PM Assures to resolve Nepal-India trade issues

Kathmandu, Aug. 4: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has assured the business community that the constraints in Nepal-India trade would be resolved immediately.

“To resolve the misunderstandings and constraints in the trade between the two countries, the government is sending a delegation led by a joint-secretary of the Ministry Industry, Commerce and Supplies to India to discuss about them and find solutions,” he said during an interaction with the Udhyog Sangathan Morang at PM’s Residence, Baluwatar.

He said that the problem will also be discussed with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the side meeting during the BIMSTEC Summit – held in Kathmandu on 30 and 31 of August this year.

The government has been preparing to discuss the issue at the common forum and bilateral meetings during the summit.

According to PM Oli, the entrepreneurs and government have to put joint efforts to change the identity of the country.

“There is a need to convert Nepal’s identity from the importer to exporter, poor to prosperous, backward to modern and developed, and unemployed to employed. The government needs your support in this campaign. We are ready to support your plan and programmes that aim at changing the current pathetic image of the country,” he said.

PM said that the country need to work on reduce trade deficit, create trade balance and change the overall economic situation of the country but the country has so far failed to find the way for the economic prosperity.

Therefore, we should put joint efforts for the same, and try to connect agriculture to it, he said.

PM Oli expressed concerns over the growing consumerism in Nepali people.

“We are adopting the latest fashion trends and using the foreign products but we are less considerate to produce such fashion products and food items on our own. This consumer culture has contributed in growing trade deficit,” he added.

He promised the entrepreneurs that the government would happily provide the required facilities and incentives for the establishment and operation of industries.

According to him, there will not be double taxation.

President of Sangathan, Bhim Ghimire presented a paper on immediate and long-term actions needed to do in order to create trade balance.

He said that the government should immediately curb the double taxation, control ever increasing bank’s interest rate and maintain consistency in energy supply to the industries.

“Prime Minister is very positive in addressing our demands. He has directed the line ministries and concerned departments to work to facilitate the industrial development,” said Ghimire.

The industrialists also urged the PM to review the minimum wages for the workers and said that it should be varied according to the geographical diversification and rural-urban setup of industries.

Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda said that the issues faced by the businessmen would be taken seriously.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 5 August 2018. 

FM to address the concerns of IDPs in Washington

Kathmandu, Aug. 3: Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada said on Friday that he would try to address the concerns of the international development partners (IDPs), including the World Bank, regarding the utilisation of development cooperation in the new federal setup of the country.

“I will present the government’s policy and strategy and framework for federalism implementation for obtaining maximum support and benefits from the WB,” he said at an interaction with  journalists at the Tribhuvan International Airport before leaving for Washington DC, to participate in a World Bank meeting.

He is on a 3-day visit to Washington DC to participate in the bank’s meeting to finalise the multilateral financial institution’s 5-year (2019-2023) Country Partnership Framework. He will update the WB about the government’s development priority and seek support for the implementation of large infrastructure projects.

Nepal’s development roadmap, required cooperation and potential areas for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the primary agenda for cooperation deliberation.

“We have a huge infrastructure gap in every sector from transportation to energy. We will talk about large roads, energy, irrigation and tourism projects and seek resources for their development,” said Dr Khatiwada.

According to him, Nepal will also seek grant support for fiscal reforms and technical capacity development. But the major stress will be on policy-based loan for development projects.

Finance Minister Dr. Khatiwada will hold separate meetings with the High Management Group of the WB, United States Aid for International Development (USAID), Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

There will be review of the cooperation extended by the development partners to Nepal in the past and discussion on additional support areas.

Similarly, the FM will participate in Nepal Day organised by the Embassy of Nepal in Washington DC, and will meet private sector investors. He is hopeful that the event will be an opportunity to update the investors about Nepal’s economic policy and investment potential and boost their confidence.

“There will be separate talks with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private sector organ of the WB, in order to attract more investment to Nepali private sector,” he said.

Responding to the question of journalists, he said that Nepal’s inability to graduate to developing country’s status in 2018 wouldn’t have any impact on the International Development Assistance (IDA). However, if the country had graduated, bilateral donors would have channelled their support to other Least Developed Countries (LDCs) instead of Nepal.

He will be accompanied by Chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Shri Krishna Nepal and Nepal’s Ambassador to the USA Dr. Arjun Karki.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 August 2018. 

Handicraft businesses seek govt support in export facilitation, HR development

Lalitpur, Aug 3: Expressing serious concerns over the deteriorating exports of the silver jewelries, businessmen have demanded support for export facilitation, market promotion and human resource development from the government.

Speaking at an interaction on ‘Overcoming constraints in the promotion of silver jewelry export from Nepal’ organised by the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN) here on Friday they demanded a separate policy for the promotion of silver products.

The share of silver jewelry exports has come down to 2.02 per cent in total handicraft exports in 2016/17 from 4.4 per cent in 2013/14.

This sector has problems in input, production and export.

“Sourcing of raw materials and access to pure silver are problems in input while the entrepreneurs are facing challenges of acute shortage of skilled craftsmen, quality testing, and designs and product adaptation at production stage, and restrained value for export product samples, regulated hand-carry exports, cumbersome customs process and ineffective incentives at export stage,” said Bijendra Man Shrestha, an Economist.

President of FHAN Dharma Raj Shakya urged the government to create infrastructure for the quality testing of silver products and simplify the export process.

Former President of FHAN Pancha Ratna Shakya said that the silver jewelry has 50 per cent value addition on an average but some artistic presentations have up to 200 per cent value addition.

Revenue Secretary at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Sishir Kumar Dhungana assured the businessmen that the government would support them in promoting Nepali handicraft goods in the international markets.

“The government is also considering implementing duty draw back facility. A Task  Force is formed at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies about increasing incentives to the export oriented products,” he said.

He urged the FHAN to recommend the government about modality of human resource creation, and said that the government was ready to provide budget support for it.

Likewise, Director of the Nepal Bureau of Standard and Meteorology (NBSM) Dipak Gyawali said that the department was working to create non-destructive method to check the quality of the handicraft goods.

“A committee has been formed to create the standards about the silver products. It will hold interactions with the stakeholders and recommend the parameters,” he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 4 August 2018. 

Govt to develop 100 tourist destinations in five years

Kathmandu, Aug. 2: The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has said that the tourism sector's contribution to the country’s economy would reach 10 per cent, and 100 major tourist destinations would be developed by Fiscal Year 2021/22.

There will be at least a destination in each district across the country.

Currently, tourism has 2.8 per cent contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 3.2 per cent to the employment in Nepal.

The 10 per cent contribution to the GDP would be made possible by developing new tourism destinations and products and increasing the number of foreign tourists. The tourist arrival would reach 2.5 million by 2022, said Joint Secretary at the Ministry Ghanashyam Upadhyaya at an interaction organised by the MoCTCA. The programme  was also attended by the Vice-Chancellor of the National Planning Commission (NPC) and the federal and provincial ministers.

The ministry said that master plans at various religious and tourist destinations such as Lumbini, Rara, Muktinath, Khaptad, Swargadwari and Janakpur would be completed within the next five years.

“All the state apparatus and provincial governments would be mobilised to complete the master plans at these destinations. We need better infrastructure and services at all touristic destinations in order to attract more tourists,” said Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari.

He said that the construction of two regional international airports – Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa and Pokhara International Airport in Pokhara – and upgrading of the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) would be accomplished by 2022 while about 50 per cent work in the Second International Airport in Nijgadh would be carried out.   

Similarly, the national flag-carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) will have at least 10 narrow body and wide-body aircraft.

“The TIA’s parking capacity would be doubled and the NAC will have 60 per cent market share in international flights,” said Adhikari.

Tourism Sector information (2018)

Topic	Numbers
Tourist arrival via air	940,000
Annual tourist arrival growth	25 %
Average stay of tourists	12.6 days
Per day tourist’s expenditure	54 US$
Tourism contribution to GDP	2.8 %
Contribution to employment	3.2 %

Source: MoCTCA

The ministry has given top most priority to the tourism infrastructure development and completion of national pride projects.

“All the heritages related to Buddhism will be connected to International Buddhist Circuit. An integrated development project will be implemented at Kapilvastu-Tilaurakot, Ramgram-Devdaha, Niglihawa-Gotihawa-Kudan, and Sagarhawa, and an International Monastic Institute will be run in Lumbini,” said Upadhyaya.

There is a plan to develop Ramayan Circuit connecting Janakpur with Ayodhya in India, promote Mithila culture and heritages, plant 25,000 saplings at Swargadwari and develop infrastructure at Pathibhara in Taplejung.

Similarly, Kaligandaki corridor would be developed connecting Triveni,  Devghat, Ridi, Baglung, Kagbeni, Muktinath and Damodarkunda.

“Se-Foksundo-Rara-Badimalika-Khaptad trekking route will be developed, and Rara would be promoted as one of the major tourist destinations in the country,” said Upadhyaya.

The Ministry has also announced that incentives would be offered to the private sector to involve them in infrastructure development, tourism promotion, service operation and other activities in the new tourist destinations.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 3 August 2018. 

Sanju And Journalists

During an event last week, a seasoned businessman suggested that all the journalists should watch the recent Bollywood blockbuster ‘Sanju’, a biopic on Sanjay Dutt, just because the movie has heavily come on the journalists. He went on further proposing to organise and sponsor a special show for the journalists of ‘Online news portals and Weekly newspapers’. Since the businessman is good terms with many journalists, he made the statement just in zest, but it stirred me from deep inside. 

Again this week, a businessman at ‘24th Cargo Day’ celebration, asked some journalists whether they had watched ‘Sanju’. As most of the journalists gestured ‘No’, he immediately advised them to watch. 

Suggesting someone to watch a certain movie is normal but this case is different. Not to get surprised, you will find every second ‘Sanju watcher’ in the town suggesting that journalists should watch the movie just because the media persons are portrayed negatively in the movie and have been blamed for ruining Sanjay’s life. 

As the movie has portrayed the negative side of the journalism – paparazzi, privacy busters and hounds following trivia, and downplayed other beautiful aspects such as muckraking, socially responsible and public interest follower, the newsmakers who were stung by the truth-seeking journalists have found their satisfaction in the abuse. Corrupt government officials and businessmen involved in shady business practices were prompt to suggest journalists to watch the movie. 

However, we must be aware of the other side of the coin as well. All the government officers are not corrupt; neither all the businessmen are involved in unethical business activities. The society has a clear reflection in the part of journalists as well. There are instances when journalists have blackmailed businessmen and involved in extortions. 

Some businessmen shy away from meeting a journalist and deny commenting even on a public topic fearing that they would come the next day with the published piece of opinion or web link, and ask for money for giving coverage. 

A couple of years ago, a tourism entrepreneur had said that a journalist from a broadsheet daily asked him about Rs. 10,000 for publishing his interview. Recently, a journalist had walked out with a rice cooker from a utensil shop in Kathmandu with a promise that he wouldn’t publish the information of the outlet that it was not registered with the government. 
Journalism is the business with constitutional guarantee of ‘freedom’ just because it has a tremendous responsibility towards society and people. It has the responsibility to give voice to the voiceless and ignite hope in people through the ‘language of hope’. And, media should give voice to many economic and business issues in order to create business-friendly environment. 

Flourishing business means more opportunities for employment and livelihood which will ultimately pave way towards economic prosperity and development. As the country is on the springboard of development, the media should play the role of a non-partisan watchdog.
The media must keep it clean by adhering to the journalistic code of conduct and following the ‘self-righteousness’ process. It must not scare any other than the wrongdoers.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 August 2018. 

The Middle Class Squeezed?

It seems that both the federal and local governments are competing with each other in raising the tax rates. The federal government seems squeezing the middle class in an attempt to manage funds to manage federalism, 761 governments while confused local governments are imposing tax on almost everything that carries monetary value.  

A rural municipality in Morang reportedly wanted to raise Rs. 100 per month from every bicycle owner! An average bicycle in Terai comes at the cost of about Rs. 3000 – Rs. 4000. It means your local government would take the bicycle away in less than three months! Forget about the value depreciation. However, the local government backtracked from its proposal and came up with imposing Rs. 100 tax on bicycle repairing centres. 

Likewise, a rural municipality charged Rs. 1,000 for birth registration. It’s really annoying that in the country where government provides just Rs. 1000 to every mother after child delivery as travel fare to return home while their own local government sucks that amount just to give a certificate. 

As the country is advancing with stronger implementation of federalism, there is a growing pressure on all levels of government to raise resources to manage themselves and meet people’s aspirations. And, there seems less learning from the neighbourhood since unlike Nepal, China and India both have given very less power and responsibility to the local governments. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 August 2018. 

Antarprerana to organise Creative Business Cup

Kathmandu, July 31: Antarprerana Pvt. Ltd. is organising a national challenge event for Creative Business Cup (CBC) in the first week of September this year.

The CBC as a part of Global Entrepreneurs Network organises a global event annually where startups, investors, mentors and industry experts come together to celebrate this Olympics of startups, said the company.

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Antarprerana Niraj Khanal said that the company became the national partner of the CBC, a global initiative for entrepreneurship and innovation.

According to him, the sectors for the CBC 2018 include advertising, architecture, design, fashion, film, video and photography, gastronomy, music, software, computer games and electronics, leisure activities and experiential technologies.

The winner of the CBC Nepal will get a chance to pitch their business ideas in Copenhagen, Denmark competing alongside other national winners from over a hundred countries.

“The national winner will win a sponsored trip to Copenhagen and get a chance to improve their global networks in the global avenue. Interested individuals and companies can apply for the competition till August 5 this year,” said Khanal.

“Such competitions provide opportunities to Nepali young entrepreneurs to learn and compete globally,” said Om Rajbhandary, chair of Antarprerana and Executive Chairman of Brihat Group.

President of Vaidya’s Organisation of Industries and Trading Houses (VOITH) stated that Nepal was a creative hub for young entrepreneurs and that they had to be guided to expose their potentiality at the international forum like the CBC.

“Nepal is a mini silicon valley in itself,” he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 Aug 2018.