Independent NBF secretariat in the offing

The government and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, on Friday signed an agreement to establish an independent secretariat of the Nepal Business Forum (NBF).
The agreement was signed between Krishna Gayawali, secretary of the Ministry of Industry (MoI), and Valentiono S Bagatsing, the IFC resident representative in Nepal.
The secretariat of the NBF, currently located at the IFC office, is being shifted to a new place so that stakeholders can have easy access to the Forum, which, in turn, is expected to enhance effectiveness of reform programs.
The NBF, which came into operation in 2010, is a common platform for public and the private sector, where dialogues on reforms that need to be implemented and ways to boost economic activities, among others, are held. The NBF, which functions through different working group committees, such as industrial investment promotion, export promotion and trade facilitation and infrastructure, among others, also aims at strengthening the capacity of public and private sectors.
Industry Minister Anil Kumar Jha, who was present at the signing ceremony, said the government was always ready to make necessary changes to laws and regulations to uplift the country´s business sector and spur economic growth.
"The first and foremost priority of the government is to boost the confidence of the private sector and accelerate the pace of economic growth," Jha said.
Gayawali said the new independent NBF secretariat will be more effective in conducting open and fruitful dialogues between the private and public sectors.
To promote public-private dialogue, the IFC, the government and the private sector have allocated a sum of US$1 million, of which 15 percent will be contributed by the government, 38 percent by the private sector and the rest by the IFC.
"However, the cost borne by the government will also include non-cash support, like extension of office space," Gayawali said at the signing ceremony.
Private sector representatives, meanwhile, have expressed their commitment to support the independent secretariat of the NBF.
Suraj Vaidya, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), and Narendra Kumar Basnyat, president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), said that the NBF played an important role in making public-private dialogue more meaningful.