclude the land-pooling for the first phase of the road construction at 6.6 km long Satungal-Chobhar section by the end of the current fiscal year 2017/18.

The project is finally set to begin after being about 13 years in the papers.

Project Chief Deepak Shrestha said that the file of the project was being studied by the Minister for Urban Development Dil Nath Giri.

“Minister has shown a great interest in taking the project further. We are hoping that the file would be submitted to the Cabinet next week,” he said.

The project is all set to begin the land-pooling as soon as the Cabinet approves the plan.

About 8,000 ropanis of land belong to about 14,000 owners needed to be pooled in the Satungal-Chobhar section alone.

Some 80,000 to 100,000 ropanis of land is required to be pooled for the 72 km long road project which the government had proposed in 2005 with an aim to create greater mobility and reduce traffic congestion in the Valley.

A site office for the land-pooling and other works of the project has been established in Satungal, and engineers, overseers and survey officers have been deployed.

“The project needs at least one site office at every 2-km distance. Therefore, three site offices are needed for the first phase construction of the Outer Ring Road,” said Shrestha.

According to Personal Secretary of the Minister of State at the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) Kunti Kumari Shahi, Dhruba Sapkota, who was long associated with the project, as the minister is very positive about the project, the dream of the Outer Ring Road will begin soon.

The MoUD had approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Satungal-Chobhar section of the Outer Ring Road in April this year, and had asked the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA) to work on it.

The project had concluded the DPR of 68 km part of the road about six years ago.

DPR of Chapali Height to Gokarna section is yet to be developed, said Sapkota.

The KVDA plans to finish the land-pooling and construct gravel road in a decade from the commencement date. The total project cost is estimated at Rs. 72 billion.

According to Sapkota, the project will be developed by the domestic contractors, and the bridges will be contracted to foreign developers.

There will be flyover roads at most of the crossings in the Outer Ring Road, so there won’t be any traffic congestion.

The Outer Ring Road will go through Chobhar, Satungal, Naikap, Sitapaila, Nagarjun, Gongabu, Chapali, Kapan, Sandol in Kathmandu, Lubhu, Dhapakhel, Thecho, Gungmati and Chobhar in Lalitpur, and Gamphedi, Bansbari, Yangdol, Masandol,Naya Thimi and Dadhikot in Bhaktapur.

Use youth in entrepreneurship: Minister KC

Kathmandu, Nov. 2: Minister for Youth and Sports Rajendra Kumar KC Thursday said that there was a need to engage youths in entrepreneurship for generating employment and good incomes, and to widely use the natural resources to promote environmental conservation and protection of natural resources.

Addressing the South Asia Youth Summit on Climate Change here he said, “We should emphasise on skill development, entrepreneurial leadership, youth volunteerism for environment protection and youth-friendly access to financial resources to create sustainable employment opportunities.”

According to him, those five pillars have been linked with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and engagement of youths in realising the targets of SDGs is vital and prominent.

He also said that the concept of ‘Green Economy and Blue Economy’ would be instrumental in preserving the environment and achieving youth entrepreneurship and employment through job creation in the SAARC region.

“Climate change has been one of the major problems to this planet. It appears to affect the poor people the most, placing our nations and common people at high risk. The negative impact of climate change and environmental degradation on our economy as well as our infrastructure is clearly visible,” he remarked.

President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) Suraj Vaidya said that the South Asian region would lose billions of dollars in the near future due to the climate change.

“Climate does not have borders. The glaciers melting in Nepal will have severe consequences in India and Bangladesh. Therefore, a regional collaboration is needed to combat the climate change,” he said.

He urged the young entrepreneurs to take the leadership, not to sit at the fence and stare at the problems.

President of the Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Bhawani Rana stated that the climate change was no longer a distant phenomenon and was there at the people's doorstep.

According to her, climate change has emerged as one of the major problems of present generation and South Asia, and calls for collective efforts to fight with it.

She expressed belief that the young people possessed the power to change with their comparative advantage to adapt and act as agents of change.

“As being an entrepreneur myself, I firmly believe that in every challenge, there is an opportunity. Its same with the challenges created by climate change,” she said.

NEA signs PPA with 350 projects

Kathmandu, Nov. 1: Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghishing on Wednesday said that Nepal had become a major market for hydropower equipment as about two hundred projects, with almost 2,200 MW capacity in total, were under construction.

Speaking at the Customer Day 2017 programme, organised by Andritz Hydro, a provider of electromechanical equipment and services for hydropower plants from Austria, he said that the NEA had signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with about 350 projects that planned to produce 3,500 MW of electricity.

“The country has been able to tap only about 1 per cent of its total hydropower potential. Therefore, there will be lots of development opportunities in this sector. It will also create opportunities for hydro-equipment companies like Andritz,” he said.

He said that the state-owned electricity monopoly was also seeking reliable after-sales service from the suppliers or service providers.

According to him, timely delivery of service and cost effectiveness are two important considerations while procuring the after-sales service.

Minister for Urban Development Dil Nath Giri said that the government had given priority to hydropower development.

“We are focusing on hydropower as it has the potential to be the backbone of national development. Renewable energy sector can contribute immensely to the social and economic development of the country,” said MD and Chief Executive Officer of Andritz Hydro India Joseph M. Ullmer.

Andritz is supplying equipment and services to the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectricity Project.

“Our scope of supply includes design, manufacturing, supply, erection, testing, and commissioning of complete electromechanical equipment, including a 220 KV GIS and the mechanical balance of plant equipment,” he said.

It is also supplying machines and services to the 23.5 MW Upper Solu Hydropower Project and has supported the Kulekhani and Mid-Marsyangdi and other projects.

Austrian Ambassador to Nepal Brigitte Oeppinger Walchshofer said that Austrian investors were eager to invest in Nepal and promised to support Nepal in attracting the investment.

Ullmer said that the company provided quality equipment and services to its clients all around the globe.

The company has installed more than 31,000 turbines worldwide.

Govt inefficiency responsible for poor implementation of infra projects

Kathmandu, Oct. 31:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday categorically said that the government’s inefficiency was the main reason behind the poor implementation of infrastructure projects in Nepal.

According to ADB’s Deputy Director General Diwesh Sharan, the performance of the projects funded by the multilateral development partners received glitches due to the frequent transfer of key project officials, delays in approval process of land acquisition and environmental clearances and weak implementation.

It is the government’s responsibility to appoint the project chief, acquire the land and award environmental clearance at the earliest and execute the project, he said.

Speaking at the 2017 Tripartite Portfolio Review Meeting held here, he termed the problems ‘systematic’ and said that those problems had been repeating time and again.

By the end of September this year, only 49 per cent of the targeted annual contract award of US$ 533 million and 52 per cent of the disbursement of $339 million have been achieved.

Currently, the ADB’s active portfolio in Nepal is $2.3 billion (about Rs. 240 billion), which cover 35 projects in the areas of urban development and water, transport, energy, reconstruction, education, agriculture and natural resources.

Projects equal to 56 per cent of the total portfolio have been contracted while 44 per cent remained uncommitted.

Disbursement is even poorer as only 34 per cent, or $806 million, has been paid.

The multilateral donor has been repeatedly suggesting the government deploy competent project directors.

Former ADB Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama last year had said that the dismal performance of the projects was due to incompetent project directors.

ADB Nepal Resident Mission’s Unit Head of Portfolio Management Sarosh Khan said that the quarterly targets of contract awarding and disbursement was only 50 per cent.

According to her, by the end of the third quarter of 2017, the Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project, Electricity Transmission Expansion and Supply Improvement Project and Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Improvement Project had achieved the contract target.

But, the Tanahun Hydropower and SASEC Power System Expansion Project couldn’t achieve the contract targets of $88 million and 50.7 million.

Disbursement of the budget was poor in terms of South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project, Kathmandu Valley Wastewater Management Project, SASEC Power System Expansion Project and Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project.

Khan said that the delay in submission of design and bidding document for international apron at the Tribhuvan International Airport resulted in poor performance of the Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project.

“Similarly, the progress at the Tanahun Hydropower Project was sluggish due to delay in procurement of the head works, updating generation license and concluding the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and completing supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment and forest clearance,” she said.

Sharan urged the government authorities to focus on collective efforts from the government and the ADB to achieve the annual target.

“Our project teams are working closely with the line ministries to ensure smooth implementation during and after completion of the transition process. We look forward to the success of these arrangements,” he said.

FNCCI, AFEC sign MoU to enhance bilateral cooperation

 Kathmandu, Oct. 31: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (AFEC or WKO) to enhance bilateral economic cooperation between Nepal and Austria.

President of FNCCI Bhawani Rana and vice-president of AFEC Richard Schenz signed the the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations in the presence of Minister for Industry Sunil Bahadur Thapa at the Nepal-Austria Economic Forum organised here.

As per the MoU, the two business bodies will do their utmost to facilitate, strengthen and diversify the cooperation between the firms of the industrial and service sector of the two countries, with the purpose of pursuing a constant expansion of cooperation.

“The WKO and FNCCI will encourage and facilitate contacts between the companies and industrial associations of the two countries through the exchange of business delegations, adoption of common positions, statements or declarations in support of improving Austrian-Nepalese trade and investment relationship,” reads the MoU.

Similarly, there will be exchange of information on matters of reciprocal interest, such as the economic situation and policy, economic trends, legislation on trade and investments, incentives, business opportunities, exhibitions and fairs.

Addressing the Forum, Minister Thapa said that the investment environment in Nepal had improved and urged the Austrian investors to invest here with full confidence.

He emphasised on technology transfer to Nepal from Austria, and exchange of high-level delegations between the two countries.

Rana expressed her belief that the agreement would help in strengthening relations between the two business bodies and countries.

She urged the Austrian investors to reap the benefits of untapped potential that Nepal offered.

“One of the major constraints of Nepal’s economic development, political instability, is being sorted out by institutionalising the new constitution. As the economic agenda has taken a front seat at the political spectrum, the confidence of the investors is growing,” she said.

According to her, because of recent positive developments in the political environment and enhancing economic environment, there has been a huge increment in local investments in sectors like hospitality, manufacturing, hydropower, services and agro processing, and foreign investment is also increasing.

Schenz said that the Austrian investors were eager to expand their business and investment in Nepal.

Austrian Ambassador to Nepal Brigitte Oppinger-Walchshofer said that the Forum would help in strengthening bilateral relationship between the two countries.