Public Financial Management training for govt officials launched

The Government Friday launched advance training in Public Financial Management (PFM) for its officers with an aim to enhance their capacity on public sector finance.

Rajendra Prasad Nepal, financial comptroller general, inaugurated the one-year Advance Diploma Course on PFM.

The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) under the Ministry of Finance, Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC) and ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) England are collaborating for the training which has been launched for the first time in the country.

“ACCA will supply resource persons for the training and NASC will provide logistics support while PEFA’s role is coordination, facilitation and monitoring,” informed Bhuban Prasad Kafle, member secretary at the PEFA Secretariat.

The PEFA is a framework for strengthening public expenditure system of a country. Its core objective is to enhance expenditure management of the public funds and reduce associated fiduciary risk.

ACCA is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification – ACCA or FCCA. It has 178,000 members and 455,000 students in 180 countries.

According to the PEFA, 25 government employees from the Office of the Financial Comptroller General Office, PEFA, National Planning Commission, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Ministry of Irrigation, Office of the Auditor General, Department of Forestry, Commerce and Supplies ministries, Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and Water and Energy Commission Secretariat are participating in the training.

The course includes areas of accountancy, management accounting, financial accounting, performance management, financial reporting and financial management, said Kewal Prasad Bhandari, coordinator of PEFA Secretariat. “It also aims at updating the participants on professional ethics and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).”

“The PEFA has long been planning for capacity building of government officials on public financial sector. We hope that this training will help to reform the PFM,” he said.

Multi-Donor Trust Fund Manager at the World Bank Franck Bessette stated that the PFM was about prioritizing two things: system and people.

“The government has improved the system but the capacity of the employee was yet to be enhanced. So the best thing has happened now,” he said.

Saying that the course would introduce various dimensions of PMM, Nepal expressed his hope that it would bring changes in PFM and people working for it. 

Political instability marred development: Gachchhedar

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar Thursday said that the country was lagging behind in terms of development because of the prolonged political instability.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of Inspire Nepal 2016, a business forum and expo, DPM Gachchhadar said, “The country is still waiting for political stability take root even after a decade of democratic movement. In such a volatile political environment, development agenda is always pushed back and prosperity becomes a mirage.”

He, however, expressed his hope that with the promulgation of new constitution, the country would soon find political stability. He remarked that there were fewer chances of bigger political conflict in Nepal in the future.  

“Both of our neighbours China and India have achieved prosperity because of political stability,” he stated.

DPM Gachchhadar said the government would include the private sector in the reconstruction process.

“Without private sector and foreign investment in infrastructure and large development projects, Nepal will not be able to compete with other developing nations,” he said.

He said that the government has given high priority to road construction. “The roads are the infrastructure for development. If we want to see our country developed, we need to build roads.”

Narendra Kumar Basnyat, president of Nepal USA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NUSACCI) and immediate past president of Confederation of Nepalese Industries, said that the NUSACCI was working to bring US investment in hydropower development.

John Carwile, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of the USA in Kathmandu, said that the private sector investment was key to development and prosperity of any country.

The Inspire Nepal will run till Saturday. More than 800 entrepreneurs, development and business professionals will participate in 10 networking events and 30 sessions.

The expo has more than 50 exhibitors while 60 speakers will participate, in various deliberations during the event.

Discussions on economy and industry, business development, professional development and alternative thinking will be held during the event.  

Pooja launches Kobelco Excavator in Nepal

Pooja Construction Nepal Pvt. Ltd. Thursday launched Kobelco Sk140HD LC excavator in Nepalese market. Pooja is a sister concern of Vishal Group and sole distributor of Kobelco construction machinery for Nepal.
According to the company, the newly launched 14-ton excavator would cater to the demand of brick industry, irrigation, and road cutting and other civil works.

“The machines have the latest technical features embedded with the superior Japanese technology. Many machines have clocked well over 20,000 hours of operation and continue to perform in touch applications in this region,” said Koji Nakagawa, director and executive vice president of Kobelco India, in a press conference organized here.

The company claimed that over 5,400 Kobelco excavators were working in India and Nepal.

Bibek Bijukchhe, chief executive officer of Pooja Construction said, “More than 120 Kobelco excavators are sold in Nepal. These machines are being appreciated in terms of fuel consumption, productivity and reliability.” He said that the company was fully equipped to cater customer’s demand for service and parts through an efficient logistics system.

The company plans to open sales and service outlets soon at Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Biratnagar.

Meanwhile, Kobelco Construction Machinery company ltd. Japan donated first unit of SK140 excavator to Nepal as a part of their corporate social responsibility. The market price of the machine is approximately Rs. 6.9 million in Nepalese market.

The company said in a press statement that the contribution was expected to provide support to the government for the relief and rehabilitation operations. 

DPM Thapa left for Bangkot to participate in ACD

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa Wednesday left for Bangkok, Thailand to attend the 14^th ministerial meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD).

He is leading a 6-member delegation to the meeting being held in on Wednesday and Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the meeting was expected to endorse Nepal as its 34^th member. DPM Thapa is scheduled to address the meeting on Thursday. 

The ACD was established in Thailand in June 2002 with the objectives of promoting interdependence among Asian countries in all areas of cooperation, expanding trade and financial market within Asia and enhancing Asia’s economic competitiveness in the global market.

 It also aims at transforming the Asian continent into an Asian Community.

Currently the ACD has 33 members.

The MoFA said  that DPM Thapa is visiting Thailand at the invitation of Thai Foreign Minister and chair of the ACD Don Pramudwinai.

Members of the Nepalese delegation include Nepalese ambassador to Thailand Khaga Nath Adhikari, joint secretary of MoFA Mani Prasad Bhattarai and other officials.

After attending the ACD ministerial meeting in Bangkok, DPM Thapa will leave for New Delhi on March 10 to attend the World Culture Festival as the guest of honour which is being organised by the Art of Living International Centre.

He is scheduled to return home on March 12. 

Sharma elected as the president of CNI

Hari Bhakta Sharma has been elected as chairman of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).

The 13^th Annual General Assembly of CNI Friday evening elected incumbent senior vice-president Sharma as the head of the CNI for three years.

Sharma is the third president in CNI’s 14-year history following Binod Chaudhary and Narendra Kumar Basnyat.

As per the statute of CNI, the senior vice-president is automatically elected as the president of the organisation.

The AGM unanimously elected National Council comprising 28 members including five vice presidents – Anuj Agrawal, Satish Mor, Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, Nirwan Chaudhary and Krishna Prasad Adhikari.

Likewise, Rahul Kumar Agrawal, Suresh Lal Shrestha, Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, Ramesh Gupta, Shulav Agrawal, Amit Kumar Begani, Dilip Agrawal, Sandip Kumar Sharada, Kamal Jain and Barun Todi, Ananda Subedi, Anal Raj Bhattarai, Guru Prasad Neupane, Manoj Kedia, Gun Chandra Bista, Birendra Raj Pandey, Raj Bahadur Shah, Sanjib Rijal, Aasha Rana Adhikari, Amir Pratap Rana and Barsha Shrestha were elected as the members of the National Council.

Similarly, Krishna Prasad Adhikari from Chitwan Industry Association, Naresh Dash from Ecport Council of Nepal and Nicolas Pandey from Youth Community for Nepalese Contractors were also elected as the members.

The immediate past president Basnyat congratulated the newly elected president, vice presidents and council members.

President emeritus of the CNI Binod Chaudhary said that the organisation would play an important role in the economic development of the country.

The AGM was inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Korean interested to develop solar energy in Nepal

Hanwha, a South Korean company, Thursday expressed its desire to invest in solar energy sector in Nepal.

A delegation of the company, led by its vice-chairman Sung Don Cho, is in Nepal to discuss the prospects of solar energy production here. The delegation met Minister for Energy Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Minister for Supplies Ganesh Man Pun and stated their plans to invest in Nepalese energy sector.

According a press release issued by the company, it could produce one kilowatt of solar electricity with Rs. 100,000 investment.

Hanwha had submitted a proposal to the government to develop a 25 mw solar energy project in Nepal.

The company has completed the constructions of various solar projects around the globe of more than 1,000 mw capacity.

It installed huge solar plants in South Korea and the electricity produced by those plants is directly connected to the national transmission lines.

The company claimed that it had expertise in photovoltaics (PV) – a method of converting solar energy into direct current electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect.

The company informed that it would provide a 5 kw solar pant to Nepal which would be installed at Bouddha Stupa. 

Govt to send teams for geological study of quake-hit areas

After more than 10 months of dilemma and deliberations, the government is finally dispatching a technical team for the geological study of the quake-affected settlements that are at high risk in order to make decision about relocation of the communities at risks.

The technical study team, comprised of engineers from the Department of Mines and Geology (DMG), and representatives from Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention and Department of Soil Conversation and Watershed Management, will leave for the districts severely hit by the earthquake this week.

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is mulling over including a member each from the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction and Nepal Geological Society.

“The Authority will take final decision Monday on dispatching the study team to the quake-affected districts,” informed Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, executive member of the NRA.

According to the Act Relation to Reconstruction of the Earthquake Affected Structures, 2015, the NRA is assigned to development norms as required for development of integrated settlement, integrated house pulling, rehabilitation and translocation, identify appropriate sites and formulate and implement, or cause to be implemented, plans for the same.

The DMG has submitted its terms of reference (ToR) to the NRA about the evaluation of the settlements that need to be relocated.

As per the ToR developed by the DMG, the study would decide whether the settlements were safe, needed pre-cautionary measures or demanded urgent relocation, said Dr. Shrestha.

The team will conclude its study by mid-April along with creation of site map.

“Ten teams will be mobilized for the inspection and a team will spend about 3 days in a site,” Dr. Shrestha said.

A team of geologists, chief district officers and lawmakers of respective districts inspected the quake-hit areas in the immediate aftermath of the major jolts and suggested the government for the relocation of at least 193 settlements.

According to the study, Gorkha, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Dolakha, Dhading and Singhupalchowk had many settlements vulnerable to post-quake hazards.

A study conducted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in July last year found out that about 8,000 households in Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk had self-relocated to safer locations fearing landslides.

The new study will be based on the findings of the earlier study and make further investigations.

“The fate of those 193 settlements will be reconsidered. We will conduct another visual inspection and further investigations will be carried out in the areas prone to landslides and other disasters,” said Dr. Som Nath Sapkota, chief of National Seismological Centre at the DMG.

To enable the study team with latest knowledge and technique, the NRA is going to organize orientation training to them.

DR. Shrestha informed that the reconstruction body was planning to invite Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmad, chief of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority of Pakistan that was established after the devastating 2005 Kashmir earthquake, for the orientation.

“Since we don’t have expertise in rehabilitation of earthquake victims, the Pakistani experience may be useful for us,” he said.

As the establishment of the reconstruction body was delayed, the government couldn’t make significant progress in relocating the settlements at risks.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, earlier initiatives for relocations couldn’t be succeeded and as the preparations were under way to establish the NRA, the government made no efforts for the resettlements in the past six months.  

In June last year, the government had decided to shift 30 settlements of the quake-affected 18 districts to safer locations nearby. But, the plan failed as the people refused to shift temporarily to new location. Out of 36,000 families at risks, only about 400 families moved to the safer locations identified by the government.

On the other hand, the NRA received requests from Laprak of Gorkha and some villages in Dhading for the relocation of the settlements there. “We have started the relocation works in Laprak. The Village Development Committee has identified the area for the resettlement of 660 families,” said Dr. Shrestha.