'Political turmoil affecting investment year'

Stating that prolonged political situation is taking a toll on nation´s economy, Surendra Bir Malakar, general secretary of the National Business Initiative (NBI) said on Friday the Investment Year 2012/13 has almost failed and that businessmen were looking for other countries to shift their investment.
“Business people are keeping their fingers crossed; the situation is becoming chaotic,” Malakar said in an interaction organized by NBI, an organization working in the field of conflict resolution and establishment of sustainable peace in the country in order to improve business environment. “Many business people are seeking to shift their investment."
According to press release, business people at the interaction shared their common concern over deteriorating business doing environment in the country.
“Political situation is prolonging, private sector won´t prosper in this scenario," Suresh Kumar Basnet, president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, said in the interaction, according to the release. “We need to develop entrepreneurship to create employment opportunities in the market. It can lead us to a better path.”
The program mainly focused on social corporate responsibility (CSR) of private firms. “We need firms that can make a difference through the CSR programs in society,” DB Subedi , who presented a paper on institutional social responsibility in conflict affected economy, said.

Young entrepreneurs summit kicks off

A two-day summit of Nepali young entrepreneurs kicked off on Thursday in the capital in a bid to explore new business opportunities amid adverse business climate in the country.
Around 350 promising entrepreneurs across the country have gathered to share their ideas, knowledge and experiences to exploit the untapped business potential.
Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs´ Forum (NYEF) -- a forum for young entrepreneurs under the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) -- has organized the Young Entrepreneurs Summit (YES) 2012 in coordination with Entrepreneurs for Nepal (E4N), Samriddhi-The Prosperity Foundation, Association of Youth Organization Nepal (AYON) and Young Entrepreneur Forum of Confederation of Nepali Industries (CNI).
“The summit aims at creating a platform for aspiring young entrepreneurs to explore business opportunities within the country,” Sudarshan Basnet, executive member of NYEF, said on the occasion.
Different sessions are being organized to enhance skills and give inspirational inputs to the young participants during the conference.
The event being organized with the theme, ´Entrepreneurship: Engine of the Nation?” will cover a wide range of topics on business prospects.
Speaking on the occasion, Suraj Vaidhya, president of FNCCI, highlighted the importance of young entrepreneurs in leading the country to economic prosperity.
Entrepreneurs such as Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, Bijay Rajbhandari, Ananda Bagaria and Bhawani Rana will also share their experiences along with 15 young entrepreneurs.
Young entrepreneurs will extensively discuss opportunities for investment in different sectors such as agriculture, tourism and information & technology in which Nepal enjoys a competitive edge.

Industrial infrastructure development hard hit by budget

The political deadlock which obstructed annoucement of a full-fledged budget for the current fiscal year 2012/13 has paralyzed government´s program to support cement industries utilizing local raw materials which was launched four years back in 2008/09.
Under the program, the government had promised to construct roads, drinking water facility and lay electricity lines to the factory sites. This, the government had claimed would encourage investors to make use of country´s huge limestone reserves, thereby saving billions of rupees on import of clinker.
The ministries such as Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management (MoPPWTM), Ministry of Energy (MoE) and Ministry of Industry (MoI), which are entrusted to carry out the program, had failed to spend the allocated budget in the previous fiscal year 2011/12.
“Now, there is just one third budget of actual expenditure of last fiscal year, which means less money which is too little even to build small portion of the infrastructure in the factory sites,” an official at the MoI told Republica on the condition of anonymity.
The government over the last four years had constructed only one third of the total 32 km road it had promised to four cement factories -- Ghorahi, Sonapur, Dang and Rolpa. Though the government had released Rs 175 million for road construction, only 48 percent of the amount have been spent so far.
Private sector, which had praised the government program, has started expressing disappointment. “The program was somehow a good step to improve the condition of industrial sector in the country,” an official of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said on the condition of anonymity. He still expects that the government would work once the full-fledged budget comes in place.
Meanwhile, the MoPPWTM is working on designing program for this fiscal year. “The ministry is working on developing the program with the allocation of the current fiscal year,” Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at the MoPPWTM said. “The program will be implemented after jointly approving it from the National Planning Commission (NPC) and MoI.”
The private sector was exerting pressure on the political parties to come with the full-fledged budget for the current fiscal year 2012/13 through consensus. “We knew that the situation would be like this. This is just an example of the scenario. There are many other sectors and programs which have been badly affected due to the lack of full-fledged budget,” the FNCCI official said.