Speaker stresses joint efforts to resolve economic challenges

 Kathmandu, Apr. 10

Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota has said that the current economic challenges should be resolved with joint efforts from the government and private sector.

"The national economy is facing a problem at a time when it was recovering from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said while addressing the 71^st anniversary programme of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) on Sunday.

He urged the entrepreneurs to run their businesses with patience and adhere to business ethics.

According to him, a good and efficient entrepreneur is a guide to the society so each of them should be abide by the national law and rules.

Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said that the government was supporting promotion and expansion of the business sector and assured that further moves would be taken in consultation of all stakeholders.

President of NCC Rajendra Malla suggested the government should announce a special package to support the revival of the businesses still struggling to come out of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The budget of the coming fiscal year 2022/23 should announce a special package for the economic development with a provision of refinancing, rescheduling etc.," he said.

He also said that the limit of income for income tax should be Rs. 600,000 for an individual and Rs. 800,000 for married couple. According to him, threshold to maintain account for Value Added Tax should be increased to Rs. 10 million from current Rs. 5 million and tax rate should be 0.5 per cent to support the small entrepreneurs.

Malla suggested the government to do homework to combat with the challenges that Nepal would face after graduating from the Least Developed Country to a developing nation in 2026.

"Nepal should try to obtain the facilities that a landlocked country would get," he said.

He expressed concerns over the widening trade deficit and swelling imports of agricultural products, and said that all alternatives to promote export should be applied.

By mid-March, Nepal had imported goods worth Rs. 1308.7 billion against the exports of Rs. 147.7 billion.

Meanwhile, NCC has felicitated chairman of ICTC Group Ram Lal Shrestha with Ishwor Lal Life Time Achievement Award. Speaker Sapkota awarded Shrestha at the programme.

NCC presented honours to chairman of Vaidya's Organisation of Industries and Trading House Suraj Vaidya, chairman of Annapurna Travel Nawa Raj Ghimire, chairman of Nimbus Jagadish Agrawal and chairman of HC Dugar Group Hukam Chand Dugar for their contributions to trade, tourism, agriculture and industry respectively.

Likewise, businesses awarded on the occasion were Chhatrapati Free Clinic, Mohini Maharjan and Gita Shrestha of Nepal Silk, Dhanusha, Sainamaina, Krishnanagar and Bhaktapur Chamber of Commerce. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 April 2022.

'Anyone issuing certificates to migrant workers without training will be punished'

 Kathmandu, Apr. 10

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Krishna Kumar Shrestha has said that stern actions would be taken against those giving training certificates to the Nepali migrant workers going abroad for jobs.

Stating that the orientation training for those going for foreign employment would be tightened, he said that strict action would be taken against those who were found to be taking and giving training certificates instead of the required orientation training.

Speaking at an interaction programme with stakeholders on the status of implementation of the modified pre-departure orientation training, organised by the Secretariat of the Foreign Employment Board on Sunday in the Capital, he said that the pre-departure orientation training would be made effective and timely to make foreign employment safe and rewarding.

The information provided to the service recipients prior to their departure is crucial for their safety and income. According to Minister Shrestha, quality service delivery will be ensured by merging the orientation training providers.

Secretary at the Ministry, Eaknarayan Aryal, said that the lack of pre-departure orientation training would increase risks in foreign employment, so it should not be limited to formalities. According to him, thematic training should be made effective to make journey of the people going for foreign employment safe, dignified and fruitful.

Adviser to the Ministry, Dr. Keshav Basyal, stressed on the need to provide information about the destination country, foreign employment law, safe employment and other rights in the pre-departure orientation training. He further added that the pre-departure orientation training has not been effective so far.

Director General of the Department of Foreign Employment, Shesh Narayan Poudel said that the people going for foreign employment should be given important information related to the destination country, existing laws, religion, culture, customs as well as services and procedures available for legal treatment in case of any problem.

Likewise, Executive Director of the Foreign Employment Board Secretariat, Rajan Prasad Shrestha said that a country manual has been prepared by revising the pre-departure orientation training curriculum.

The representatives of the organizations providing orientation said that it was difficult to provide quality training at low cost, and their problems should also be addressed.

Pre-departure orientation training has been conducted by the Orientation Training Providers licensed by the government. Article 27 of the Foreign Employment Act, 2007 and sub-article 20 of the Foreign Employment Rules, 2007 provide that the workers going for foreign employment must take orientation training as prescribed.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 April 2022.

Monitor election expenses

Former General Secretary of Nepali Congress Dr. Shashank Koirala said the other day that he had to spend about Rs. 60 million to win last election for the federal House of Representatives while the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) had set the limit of Rs. 2.5 million for a candidate. It means he had to spend about 24-time higher than the allowed purse of money. 

Likewise, earlier in September last year, Chairman of CPN (Maoist) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda said that election had become so expensive that even he had to think twice before contesting one, and the 'revolutionary party' had to resort to the 'feudals' to arrange money to finance poll expenditures.

Contesting election has become a 'daring task' for the political leaders even for those who belong to the upper rung in terms of the socioeconomic status. Election has become a full-fledged marketing gimmick and branding activity where people are mobilised as 'sales persons', posters, banners, t-shirts, caps, flags are distributed, food and drinks are offered and multiple vehicles are used for the mobility. They demand a handsome size of money. 

On top of it, many candidates had to buy tickets. But no candidate or political party submit the actual audit report to the Election Commission. They fake the document and the election management body accepts it as it is and conducts no further investigations.

Meanwhile, the ECN had put Rs. 750,000 ceiling on poll expenditure for candidates vying for the post of mayor and deputy mayor of a metropolitan city, Rs. 550,000 for mayor and deputy mayor of sub-metropolis. Likewise, expenditure limits for the candidates vying for the post of the chiefs and deputies of municipalities and rural municipalities are Rs. 450,000 and Rs. 350,000 respectively. According to the election body, candidates of ward chairpersons could spend from Rs. 150,000 to Rs. 300,000 from rural municipality to metropolis. However, many ward chairpersons of admit of spending up to Rs. 10 million.

When candidates spend more than the limit set by the ECN, the money is illegally outsourced from the business persons and corrupt politicians. It means they have to exhibit loyalty to them when they win the election and hold the public post. It triggers policy and monetary corruptions at various level such as the ward chairpersons illegally awarding natural resources like sand mines, forests and public land to the contractors and their election financers.

Likewise, representatives who organise extravagant election campaigns are more focused on raising the money after being elected to the public posts, and they compromise their duties to the public and political ethics. Instead of facilitating the public with timely services in a simplified manner, they keep on finding ways of financial misappropriation. Social and infrastructure development take a back seat. Hence, to save public funds from the misuse, election expenditure should be brought down to the ceiling set by the ECN. 

However, the current ceiling set by the election body seems unpractical and need to be reviewed and robust monitoring as well as auditing of poll expenditure. Until and unless stern action is taken against those violating the spending limit in the election, malpractices would continue to flourish which will ultimately create ground for corruption and embezzlement of public funds. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 April 2022.

'Credit growth only supporting import trade'

 Kathmandu, Apr. 9

Economist Dr. Bishwas Gauchan projected that external balance is going to pose significant challenges to the macroeconomic stability of the country in the future.

"Trade which has 15.7 per cent contribution to the economy has received 20 per cent credit from the banks and financial institutions while only 13.2 per cent credit is mobilised in agriculture that has 25.8 per cent contribution to the GDP. This is not a good sign," he said while speaking at the National Management Conference 2022, organised by Management Association of Nepal on Saturday.

Average rate of annual economic growth in the last three decades was 4.5 per cent but private sector credit growth stood at 20.3 per cent per annum on average.

According to 2020/21 trade statistics, 23.5 per cent of the total imports were related to agricultural products, most of which can be produced locally. Only 12.1 per cent of the total import is used for building fixed capital formation while 34.5 per cent is used for final consumption and 53.4 per cent is used as intermediate consumption where the value addition is little, said Dr. Gauchan.

He criticised the Nepal Rastra Bank's move to increase the paid-up capital of the banks by three-fold in 2015 and said that the current crisis could partly be attributed to that policy decision.

Stating that the NRB's policy rate has failed to provide policy guidance and achieve its macroeconomic policy goals, he maintained that it is necessary to take various measures to make the policy rate effective in conjunction with other policy tools such as macro-prudential policy, credit policy and regulatory policy.

Presenting a research paper at the conference, Professor Dr. Mahananda Chalise said that Nepali business organisations were faring better in terms of knowledge management behaviours.

According to him, an organisation with a capability in knowledge management is less likely to develop new to the world of innovations. When an organisation develops a new product or service for which it lacks the scientific or business expertise, a capability in knowledge management may not be helpful.

However, by contrast, Nepali organisations developing incremental innovations tend to have well developed knowledge management behaviours and practices, said Dr. Chalise. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 April 2022.

Reliance offers exemplary facilities to female workers

 Biratnagar, Apr. 9

While female workers in many businesses and industries in Nepal have dozens of complaints against the company and management, women employees at Reliance Spinning Mills express gratitude to the institution.

It is not that the company pays them higher salaries or offer extravagant facilities. It pays the salary and wages as per the government rules like many other industrial establishments. However, the industry, that is the largest employer in the country and employs 1,500 females, puts extra efforts to provide additional basic support to them which makes them happy.

The industry located in Khanar at the Morang-Sunsari Industrial Corridor offers equal pay to the female workers and provides residential facilities to the needy. About 500 female workers stay in hostel inside the industry premises, a significant number of them live there with their family.

A robust security with guards and security is maintained at he hostels which is offered free of rent, with electricity and water supply, to the workers.

Likewise, a dedicated space is allocated for women workers for the rest and care their toddlers. A separate hall is filled with toys, and sports materials for the kids to play and pass time. Adjacent room can be used for having rest or breastfeed babies.

There is a primary health care centre with dispensary where workers can get their general and emergency health checked up and obtain medicines. A canteen at the industry serves full meal at Rs. 70, vegetarian momos per plate at Rs. 45 and chowmein at Rs. 55. Clean drinking water is provided to all.

Similarly, under its Corporate Social Responsibility, Reliance Spinning Mills provides Rs. 1,000 per month scholarship to 75 children of its workers pursuing higher education and distributes study materials to 150 children going to schools. Sports activities of the workers are conducted regularly, and about 2.5 bigahas of land is leased out to organise sports, said Mahesh Kumar Pokharel, Manager of the company.

He said that salary of all workers is paid to their bank accounts and all of them are registered at the Social Security Fund.

One of the critical activities for the industry that employs about 4,000 workers, including males, is recruitment. The work is technical and the industry needs skilled and semi-skilled workers which is difficult to find in the market.

Therefore, Reliance runs a 3-month training programme which is offered free of cost to the aspiring workers. They can get the training and work to earn at the same time during the training period. A separate curriculum is developed for the training that prepares human resources for the operation of the machines, quality of the yarn, dyeing and other industrial activities.

Supervisor Parbata Khatiwada said that the training had helped many to be economically independent. "We are especially happy that the company takes the cases of violence against women and work place harassment seriously and immediately takes action," she said.

There are periodic interactions with female workers to know about their issues and problems.

Maya Bishwokarma, a trade union representative, said that they don't have complaints to the company and management but to the government. They want higher pay since the current monthly wage of about Rs. 15,000 is not sufficient to manage a household.

"While the inflation, family requirement, schooling and many other elements are same for all, why doesn't the government consider about increasing our pay?" Khatiwada asked while adding that the industry workers should have salary equal to the government office assistant level.

Since the market rate is same for all, the government must create a policy to provide us better pay, she maintained.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 April 2022.

Governor suspends central bank governor

 Kathmandu, Apr. 8

The government has suspended Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari.

A minister in a condition of anonymity confirmed the suspension of the governor of the central bank from his post with the initiation of an investigation on him.

According to the Ministry of Finance, a three-member committee led by a former judge of the Supreme Court is formed to look into the issue. The government had formed the inquiry committee as per the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002. According to the law, an inquiry committee should be formed, and its recommendations were needed should the governor, deputy governor and member of the Board of Directors of the central bank.

Likewise, the inquiry committee should submit its recommendations along with its findings to the government within a month.

The governor, deputy governor and director shall be removed from the office if one lacks the capability to implement or cause to implement the functions which the bank has to carry out in order to achieve the objectives of the NRB, causes loss and damage to the banking and financial system of the country, or found to have acted dishonestly or with malafide intention in any transaction related to the business of the central bank.

Likewise, if professional license is revoked or prohibited from carrying out any profession rendering disqualified to be engaged in any trade or profession on the ground of gross misconduct, the governor would be removed from the office.

Deputy Governor Nilam Dhungana is appointed Acting Governor of the NRB.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had shared a stage with Governor Adhikari on Friday morning at a conference organised by the NRB where the former had accused the governor of not providing appropriate suggestions to the government when needed. The central bank is the advisor of the government.

Of late, there were contradictions between the governor and finance minister about managing the economy, and especially the share market, which had confused the private sector.

Meanwhile, Adhikari said that he had not received the letter of his suspension till late night on Friday. He maintained that he will comment on the issue after receiving the letter. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 April 2022.  

Nepal-Bangladesh diplomatic relations at 50

Kathmandu, Apr. 8

Presidents and prime ministers of Nepal and Bangladesh have exchanged congratulatory messages on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

On this special occasion, President Bidya Devi Bhandari extended congratulations to her Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Abdul Hamid, as well as the government and people of Bangladesh, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement on Friday.

She recalled that Nepal was one of the earliest countries to recognise Bangladesh’s independence five decades ago and expressed satisfaction at the excellent relations between the two countries reinforced by growing cooperation in the areas of trade, tourism, energy, culture and education.

President Bhandari recalled her State Visit to Bangladesh in March 2021 on the occasion of the celebration of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Father of the Nation of Bangladesh, and expressed the confidence that the bilateral cooperation would continue to grow and deepen in the days to come.

Separately, Prime Minister Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba sent a congratulatory message to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina. PM Deuba stated that the two countries have been advancing collaboration and partnership in trade, tourism, energy and connectivity among others offering new and vast potentials for mutual benefit, read the statement.  

The Prime Minister further mentioned that Nepal and Bangladesh have been working in close cooperation, both at regional platforms such as SAARC, BIMSTEC and BBIN and at multilateral forums such as UN and WTO on matters of mutual interests including climate change, sustainable development, multilateral trade and public health.

Similarly, Bangladeshi President Hamid, in his message to President Bhandari, expressed satisfaction over growing trade and economic relations between the two countries.

While appreciating the fact that both countries have been maintaining very close relations, the President of Bangladesh also recalled his official goodwill visit to Nepal in 2019.

"President Hamid also expressed confidence that Nepal and Bangladesh would continue to work together for the attainment of shared vision of prosperity and development for both countries and peoples," read the statement.

On the same occasion, Bangladesh PM Hasina, in her message to PM Deuba, highlighted the shared socio-cultural linkages and multitude of commonalities that have developed over the years through mutual support and cooperation between the two countries.

Nepal and Bangladesh established diplomatic relations on April 8, 1972.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 April 2022.