High-level team to evaluate tasks of ministries

The government has formed a high-level team to evaluate work performance of all the ministries setting specific criteria in a bid to make them more efficient and responsible.
The Office of the Prime Minister and Council Minister (OPMCM) has constituted the team led by Dharanidhar Khatiwada, secretary at the OPMCM.
Representatives from the Ministry of Finance (MoF), National Planning Commission (NPC) and Ministry of Energy (MoE) are also members of the team that is charged with formulating the evaluation paramenters within the next 15 days.
“The panel will develop a standard format that would help evaluate the performance of the different ministries. However, the parameters will vary from ministry to ministry. We will start evaluating the performance of the ministries once a standard format is developed. We are now developing 10 different indicators to judge performance,” Khatiwada told Republica.
According to him, the evaluation would compel ministries to meet program targets within a specific time period. Earlier, ministries prepared monthly progress report on their own without following any specific format.
The government´s move comes as a part of OPMCM´s action plan for good governance. “The team will also prepare evaluation reports of all the ministries and submit it to the government,” he said. The evaluation report will categorize ministries into three levels-- average, higher than average and below average- based on their performance.
The government has introduced the new system of performance evaluation, at a time when the government programs have been affected due to lack of full-fledged budget for the fiscal year 2012/13.

Political interference, labor unrest to be blamed for slowing economy: Pvt sector

At a time when the government seeking more investments from the private sector, entrepreneurs have expressed concern over increasing labor unrest and political interference which has weakened the capacity of the private sector.
“We haven´t been able to utilize the resources available in the country given the deepening political instability and politicized institutions -- both in the government and private sector,” Suresh Kumar Basnet, said president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) on the occasion of 60th Chamber Day on Saturday. Basnet also appealed to all the political parties to forge consensus to end the current deadlock.
Highlighting the potential for investment in areas such as agriculture, tourism, education and health, Basnet put the blame on government and political parties and their “uncooperative” attitude toward private sector for deteriorating investment climate and industrial output in the country.
“The government is only focusing its efforts at boosting revenue collection ignoring the plights of the private sector, which is the crucial component the economy. This has dashed the confidence of business people,” Basnet added.
NCC, the oldest business association in the country, is the representative body of more than 1,600 individuals and 8,000 registered firms across the country.
Suraj Vaidya, president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said that the country´s economic issues have been put on the backburner due to the ongoing political deadlock.
“The government has given us nothing in return for the revenue we pay to the government. We want the government to be more practical and friendly toward the private sector which is an important pillar of the economy,” said Vaidya.
Business leaders have also complained about the increasing influence of political parties in business enterprises. “The rising cases of extortion and intimidation by political cadres have also weakened the morale of the business community,” Basnet added.
Industry minister Anil Kumar Jha assured the private sector that the government was always ready to provide them security and punish those involved in extortion and intimidation.
“The government will leave no stone unturned to take action against those involved in extorting and intimidating business people,” said Jha.
Business leaders also urged the government to bring a full-fledged budget in order to give a boost to the slowing economic activities in the country.
“In the absence of a full-fledged budget, we have been witnessing multiple adverse effects in the economy. Hence, all the political parties should forge consensus to bring out the full-fledged budget for this fiscal year,” said Vaidya.

E-registration of companies to begin from Dec

Entrepreneurs would soon be able to register their firm with Office of the Company Registrar (OCR) from home.
This became possible after OCR and International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday in order to improve the environment of doing business in the country.
Under the MoU signed by Damodar Regmi, registrar of the OCR and Fred Zake, head of South Asia Enterprises Development Facility at IFC, IFC has committed to support installation of new system and upgrade operating environment at OCR, which on average registers 10,000 companies every year.
"The system and software that facilitates e-registration of companies will be formally launched in December," Taneem Ahad, project manager of Regulatory Reform Advisory Services in South Asia at IFC said. "It takes 15 days to register a company at the OCR now. After using this software, it will take just 7 days."
He further added that this will ultimately improve the situation of Nepal in the Doing Business Report.
According to the MoU, the government and IFC will together allocate US$ 1 million to install the system and upgrade the working condition of OCR. "Entrepreneurs can register a new company from home. They will just have to come for signing on the document," Ahad said.
"The renewal process also can be done from home itself and they can even get updates about the status of their company online."
The MoU aims to make the situation better for entrepreneurs in order to increase the volume of economic activities in the country. "There will be more and more firms registered in the country which will ultimately add value to the national economy," Zake said after signing the MoU.

Australia-based NRN pledges Rs 6.4b investment

Nepal is expected to see investment of Rs 6.41 billion in the tourism sector soon from a non-resident Nepali (NRN).
Shesh Ghale, an NRN based in Australia, on Thursday formally announced his decision to make an investment of 75 million Australian dollars (approximately Rs 6.41 billion) in Nepal. “The money would be used to set up a five-star hotel in Kathmandu," Ghale told an audience present during the inaugural session of NRN Day 2012.
The construction of the hotel will kickstart from next year and will complete within the next three to three-and-a-half years, according to Ghale, who made his fortune in real estate in Australia.
The 54-year-old millionaire, who owns the Melbourne Institute of Technology, said the promoters are currently negotiating with different international chains to seek affiliation.
Ghale´s investment is coming at a time when many investors are shying away from pouring money into the country due to the fluid political situation and labor-related problems.
The community of NRNs, which is scattered all over the world, has long been asking political parties to forge consensus to resolve the political impasse that has hindered all development activities and discouraged potential investors from making new investments in the country.
"The prolonging transitional phase has been a major obstacle facing the development of the country and many potential investors are not interested in making new investments due to political instability," Jiba Lamichhane, president of NRN Association, told the gathering. "We appeal to all the political parties to forge consensus and work together for the country´s prosperity."
Lamichhane also requested the government to play a pro-active role in bringing all parties to a common platform to forge consensus. "We want to work for the betterment of our motherland. It´s a humble request to all the political parties to understand the painful situation of the country."
In response, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said the government was working toward creating an investment-friendly environment.
“Establishment of the Investment Board is a major achievement and it´s working on identifying 50 viable projects," PM Bhattarai said. "The government is also working on reducing power cuts and expanding transmission lines between Nepal and India.”
He also claimed the political parties would soon reach consensus. "Political parties are holding discussions on what would be best for the country," PM Bhattarai said.
Meanwhile, Suraj Vaidya, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), requested the NRN community to invest in the country. "Of course there are problems but we should be optimistic and keep pushing for new investments in the country," Vaidya said.

India commits to complete Tarai roads project on time

India has expressed commitment to push the contractors appointed to construct 606-km Tarai link roads to speed up the works so that the project, which is the biggest India funded project in recent years, could be implemented on time.
Going by the understanding, about half a dozen contractors selected by the Indian government to implement the project are supposed to complete the construction works of the first phase within 30 months of signing the contract. The contract was signed last year.
“About 12 months have already passed since the contractors were appointment. Sadly, only 7 percent of the works have been completed so far,” the Indian delegation had apprised the Nepali team during the bilateral review meeting on the project on Wednesday.
During the talks, the Indian delegation led by Akhilesh Mishra, joint secretary at its Ministry of External Affairs (MoEA), had admitted that the project was delayed because the contractors, who bid lowest to win the contract, couldn´t find workforce in Nepal at costs they quoted for the works.
“No wonder, in the absence of workers, they failed to carry out their jobs. Hence, they are dilly-dallying the matter now,” an official of Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport management (MoPPWTM) present at the meeting quoted the Indian officials as saying in the review meeting.
Following such sincere confession by the Indian side, the Nepali talks team led by Hari Om Srivastav, joint secretary at the MoPPWTM, had requested it to speed up the project implementation henceforth.
“The Indian side has committed to speed up the construction works and complete the project on time -- that is within the next 18 months,” Tulasi Sitaula, secretary at the MoPPWTM, told Republica.
Among others, the Indian team said it would closely monitor the work of the contractors in the field, and push it, whenever necessary, for speedy works.
During the meeting, the Nepali side had also acknowledged weaknesses on its parts, like difficulties faced by it in acquiring land. “We have informed the Indian team that we will complete the land acquisition soon,” Sitaula added.
For the purpose, the Nepali side said it would soon approach the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) for acquiring the forest land -- the only remaining portion under acquisition. “We will work closely with the MoFSC to make that happen soon,” said Sitaula.
The talk team from India and Nepal are scheduled to visit the site on Thursday to observe the development of the project.
Nepal and India had signed an assistance agreement to develop and upgrade 1500-km link roads in Tarai districts in June 2006. Going by the agreement, the Nepali government needs to acquire the land and hand it over to the contractor, who would then construct the double lane roads.
For the construction of the 606-km link roads, which is being developed under the first phase, India has already allocated fund of Rs 10 billion.

Evolve regional strategy on drinking water supply, sanitation: World Bank

As unclean water and sanitation is the world´s second biggest killer of children, the World Bank official on Wednesday urged countries in South Asia to evolve out a common strategy to tackle this problem in the region.
"Policy priority, insufficient funding, rapid urbanization and lack of public awareness have mainly impeded attainment of long-term sustainability of water supply and sanitation in South Asia," said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank country manager for Nepal.
"Weak institutional capacities are other problems for us in the region to attain our goal of reducing number of people who do not have access to drinking water and sanitation," she stated
Sayed was speaking at the South Asian regional conference on drinking water and sanitation, which kicked off in Kathmandu on Wednesday.
The three-day conference is being attended by more than 100 experts and officials from the different countries of the region. Through the conference, they hope to identify a common strategy to mitigate challenges seen in access to drinking water and sanitation in rural areas and also identify the workable institutional models for the region.
According to the World Bank, more than 500 million people do not have access to sanitation and 250 million people to drinking water in South Asia, which is home to 1.6 billion people.
"Despite its economic success, South Asia, now, represents the largest concentration of the world´s poor, as well as those lacking access to safe water and sanitation," said its statement.
According to the Bank, the conference will discuss on identifying sustainable ways of water supply, increasing sanitation access and reducing challenges -- challenges of declining water quality and quantity. "It will also focus on developing partnership between public and private sector to advance rural water and sanitation," Sayed said.
Janak Raj Shah, member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) said that the inadequate coordination among major players in the field of water supply and sanitation, weak implementation of the program and lack of proper approach to handle the projects were major hurdles of water supply and sanitation in Nepal. “
"We are lagging behind to achieve our targets under millennium development goals on sanitation and water supply," Shah said. The government has targeted to increase access to water supply and sanitation to 53 percent of the total population by 2015.

Govt requests India to construct bridges as well

The government has requested India to support the construction of bridges along 900-km link roads that will be developed in later phases of the 1500-km Tarai Roads Project.
Under the bilateral assistance agreement, the government had agreed to construct the bridges itself while India would construct the 1500 km road.
"We are constructing bridges on the first 600-km stretch of the Tarai road ourselves," said Hariom Srivastav, joint secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning, Works and Transport Management.
However, the ministry recently approached the Indian government to develop bridges as well on remaining 900-km stretch that will be developed in the second and the third phases.
Srivastava said such a request was made mainly to complete the project on time. "We have yet to carry out a survey to ascertain the number of bridges need to be constructed along the 900 km stretch. Survey will take time," he stated.
Besides, the ministry has assessed that the cost of constructing the bridges [on the 900 km section] will be very high and it will be difficult for the government to arrange funds from its own sources.
Tarai Road Project is the biggest project being developed under Indian assistance in recent years. The agreement was signed between the two countries in 2006. India has already allocated Rs 10 billion for the first phase construction work.
"Sadly, even after six years of the agreement, no substantial progress has been made in the project," Srivastav said.
As per the assistance agreement, Nepal needs to acquire land for the development and upgradation of link roads. However, officials said they are facing difficulties in land acquisition. “
"The pace of implementation of the first phase itself has remained slow because we have faced problems in land acquisition and in having environmental impact assessment report approved from the authorities concerned," Srivastava said.
Senior Nepali and Indian officials are also holding a bilateral meeting, reviewing the status and discuss future course of action of the project, on Wednesday. Akhilesh Mishra, joint secretary at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs is leading the Indian delegation.
The Nepali side is hopeful that the Indian side will respond positively to their request for bridges construction.

Sri Lankan envoy pushes for increased trade and connectivity with Nepal

Entrepreneurs, who have extended relationship with Sri-Lanka in trade and economic front, met officials from Embassy of Sri-Lanka in Nepal on Tuesday in a bid to discuss and identify possible ways of increasing volume of trade and connecting the two countries through direct flights.
According to a press release issued by Nepal-Sri Lanka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (NSCCI), A team led by Bhakta Bahadur Malla, president of NSCCI met D.V. Abeywickrama, Charge D´ Affairs and Dison J Perera, Economic counselor from the embassy on Tuesday.
“Two sides agreed to improve the mechanism of information sharing between the two countries,” said the release. “Abeywickrama said that he would work on developing the bridge between business communities from the two countries in every possible way.”
Similarly, Abeywickrama also said that the embassy was interested to connect the two countries through direct flights. “In order to increase the movement of people between the two countries, we have to connect the two countries through a direct flight,” the release quoted Abeywickrama as saying. In the meeting business leaders even requested officials from embassy to encourage Sri Lankan investors to come in Nepal.
Nepal and Sri Lanka being in the same South Asia region, share a minimal level of bilateral trade. According to statistics compiled at Trade and Export promotion Centre (TEPC), Nepal and Sri Lanka had Rs 90 million worth of trade in which Nepal has around Rs 58 million trade defict with Sri Lanka in 2011.