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Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2654', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Rhetoric And Reality Of Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <p> With the slogan of making Nepal a lucrative destination for investment, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), in association with the government, is organizing a three-day Nepal Economic Summit 2014 from February 24. According to FNCCI, the main organiser of the event, the Summit will be a milestone for policy changes to attract foreign investment, both domestic and foreign, in three key sectors of Nepal – agriculture, tourism and energy. Economists and some businessmen, however, say that ‘attracting foreign investment’ has been one of the overused phrases over the years. “Luring foreign investment has now become rhetorical,” agreed economist and former National Planning Commission Vice Chairman Deependra Bahadur Kshetry.</p> <p> The government should ensure investment friendly environment for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), he told <em>The Corporate</em>. The most important aspect to lure FDI is taking investors into confidence, Kshetry added. “China is not a liberal economy. Yet, why is foreign investment inflow high in china? Because the country has investment friendly environment and it has succeeded to win confidence of investors.”</p> <p> The event is aimed at seeking all possible solution on how we can make Nepal a lucrative destination for investment globally and can remove hurdles that prevail at present, director general at FNCCI Dr Hemanta Dawadi said. The summit will be followed by abusiness conclave in March this year. FNCCI will be inviting potential investors to this conclave for discussing investment possibilities, Dawadi informed.</p> <p> Economist Prithvi Raj Ligal, on the other hand, said that the hurdles have already been identified. All we need is sincere commitments from concerned stakeholders for addressing existing hurdles and to foster an environment favourable for investment, he added. Political instability, security issues, poor infrastructure and frequent labour unrest in the nation among others are some of the core issues that pose serious challenge to attract foreign investment, he opined.</p> <p> Questioning the very objective of organizing of such meets while identified bottlenecks remain unaddressed, he said that the government should focus its efforts to address problems also, instead of solely focusing on repeatedly organizing summit after summit. “Gathering world’s renowned business figures is a good initiative. But repeating the same actions on the same line will be useless. Its time to address the identified bottlenecks while establishing business contacts simultaneously,” Ligal said. The organizers, on the other hand, claim the summit will be a groundbreaking event. FNCCI President Suraj Vaidya said the Summit aims solely to create a platform where business leaders, experts, high level political leaders and international delegates will search for a common ground that will help make Nepal an attractive destination for local as well as foreign investors.</p> <p> “Nepal has tremendous investment potentials in agriculture, tourism and energy sectors. However, there are policy hurdles and there is a lack of investment-friendly environment. The Summit will look for ways to tackle such problems,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> The FNCCI has already prepared a list of 27 projects that are concidered ‘quite feasible’ for investment. Vaidya said the Summit will try to attract FDI in these projects. “The Summit will help explore investment possibilities for these 27 projects whose total cost has been estimated at Rs 300 billion,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> Economists, successful entrepreneurs and experts in agriculture, tourism and clean energy from the USA, the UK, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Germany and Thailand, among others, will be attending this Summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.</p> <p> Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), World Bank and its private sector arm International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Nepal Tourism Board are the partners of the Summit. Similarly, Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation, is the knowledge partner of the event.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>FDI in Seven Months</strong></span><br /> Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nepal has reached Rs 18.9 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. At a programme organised at the Prime Minister’s Office on February 16, officials said that 135 FDI projects have been approved during the period. The country received Rs 19.94 billion FDI in fiscal year 2012/13 and Rs 7.14 billion in the previous fiscal year.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'It is high time the business community and the government proved their effi ciency to attract more foreign investment instead of organizing one after another conference and summit.', 'sortorder' => '2528', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2645', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Govt Seeks ‘Formula’ To Reduce Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="18" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="192"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear: both;"> Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.</div> <p> The trade imbalance has now become a serious problem as the country’s trade deficit continues widening year on year, said secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister, Krishna Hari Baskota. “The government is serious to increase promotional activities for Nepal’s products in the international market for reducing the<br /> trade deficit.”</p> <p> According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the nation’s trade deficit with India has reached Rs 190.95 billion, out of the overall trade deficit of Rs 288.76 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Trade deficit has a multiple effects since it drains money from the country’s economy, Banskota said, adding that remittance inflow has become crucial in maintaining Balance of Payment (BoP) of the country. It is not good for country’s financial health to rely on remittance inflow forever, he opined. According to the central bank, the country witnessed a total of Rs 266 billion remittance inflow in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Coordination among various stakeholders is a must to reduce hassles in trade, he said. The coordination among various stakeholders has not been materialised so far, he informed. It is time that policymakers and businesses made concerted and coordinated attempts to tackle country’s trade imbalances before we are faced with serious crisis, he further said, adding that it is also the right time to address the issue as the country is all set to get a moderate and liberal government led by parties which embrace liberal economy policy.</p> <p> Elaborating further Banskota pointed that the ‘one stop services’ to promote export promotion has been limited to papers. “We need to seriously implement all provisions which the government has introduced with aim of facilitating trade activities,” he said. He blamed the private sector for being hell bent on collecting service charge rather than contributing to trade facilitation. It is not necessary to issue both Generalize System of Preference (GSP) and Certificate of Origin (CO) for the products. But, this hassle has not been removed, as private sector does not want to lower their profit, which they have been collecting while issuing these two certificates, he blamed.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Govt’s Mantra to Reduce Trade Deficit</strong></span></p> <p> • Establishment of herbs collection and processing centres<br /> • Upgradation of labs<br /> • Verification of organic products<br /> • Acquiring collective trademark<br /> • Government’s assistance in acquiring trademarks<br /> • Increased participation in global trade fairs<br /> • Effective implementation of Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2010</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-02-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.', 'sortorder' => '2494', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2590', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo In Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj. </div> <div> </div> <div> Ambassador Rae underlined the need for infrastructure development to attract more foreign investment to Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepal needs to implement investment friendly policies,” he suggested. He informed that Indian government has planned to expand railway facility in five bordering districts in Nepal. The railway link is expected to facilitate trade between the two countries, he added. The process of establishing Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at three major customs points along the Nepal-India border has also started, he said.</div> <div> </div> <div> He urged Nepali private sector and the government to take Indian investors into confidence as there is high potential of Indian investment in Nepal. He emphasized on the bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal should increase the volume of export to India to reduce the existing trade deficit with India, he suggested. “Nepal can export hydroelectricity to India which will help reduce the trade deficit.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Minds Nepal has organized the expo that is aimed at increasing international trade particularly with India and the SAARC countries. The 10-day exhibition has been displaying a wide range of products from Nepal, India and the SAARC region, the organizer said. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Nepal-India Border Summit </strong></span></div> <div> Nepal-India border summit concluded on Saturday (February 15) issuing a 15-point “Birgunj Declaration 2070”. Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry had organized the summit with participation of parliamentarians from bordering districts. In the programme, six parliamentarians from Bara and Parsa districts of and two parliamentarians from India participated. </div> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/1%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI’s immediate past president Ashok Temani (second from right) helping Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae to unwrap the Greater Nepal CD for launching while FNCCI president Suraj Vaidhya (far left) looks on</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the readymade garment stall." src="/userfiles/images/2%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the readymade garment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya " src="/userfiles/images/3%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 179px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya (4th from the right) with participants of Nepal - India Border Summit</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the electric equipment stall." src="/userfiles/images/4%20(Copy)(3).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 339px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the electric equipment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj.', 'sortorder' => '2493', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2589', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Made In Nepal: Fantasy And Fact', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> What does ‘Made in Nepal’ stand for? The Nepali products cannot get foothold in global market unless manufacturers cannot answer this question. Young entrepreneurs, Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs), industrialists and even bureaucrats often talk about making Brand Nepal visible. It, however, has been more than evident that they have ignored or neglected bottlenecks to make the brand Nepal visible.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepali products lack competitiveness. High lending rate and unnecessary labour cost have resulted in higher production cost of Nepali products,” says economist Rameshore Khanal.</div> <div> </div> <div> Another crucial issue is quality. Economist Sujeev Shakya opines, “Made in Nepal tag should not be equivalent to substandard products. Quality is key issue and our products cannot get good reputation unless we can assure it.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal could make its own identity in agro and herbs products if there would have been a lab that could assure quality, said Khanal. Developed countries give high priority to quality while importing agro products, he said. But Nepal lacks even a standard lab.</div> <div> </div> <div> Honey and other products could get market if we had been able to assure their quality.</div> <div> </div> <div> Some Nepali brands are finding markets in other countries. But the question is: are they commercialized? Generally, Nepali products are focused on niche segments that are too small, said young entrepreneur Sabda Gyawali.</div> <div> </div> <div> In fact, Made in Nepal products have still a long journey to go in terms of commercialization. It is harsh reality that foreigners do not buy Nepali products because of its commercial value but as a souvenir or showpiece or for aesthetic, Gyawali shared with The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturer should be able to create unique selling point (USP) of their products, agreed Samir Thapa, president of Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum that organizes Made in Nepal expo every year.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, point out that the current modalities of promotional activities are very effective. “It is quite ironical that we target Nepali Diaspora population even if we organize Made in Nepal expo abroad,” an economist told The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturers’ failure to tap evolving market is another reason. Researcher and member of NYEF Manish Jha said that Nepali manufacturers have failed to identify their target market. Export to Europe and USA has been quite rhetorical, he said. “It is time to seek evolving market like South Asia which is more convenient to Nepali exporters.”</div> <div> </div> <div> It is important to emphasise here that we need to invest in various aspect including that of branding, marketing skills, technology and networking before ‘Made in Nepal’ tag gains recognition and respect in the global market.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'As Nepali entrepreneurs look to expand their footprint globally, many analysts believe that they still have a long way to go. Nepali products should maintain quality to make the tag ‘Made in Nepal’ an accepted one in the global market.', 'sortorder' => '2486', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2501', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Illicit Financial Flow From Nepal Is Far More Than Foreign Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Latest studies show that the Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) drained from Nepal on an average far exceeds the Official Development Assistance (ODA) the country receives as grants from the donor community. </div> <div> </div> <div> A report published by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, reveals Rs 62 billion has been drained from Nepal annually during the period of 2002 to 2011 in the form of IFF. On the other hand, the statistics maintained by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) shows that Nepal has received Rs 37 billion as grants annually during the same period. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to these statistics, on an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price. </div> <div> </div> <div> During the period, the capital flight from Nepal has increased by an annual average growth rate of 15.64 percent. In 2010, a record high Rs 155 billion was drained from the country while the year 2003 witnessed the lowest capital flight which stands at Rs 25 billion. The trends show that Nepal suffered the most from the problem of capital flight during 2007 to 2010. Perennial political transition, instability created by communist-led government and ambiguity in the policy front are considered some of the major reasons for the problem of capital flight for that period. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Maoist government failed to take the business community into confidence due to their weak commitments for free market economy and failure to safeguard the right to private propriety encouraged big investors to take their investment out of the country,” an economist said. </div> <div> </div> <div> The annual grant received by Nepal increased by 31.85 percent during the study period. The percentage of currency outflow is higher than the actual grant the country received which clearly suggests that the country was at loss.</div> <div> </div> <div> As far as grant is concerned, the country received the highest amount of grant of Rs 70 billion in 2009 whereas it received only Rs 8 billion in 2003. It was yet again political reason – lack of political stability and lack of local bodies to maintain transparency of the aid money – for the low amount of grant, an official at the Ministry of Finance said. </div> <div> </div> <div> “How can a country take the path of prosperity when the government cannot spend grant money effectively on the one hand and is unable to stop capital flight on the other?” asked the official.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Major Reasons for the Capital Flight </strong></span></div> <div> <strong>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Decade long internal conflict followed by political Instability</strong></div> <div> <strong>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant Corruption in Bureaucracy as well as business community </strong></div> <div> <strong>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Tax evasion oriented mindset among businessmen </strong></div> <div> <strong>4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Lack of accountability/transparency in private sector </strong></div> <div> <strong>5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Unnecessary conditions of the donors </strong></div> <div> <strong>6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Low confidence of investors </strong></div> <div> <strong>7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Government’s Failure to Safeguard the right to private Property</strong></div> <div> <strong>8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Problem of under-invoicing and over-invoicing in trading </strong></div> <div> <strong>9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant transfer pricing in international trade </strong></div> <div> <strong>10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Emergence of conservative (communist) forces in the government</strong></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-02-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'On an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price.', 'sortorder' => '2420', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2548', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Readying For A Fresh Start', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN. Of the 17 seats, six are to be filled by representatives of institutional members and the rest by individual members. The final list of candidates has 20 from the individuals and eight from institutions. </div> <div> </div> <div> All the 28 prospective candidates for the top MAN posts are busy in lobbying and making their permutation and combination right. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the new office bearers of MAN will be decided by the executive committee members, some candidates have expressed their interest in the vital posts. Former general secretary Shiva Adhikari has expressed his interest for the key post of president while other candidates are busy in their cover campaigning. </div> <div> </div> <div> The theme for this year’s AGM is ‘Political Management: A Case of Nepal’. President Shah claims the topic to be “highly relevant as Nepal is in dire need of political management.” He says, “The political leadership should be able to manage political differences and tensions to ensure stability in the business sector.” </div> <div> </div> <div> A critical issue facing the Association is representation of the private sector in the executive body. MAN has not been able to attract enough corporate/private sector managers in the Association. “The world has moved on very fast but MAN has not,” says one of the Association’s former presidents Arzu Rana Deuba. “MAN leadership should realize the fact that the institution is yet to be owned by Nepal’s private sector/ big corporate houses.” Other former presidents of MAN express similar views. “With the adoption of liberal economy in 1990, involvement of managers from the private sector should have increased in MAN but it could not happen,” said former finance minister Madhukar SJB Rana, who is also a former president of MAN. Rana also suggested to the private sector to realize the importance of institutions like MAN. “The Private sector is yet to realize the importance of MAN. They seem focused more on organizations established at their own initiatives such as FNCCI and CNI,” he said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Another former President of MAN Rameshore Khanal who retired as Finance Secretary said, “MAN has failed to offer services which are useful to the corporate sector. This is one of the main reasons behind the lower representation of the private sector in the organization.” He said MAN cannot be a complete platform for all managers until it ensures representation of the private sector.</div> <div> </div> <div> Besides active representation of private sector, there are several other challenges as well that MAN needs to address. MAN should conduct research, provide education, and impart training in the field of management, Khanal said. “But these are not easy tasks and the organization should not take all these responsibilities as a mere formality.” The major challenges before MAN is to connect management movement of the country with that of global trends, he said. </div> <div> According to former chief secretary and another former president of MAN, Bimal Koirala, the lack of commitment from MAN members has been very challenging to make the organization vibrant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Incumbent president hah said that both MAN office bearers and private sector should put collective effort for taking the organization to the next level. Lower participation of the private sector in the organization may be the reason of lower corporate culture in business units, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The Corporate’s Suggestions to MAN </strong></span></div> <div> 1)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should create a platform to share innovative practices in corporate governance in Nepal </div> <div> 2)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should recognise corporate houses that have commercially and profitably implemented innovative ideas in practice. </div> <div> 3)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take initiative to ensure that the upcoming government passes a resolution to allocate 1 or 2 % of the turnover to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities</div> <div> 4)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should bring out a code of conduct for self-regulation of its members to bring about transparency in corporate governance</div> <div> 5)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take up sectoral reforms and assist entrepreneurs by way of exchange programmes for NRN youth</div> <div> 6)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>With the help from the government, MAN can organise NRN Summit on Management</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>MAN’s Vision for the Future</strong></span></div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Increase participation of private sector in the organization</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Expansion of its network base by incorporating B-Schools and corporate houses</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote professional management education through innovative programmes and initiatives</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide a platform for sharing ideas and exchanging knowledge </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Enhance knowledge of members by sharing experiences on newer trends in the field of management in the backdrop of changing global environment</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Maintain best-in-class standards of education and training to build a world class management institution</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide relevant inputs to the government regarding changed global trends in the management movement </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote and facilitate academic research and set-up a research facility</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN.', 'sortorder' => '2407', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2549', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Women A Minority In MAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Eliza Tuladhar</strong></div> <div> </div> <table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Shanti Laxmi Shakya, Treasurer, MAN" src="/userfiles/images/2(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <strong>Shanti Laxmi Shakya</strong></div> <div> Treasurer, MAN</div> </div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low. “The number of women members is increasing gradually but we still need their active participation and representation in the association’s activities,” said Treasurer of MAN Shanti Laxmi Shakya who has been working as acting director of legal department of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) since 2045. Shakya is however, in the executive committee for the last 20 years. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to her, the number of women members and their participation in the association is still not satisfactory. “Women should not remain passive, they should come forward with their views and ideas. If they don’t they will be always deprived from every opportunity,” said Shakya and further stressed on the need for women to struggle and move ahead. “Since its establishment there has been only one female president, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba,” said Shakya. </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2002the association started awarding best women managers with the “Women Manager Recognition Award.”</div> <div> </div> <div> So far, nine women have received this award. Meera Bhattarai is the first to receive the ‘Woman Manager Recognition Award’ in 2002, while she was serving as the executive director of Association for Craft Producers. Later in 2004 Hajuri Bista, managing director of H.K Food Products received the award. Other outstanding women managers to receive this award are Saraswati Shrestha, executive chairman of Women Cooperative Society Limited (2004), Lily Thapa, executive chairman of WHR, Single Women Group (2006), Sangita Nirola, executive director of SWATI (2007), Rama Pokharel Dahal, assistant general manager of Everest Insurance Limited (2009), Barsha Shrestha, general manager of Clean Energy Development Bank (2010), Pramila Rijal, executive chairman of SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council (2011) and Indira Maiya Shrestha chief executive officer of Shtrii Shakti (S2)(2012). </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2008 Anuradha Koirala, executive chairperson of Maiti Nepal was presented the ‘Outstanding Management Award’ of MAN and she is the only women to receive this award so far.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low', 'sortorder' => '2396', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2502', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'NSBM Takes Initiative For Int’l Quality Certification Of Domestic Goods And Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Bureau is planning to establish NAFP in collaboration with India’s National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB). According to Manandhar, an agreement to this effect was signed between the NSBM and NABCB on last Wednesday (January 22). She also informed The Corporate that NAFP would request NABCB for quality certification. “As there is no separate body for [international] quality certification at the Bureau, we have signed an agreement with NABCB,” she added.</div> <div> </div> <div> The establishment of NAFP will help reduce the international quality certification cost of Nepali goods and services and will ease the entire process of quality certification, according to Manandhar. The NSBM is preparing to make a two-year work plan for NAFP. However, it’s going to take a few months before the NAFP starts working for international quality certification. </div> <div> </div> <div> For the time being, the office of NAFP will be located on the NSBM premises.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.', 'sortorder' => '2344', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2449', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'World Bank Forecasts 3.8 % Economic Growth Challenges Ahead', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. </div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013. </div> <div> </div> <div> The data of Global Economic Prospectus 2014 report released by the World Bank clearly showed that the country has still a long way to go to achieve the growth target set by the government. According to the latest monetary policy, the government aims to achieve 5.5 per cent economic growth in 2014. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/twb%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 200px; height: 95px;" />The growth forecast by the bank is a blow to the government’s plan of achieving 7 per cent economic growth. The forecast also showed that the government’s plan of improving its status as the developing country from existing Least Developed Country (LDC) is an ambitious plan which is hard to achieve any time soon as the World Bank has projected 4.4 per cent growth rate for 2015 and 5.2 for 2016.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, say that the country can do better than World Bank’s forecast if it aims at mobilizing more investment from the private sector. </div> <div> </div> <div> World Bank’s projection is based on the data of October 2013, said former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal. “The economic situation was better in December as the agriculture sector witnessed improvement including the production of crops.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We can say the World Bank’s data has underestimated the country’s economic situation to some extent, he claimed. “The country can achieve around 4.5 per cent economic growth in 2014.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We must focus on our major sectors such as agriculture, tourism, water resource if we are to attain speedy economic growth, said economist Dr Chiranjibi Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> Slower government expenditure – especially capital expenditure – despite timely monsoon that might boost agriculture growth, is still a big challenge for the country, he opined. “It is expected that the new government will bring policy to accelerate capital expenditure.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Taking the private sector into confidence is the only way out to propel economic growth while policy stability and endorsement of essential laws is a must to boost the private sector’s confidence, according to Khanal. </div> <div> </div> <div> The banking sector is still reluctant to invest in hydro projects and other big projects, he said. The government should identify the problems of banks and foster an environment where all banks can invest in big projects which will help boost economic activities.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/mn1%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 397px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2342', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2406', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Richest Countries Poor In Anti-Money Laundering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world. The study documented that the developed countries are highly responsible for steady increase in illicit financial flows from developing countries, most of which is being absorbed in the developed countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> For a long time, the traditional view in the developed countries was that illegal capital flight, money laundering and terrorist financing were problems only for developing countries. Similarly, they used to say that the corrupt governments and bureaucracy as well as poor business environments in the developing countries led capital to flee to their markets and promote money laundering. </div> <div> </div> <div> Accordingly, they were putting high pressure on developing and least developed countries like ours to obey all the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations on AML-CTF. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, “one of the most damning findings of the study is that 27 of the 34 OECD countries are either “non compliant” or only “partially compliant” with the FATF recommendations,” reads the report. The report also shows that none of the OECD countries are “fully compliant” with the standards on transparency of corporate ownership information, which aims to tackle money laundering by anonymous shell companies. The study indicates that most of the developed countries, which have been receiving the largest chunk of money that vanished from the developing countries, are in a rush to collect the illicit financial flows rather than help to restrain it. While policymakers in developing countries bear some of the responsibility for this problem, this is a two-way street. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chief economic advisor for the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal accepts the reality that the money drained from poor countries like Nepal is being received by the developed countries. “The high income countries have been absorbing the illicit financial flows in the name of offshore financial system, secrecy jurisdictions and tax haven lands,” said Nepal, suggesting that the developing countries should raise their voice collectively on FATF and other multilateral platforms. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Krishna Hari Baskota, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, although the degree of pressure on and anomalies in the developing countries in the name of ML/TF has been rising internationally, the OECD countries underscore their voice. “However, Nepal is in a safe zone now as per the criteria set by FATF,” said Baskota adding that this is a result of continuous efforts of Government of Nepal in policy formulation and enforcement to contain ML/TF. He further argued that the latest study should serve as a wake-up call to the world leaders regarding illicit financial flows and ML/TF. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Western nations established an offshore financial system comprised of tax havens, anonymous shell companies, and various trade-based money laundering techniques, and they have not done enough to remedy this system to date,” said Raymond Baker President of GFI in a comment on the OECD report. According to Baker, Illicit financial flows and money laundering are the most damaging economic problem facing the global poor, and they are growing at a terrifying pace. The FATF recommendations on beneficial ownership are only a first step towards eliminating the use of anonymous ‘phantom firms’ and effectively curtailing ML/TF. But the shameful reality is that every OECD member fails to comply with even these weak standards on corporate ownership transparency and most of them aren’t even close, according to the report.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the latest report of GFI, nearly USD 1 trillion drained from the developing world in 2011 with an annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent during the last decade i.e. 2002 to 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world.', 'sortorder' => '2313', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2450', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'New Foreign Aid Policy Ready Ceiling On Loans, Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.</div> <div> </div> <div> The new policy has some new provisions regarding foreign aid. According to the new policy, the government will not accept a foreign loan of less than USD 20 million and a grant of less than USD 5 million. However, the policy accepts technical assistances of smaller size.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The new policy has put ceilings on foreign loans and grants,” Marasini said, “It also has the provision of mentioning all foreign assistance in the Red Book.” According to Marasini, smaller donors will have to make their contribution through a pool fund.</div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the revised policy is aimed at boosting investments in sectors such as energy, infrastructure (highways and airports), agriculture and irrigation. “The new policy has prioritized these sectors which need huge investment,” Marasini made it clear. </div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the new policy will make the foreign assistance regime transparent. “It’s us who should be sitting in the driver’s seat, not the donors. This, in essence, is the fundamental of the new aid policy,” Marasini shared.</div> <div> </div> <div> The policy aims at graduating Nepal out of the group of least developed countries to the block of developing countries by 2022. </div> <div> </div> <div> At present, there are nearly 500 projects being run through foreign assistance. The new aid policy aims at bringing down the number of such projects to 150.</div> <div> </div> <div> There are nearly 40 international donors providing foreign assistance including loans, grants and technical assistance to Nepal at present. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.', 'sortorder' => '2293', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2316', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Muktishree’s Investment Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Muktishree" src="/userfiles/images/MN1.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; width: 200px; height: 139px;" />Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chairman of Muktishree Pvt Ltd Ajeya raj Sumargi on Sunday unveiled the business diversification plan of the company. According to him, hydropower, hotel and cement industry are new areas of investment of the company. It has already involved in telecom and drinking water business. </div> <div> </div> <div> The company has already invested in various projects including Hetauda Mines Industry, Everest Minerals Products, Durga Cold Storage, Himalayan Spring Water, Inco Panel Industries, Hetauda Education Foundation, National College of Higher Education and Yeti Development Bank. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people.', 'sortorder' => '2285', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2357', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Birgunj To Host Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The Expo which is being organized in Birgunj, one of Nepal’s major commercial and industrial hubs, is very important for promoting business and trade in the country,” Baidya said, “The main purpose of the trade Expo is to expose Birgunj’s prospects and possibilities in the area of business and trade.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, President of Minds Nepal, Madan Lamsal said that the Expo will bring to the surface the possibilities of economic development and thus help achieve a robust economic growth through the utilization of these possibilities. “The Expo will help reduce the trade deficit by promoting the export of domestic products,” hoped Lamsal.</div> <div> </div> <div> The organizers have said that the Expo will be a common platform for investors, producers, distributors and exporters from both India and Nepal to interact with each other and know about different products and services. Music concerts, food festivals and other entertaining activities will also be organized during the Expo, according to the organizers.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nearly half a million people are expected to observe the Expo. Similarly, the organisers also expect a business transaction of Rs 200 million during the Expo. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Expo is being organised in association with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Ministry of Industry, Birgunj Sub-metropolis and Parsa District Development Committee. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.', 'sortorder' => '2284', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2407', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Employees’ Productivity Erodes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment. </div> <div> </div> <div> The drop in productivity will affect employees overall growth, he said, adding that the productivity could ensure competitive salary and respectable employment situation.</div> <div> </div> <div> The productivity indicator that stood at 3.71 per cent – the highest in last one decade – in 2007 dropped to -1.03 in 2011, according to the preliminary estimation of the ministry. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Employment Coordination and Labour Relations Division under the ministry has been preparing a policy at present, confirmed joint spokesperson at the ministry, Buddhi Nath Bhattarai. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the statistics collected by the ministry, some 12.13 million were employed in 2002. However, employment increased to 15.09 million in 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment.', 'sortorder' => '2254', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2355', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'India Proposes Regional Bank: Can Nepal Take Benefit?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press. </div> <div> </div> <div> Indian Commerce Department has written to the finance ministry in support of such a lender, which it sees playing a critical role in facilitating trade among the eight members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, Indian media quoted a source at the department. “The final call lies with the ministry of finance and partner countries.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Commenting on the development, Nepal’s Consul General in Kolkata Chandra Prasad Ghimire said, India has clearly shown its interest in regional trade. “India seems to be interested to invest in hydropower projects and expand its market throughout the SAARC region,” he said. The idea of a regional bank may have come to materialize the Indian wish to expand its investment throughout the region, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> Starting a regional bank is good news per se, he said, adding, “But the challenges for a small and land-locked country like Nepal are how to take maximum advantage from such regional lending arm.”</div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC countries are signatories to the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement on goods that came into force on January 1, 2006. A regional financial entity may help materialize SAFTA in effective manner as such entity helps facilitate cross-border transport, Ghimire further said.</div> <div> </div> <div> SAFTA required the developing countries -- India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- to lower customs duties down to 20% in the first phase of the two-year period ending in 2007 and to zero by 2016 in phases. </div> <div> </div> <div> Currently, the SAARC countries are negotiating to address non-tariff barriers and implement trade-facilitation measures that include the easing of customs procedures. Experts say investment from single financial institution in the region will help in trade-facilitation.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Most of the non-tariff barriers are related to infrastructure deficiency which needs money. So trade facilitation is actually a question of finding money. That is what the South Asia Development Bank will facilitate,” Indian media quoted Department of Commerce official as saying. </div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce department has suggested that the bank could be set up with whatever the partner countries agree to put in as equity. </div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC comprises Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan. </div> <div> </div> <div> Cynical views</div> <div> Many experts, however, see the proposal as the Indian attempt to expand its hegemony at the regional level. The proposal can be seen as an attempt to overshadowed Asian Development Bank in which the traditional domination of Japan can be seen, an economist told The Corporate. India wants to weaken the presence of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in the region by establishing a regional lending agency with its own domination, he opined. Despite positive aspect, the proposal should be studies carefully by all SAARC countries, he said. It will be backfiring for all SAARC countries if India utilizes the lending agency just as a means of expanding its market in the region, he further said. India is also active in forming development bank with $100 billion in the BRICS nations. BRICS nations have decided to initiate a new lending arm which, as many believe, is set to rival the dominance of the World Bank and the IMF over BRICS bloc.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Possible benefits for Nepal </strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Facilitation in cross-border transport</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Development of regional transmission line for hydropower projects</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Construction of big hydropower projects in Joint Venture</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Trade facilitation </div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Address the bottlenecks in non-tariff barriers </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Possibility of South Asian regional road network </div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances for direct trade with Bangladesh and Pakistan and other SAARC countries</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Challenges Ahead</strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Preserving rights of small economy</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Collect equity to inject in the bank</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Domination of regional giants</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances of export may suffer the problem of low productivity at the national level</div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Businessmen at the national level may face severe competition from their regional counterparts </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal might only be consumption market</div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepali may get only blue colour jobs due to domination of richer nation in high posts</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press.', 'sortorder' => '2250', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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According to FNCCI, the main organiser of the event, the Summit will be a milestone for policy changes to attract foreign investment, both domestic and foreign, in three key sectors of Nepal – agriculture, tourism and energy. Economists and some businessmen, however, say that ‘attracting foreign investment’ has been one of the overused phrases over the years. “Luring foreign investment has now become rhetorical,” agreed economist and former National Planning Commission Vice Chairman Deependra Bahadur Kshetry.</p> <p> The government should ensure investment friendly environment for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), he told <em>The Corporate</em>. The most important aspect to lure FDI is taking investors into confidence, Kshetry added. “China is not a liberal economy. Yet, why is foreign investment inflow high in china? Because the country has investment friendly environment and it has succeeded to win confidence of investors.”</p> <p> The event is aimed at seeking all possible solution on how we can make Nepal a lucrative destination for investment globally and can remove hurdles that prevail at present, director general at FNCCI Dr Hemanta Dawadi said. The summit will be followed by abusiness conclave in March this year. FNCCI will be inviting potential investors to this conclave for discussing investment possibilities, Dawadi informed.</p> <p> Economist Prithvi Raj Ligal, on the other hand, said that the hurdles have already been identified. All we need is sincere commitments from concerned stakeholders for addressing existing hurdles and to foster an environment favourable for investment, he added. Political instability, security issues, poor infrastructure and frequent labour unrest in the nation among others are some of the core issues that pose serious challenge to attract foreign investment, he opined.</p> <p> Questioning the very objective of organizing of such meets while identified bottlenecks remain unaddressed, he said that the government should focus its efforts to address problems also, instead of solely focusing on repeatedly organizing summit after summit. “Gathering world’s renowned business figures is a good initiative. But repeating the same actions on the same line will be useless. Its time to address the identified bottlenecks while establishing business contacts simultaneously,” Ligal said. The organizers, on the other hand, claim the summit will be a groundbreaking event. FNCCI President Suraj Vaidya said the Summit aims solely to create a platform where business leaders, experts, high level political leaders and international delegates will search for a common ground that will help make Nepal an attractive destination for local as well as foreign investors.</p> <p> “Nepal has tremendous investment potentials in agriculture, tourism and energy sectors. However, there are policy hurdles and there is a lack of investment-friendly environment. The Summit will look for ways to tackle such problems,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> The FNCCI has already prepared a list of 27 projects that are concidered ‘quite feasible’ for investment. Vaidya said the Summit will try to attract FDI in these projects. “The Summit will help explore investment possibilities for these 27 projects whose total cost has been estimated at Rs 300 billion,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> Economists, successful entrepreneurs and experts in agriculture, tourism and clean energy from the USA, the UK, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Germany and Thailand, among others, will be attending this Summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.</p> <p> Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), World Bank and its private sector arm International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Nepal Tourism Board are the partners of the Summit. Similarly, Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation, is the knowledge partner of the event.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>FDI in Seven Months</strong></span><br /> Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nepal has reached Rs 18.9 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. At a programme organised at the Prime Minister’s Office on February 16, officials said that 135 FDI projects have been approved during the period. The country received Rs 19.94 billion FDI in fiscal year 2012/13 and Rs 7.14 billion in the previous fiscal year.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'It is high time the business community and the government proved their effi ciency to attract more foreign investment instead of organizing one after another conference and summit.', 'sortorder' => '2528', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2645', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Govt Seeks ‘Formula’ To Reduce Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="18" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="192"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear: both;"> Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.</div> <p> The trade imbalance has now become a serious problem as the country’s trade deficit continues widening year on year, said secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister, Krishna Hari Baskota. “The government is serious to increase promotional activities for Nepal’s products in the international market for reducing the<br /> trade deficit.”</p> <p> According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the nation’s trade deficit with India has reached Rs 190.95 billion, out of the overall trade deficit of Rs 288.76 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Trade deficit has a multiple effects since it drains money from the country’s economy, Banskota said, adding that remittance inflow has become crucial in maintaining Balance of Payment (BoP) of the country. It is not good for country’s financial health to rely on remittance inflow forever, he opined. According to the central bank, the country witnessed a total of Rs 266 billion remittance inflow in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Coordination among various stakeholders is a must to reduce hassles in trade, he said. The coordination among various stakeholders has not been materialised so far, he informed. It is time that policymakers and businesses made concerted and coordinated attempts to tackle country’s trade imbalances before we are faced with serious crisis, he further said, adding that it is also the right time to address the issue as the country is all set to get a moderate and liberal government led by parties which embrace liberal economy policy.</p> <p> Elaborating further Banskota pointed that the ‘one stop services’ to promote export promotion has been limited to papers. “We need to seriously implement all provisions which the government has introduced with aim of facilitating trade activities,” he said. He blamed the private sector for being hell bent on collecting service charge rather than contributing to trade facilitation. It is not necessary to issue both Generalize System of Preference (GSP) and Certificate of Origin (CO) for the products. But, this hassle has not been removed, as private sector does not want to lower their profit, which they have been collecting while issuing these two certificates, he blamed.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Govt’s Mantra to Reduce Trade Deficit</strong></span></p> <p> • Establishment of herbs collection and processing centres<br /> • Upgradation of labs<br /> • Verification of organic products<br /> • Acquiring collective trademark<br /> • Government’s assistance in acquiring trademarks<br /> • Increased participation in global trade fairs<br /> • Effective implementation of Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2010</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-02-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.', 'sortorder' => '2494', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2590', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo In Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj. </div> <div> </div> <div> Ambassador Rae underlined the need for infrastructure development to attract more foreign investment to Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepal needs to implement investment friendly policies,” he suggested. He informed that Indian government has planned to expand railway facility in five bordering districts in Nepal. The railway link is expected to facilitate trade between the two countries, he added. The process of establishing Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at three major customs points along the Nepal-India border has also started, he said.</div> <div> </div> <div> He urged Nepali private sector and the government to take Indian investors into confidence as there is high potential of Indian investment in Nepal. He emphasized on the bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal should increase the volume of export to India to reduce the existing trade deficit with India, he suggested. “Nepal can export hydroelectricity to India which will help reduce the trade deficit.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Minds Nepal has organized the expo that is aimed at increasing international trade particularly with India and the SAARC countries. The 10-day exhibition has been displaying a wide range of products from Nepal, India and the SAARC region, the organizer said. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Nepal-India Border Summit </strong></span></div> <div> Nepal-India border summit concluded on Saturday (February 15) issuing a 15-point “Birgunj Declaration 2070”. Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry had organized the summit with participation of parliamentarians from bordering districts. In the programme, six parliamentarians from Bara and Parsa districts of and two parliamentarians from India participated. </div> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/1%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI’s immediate past president Ashok Temani (second from right) helping Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae to unwrap the Greater Nepal CD for launching while FNCCI president Suraj Vaidhya (far left) looks on</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the readymade garment stall." src="/userfiles/images/2%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the readymade garment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya " src="/userfiles/images/3%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 179px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya (4th from the right) with participants of Nepal - India Border Summit</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the electric equipment stall." src="/userfiles/images/4%20(Copy)(3).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 339px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the electric equipment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj.', 'sortorder' => '2493', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2589', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Made In Nepal: Fantasy And Fact', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> What does ‘Made in Nepal’ stand for? The Nepali products cannot get foothold in global market unless manufacturers cannot answer this question. Young entrepreneurs, Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs), industrialists and even bureaucrats often talk about making Brand Nepal visible. It, however, has been more than evident that they have ignored or neglected bottlenecks to make the brand Nepal visible.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepali products lack competitiveness. High lending rate and unnecessary labour cost have resulted in higher production cost of Nepali products,” says economist Rameshore Khanal.</div> <div> </div> <div> Another crucial issue is quality. Economist Sujeev Shakya opines, “Made in Nepal tag should not be equivalent to substandard products. Quality is key issue and our products cannot get good reputation unless we can assure it.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal could make its own identity in agro and herbs products if there would have been a lab that could assure quality, said Khanal. Developed countries give high priority to quality while importing agro products, he said. But Nepal lacks even a standard lab.</div> <div> </div> <div> Honey and other products could get market if we had been able to assure their quality.</div> <div> </div> <div> Some Nepali brands are finding markets in other countries. But the question is: are they commercialized? Generally, Nepali products are focused on niche segments that are too small, said young entrepreneur Sabda Gyawali.</div> <div> </div> <div> In fact, Made in Nepal products have still a long journey to go in terms of commercialization. It is harsh reality that foreigners do not buy Nepali products because of its commercial value but as a souvenir or showpiece or for aesthetic, Gyawali shared with The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturer should be able to create unique selling point (USP) of their products, agreed Samir Thapa, president of Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum that organizes Made in Nepal expo every year.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, point out that the current modalities of promotional activities are very effective. “It is quite ironical that we target Nepali Diaspora population even if we organize Made in Nepal expo abroad,” an economist told The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturers’ failure to tap evolving market is another reason. Researcher and member of NYEF Manish Jha said that Nepali manufacturers have failed to identify their target market. Export to Europe and USA has been quite rhetorical, he said. “It is time to seek evolving market like South Asia which is more convenient to Nepali exporters.”</div> <div> </div> <div> It is important to emphasise here that we need to invest in various aspect including that of branding, marketing skills, technology and networking before ‘Made in Nepal’ tag gains recognition and respect in the global market.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'As Nepali entrepreneurs look to expand their footprint globally, many analysts believe that they still have a long way to go. Nepali products should maintain quality to make the tag ‘Made in Nepal’ an accepted one in the global market.', 'sortorder' => '2486', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2501', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Illicit Financial Flow From Nepal Is Far More Than Foreign Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Latest studies show that the Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) drained from Nepal on an average far exceeds the Official Development Assistance (ODA) the country receives as grants from the donor community. </div> <div> </div> <div> A report published by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, reveals Rs 62 billion has been drained from Nepal annually during the period of 2002 to 2011 in the form of IFF. On the other hand, the statistics maintained by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) shows that Nepal has received Rs 37 billion as grants annually during the same period. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to these statistics, on an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price. </div> <div> </div> <div> During the period, the capital flight from Nepal has increased by an annual average growth rate of 15.64 percent. In 2010, a record high Rs 155 billion was drained from the country while the year 2003 witnessed the lowest capital flight which stands at Rs 25 billion. The trends show that Nepal suffered the most from the problem of capital flight during 2007 to 2010. Perennial political transition, instability created by communist-led government and ambiguity in the policy front are considered some of the major reasons for the problem of capital flight for that period. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Maoist government failed to take the business community into confidence due to their weak commitments for free market economy and failure to safeguard the right to private propriety encouraged big investors to take their investment out of the country,” an economist said. </div> <div> </div> <div> The annual grant received by Nepal increased by 31.85 percent during the study period. The percentage of currency outflow is higher than the actual grant the country received which clearly suggests that the country was at loss.</div> <div> </div> <div> As far as grant is concerned, the country received the highest amount of grant of Rs 70 billion in 2009 whereas it received only Rs 8 billion in 2003. It was yet again political reason – lack of political stability and lack of local bodies to maintain transparency of the aid money – for the low amount of grant, an official at the Ministry of Finance said. </div> <div> </div> <div> “How can a country take the path of prosperity when the government cannot spend grant money effectively on the one hand and is unable to stop capital flight on the other?” asked the official.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Major Reasons for the Capital Flight </strong></span></div> <div> <strong>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Decade long internal conflict followed by political Instability</strong></div> <div> <strong>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant Corruption in Bureaucracy as well as business community </strong></div> <div> <strong>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Tax evasion oriented mindset among businessmen </strong></div> <div> <strong>4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Lack of accountability/transparency in private sector </strong></div> <div> <strong>5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Unnecessary conditions of the donors </strong></div> <div> <strong>6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Low confidence of investors </strong></div> <div> <strong>7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Government’s Failure to Safeguard the right to private Property</strong></div> <div> <strong>8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Problem of under-invoicing and over-invoicing in trading </strong></div> <div> <strong>9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant transfer pricing in international trade </strong></div> <div> <strong>10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Emergence of conservative (communist) forces in the government</strong></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-02-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'On an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price.', 'sortorder' => '2420', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2548', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Readying For A Fresh Start', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN. Of the 17 seats, six are to be filled by representatives of institutional members and the rest by individual members. The final list of candidates has 20 from the individuals and eight from institutions. </div> <div> </div> <div> All the 28 prospective candidates for the top MAN posts are busy in lobbying and making their permutation and combination right. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the new office bearers of MAN will be decided by the executive committee members, some candidates have expressed their interest in the vital posts. Former general secretary Shiva Adhikari has expressed his interest for the key post of president while other candidates are busy in their cover campaigning. </div> <div> </div> <div> The theme for this year’s AGM is ‘Political Management: A Case of Nepal’. President Shah claims the topic to be “highly relevant as Nepal is in dire need of political management.” He says, “The political leadership should be able to manage political differences and tensions to ensure stability in the business sector.” </div> <div> </div> <div> A critical issue facing the Association is representation of the private sector in the executive body. MAN has not been able to attract enough corporate/private sector managers in the Association. “The world has moved on very fast but MAN has not,” says one of the Association’s former presidents Arzu Rana Deuba. “MAN leadership should realize the fact that the institution is yet to be owned by Nepal’s private sector/ big corporate houses.” Other former presidents of MAN express similar views. “With the adoption of liberal economy in 1990, involvement of managers from the private sector should have increased in MAN but it could not happen,” said former finance minister Madhukar SJB Rana, who is also a former president of MAN. Rana also suggested to the private sector to realize the importance of institutions like MAN. “The Private sector is yet to realize the importance of MAN. They seem focused more on organizations established at their own initiatives such as FNCCI and CNI,” he said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Another former President of MAN Rameshore Khanal who retired as Finance Secretary said, “MAN has failed to offer services which are useful to the corporate sector. This is one of the main reasons behind the lower representation of the private sector in the organization.” He said MAN cannot be a complete platform for all managers until it ensures representation of the private sector.</div> <div> </div> <div> Besides active representation of private sector, there are several other challenges as well that MAN needs to address. MAN should conduct research, provide education, and impart training in the field of management, Khanal said. “But these are not easy tasks and the organization should not take all these responsibilities as a mere formality.” The major challenges before MAN is to connect management movement of the country with that of global trends, he said. </div> <div> According to former chief secretary and another former president of MAN, Bimal Koirala, the lack of commitment from MAN members has been very challenging to make the organization vibrant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Incumbent president hah said that both MAN office bearers and private sector should put collective effort for taking the organization to the next level. Lower participation of the private sector in the organization may be the reason of lower corporate culture in business units, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The Corporate’s Suggestions to MAN </strong></span></div> <div> 1)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should create a platform to share innovative practices in corporate governance in Nepal </div> <div> 2)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should recognise corporate houses that have commercially and profitably implemented innovative ideas in practice. </div> <div> 3)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take initiative to ensure that the upcoming government passes a resolution to allocate 1 or 2 % of the turnover to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities</div> <div> 4)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should bring out a code of conduct for self-regulation of its members to bring about transparency in corporate governance</div> <div> 5)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take up sectoral reforms and assist entrepreneurs by way of exchange programmes for NRN youth</div> <div> 6)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>With the help from the government, MAN can organise NRN Summit on Management</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>MAN’s Vision for the Future</strong></span></div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Increase participation of private sector in the organization</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Expansion of its network base by incorporating B-Schools and corporate houses</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote professional management education through innovative programmes and initiatives</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide a platform for sharing ideas and exchanging knowledge </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Enhance knowledge of members by sharing experiences on newer trends in the field of management in the backdrop of changing global environment</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Maintain best-in-class standards of education and training to build a world class management institution</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide relevant inputs to the government regarding changed global trends in the management movement </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote and facilitate academic research and set-up a research facility</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN.', 'sortorder' => '2407', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2549', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Women A Minority In MAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Eliza Tuladhar</strong></div> <div> </div> <table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Shanti Laxmi Shakya, Treasurer, MAN" src="/userfiles/images/2(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <strong>Shanti Laxmi Shakya</strong></div> <div> Treasurer, MAN</div> </div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low. “The number of women members is increasing gradually but we still need their active participation and representation in the association’s activities,” said Treasurer of MAN Shanti Laxmi Shakya who has been working as acting director of legal department of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) since 2045. Shakya is however, in the executive committee for the last 20 years. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to her, the number of women members and their participation in the association is still not satisfactory. “Women should not remain passive, they should come forward with their views and ideas. If they don’t they will be always deprived from every opportunity,” said Shakya and further stressed on the need for women to struggle and move ahead. “Since its establishment there has been only one female president, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba,” said Shakya. </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2002the association started awarding best women managers with the “Women Manager Recognition Award.”</div> <div> </div> <div> So far, nine women have received this award. Meera Bhattarai is the first to receive the ‘Woman Manager Recognition Award’ in 2002, while she was serving as the executive director of Association for Craft Producers. Later in 2004 Hajuri Bista, managing director of H.K Food Products received the award. Other outstanding women managers to receive this award are Saraswati Shrestha, executive chairman of Women Cooperative Society Limited (2004), Lily Thapa, executive chairman of WHR, Single Women Group (2006), Sangita Nirola, executive director of SWATI (2007), Rama Pokharel Dahal, assistant general manager of Everest Insurance Limited (2009), Barsha Shrestha, general manager of Clean Energy Development Bank (2010), Pramila Rijal, executive chairman of SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council (2011) and Indira Maiya Shrestha chief executive officer of Shtrii Shakti (S2)(2012). </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2008 Anuradha Koirala, executive chairperson of Maiti Nepal was presented the ‘Outstanding Management Award’ of MAN and she is the only women to receive this award so far.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low', 'sortorder' => '2396', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2502', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'NSBM Takes Initiative For Int’l Quality Certification Of Domestic Goods And Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Bureau is planning to establish NAFP in collaboration with India’s National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB). According to Manandhar, an agreement to this effect was signed between the NSBM and NABCB on last Wednesday (January 22). She also informed The Corporate that NAFP would request NABCB for quality certification. “As there is no separate body for [international] quality certification at the Bureau, we have signed an agreement with NABCB,” she added.</div> <div> </div> <div> The establishment of NAFP will help reduce the international quality certification cost of Nepali goods and services and will ease the entire process of quality certification, according to Manandhar. The NSBM is preparing to make a two-year work plan for NAFP. However, it’s going to take a few months before the NAFP starts working for international quality certification. </div> <div> </div> <div> For the time being, the office of NAFP will be located on the NSBM premises.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.', 'sortorder' => '2344', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2449', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'World Bank Forecasts 3.8 % Economic Growth Challenges Ahead', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. </div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013. </div> <div> </div> <div> The data of Global Economic Prospectus 2014 report released by the World Bank clearly showed that the country has still a long way to go to achieve the growth target set by the government. According to the latest monetary policy, the government aims to achieve 5.5 per cent economic growth in 2014. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/twb%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 200px; height: 95px;" />The growth forecast by the bank is a blow to the government’s plan of achieving 7 per cent economic growth. The forecast also showed that the government’s plan of improving its status as the developing country from existing Least Developed Country (LDC) is an ambitious plan which is hard to achieve any time soon as the World Bank has projected 4.4 per cent growth rate for 2015 and 5.2 for 2016.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, say that the country can do better than World Bank’s forecast if it aims at mobilizing more investment from the private sector. </div> <div> </div> <div> World Bank’s projection is based on the data of October 2013, said former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal. “The economic situation was better in December as the agriculture sector witnessed improvement including the production of crops.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We can say the World Bank’s data has underestimated the country’s economic situation to some extent, he claimed. “The country can achieve around 4.5 per cent economic growth in 2014.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We must focus on our major sectors such as agriculture, tourism, water resource if we are to attain speedy economic growth, said economist Dr Chiranjibi Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> Slower government expenditure – especially capital expenditure – despite timely monsoon that might boost agriculture growth, is still a big challenge for the country, he opined. “It is expected that the new government will bring policy to accelerate capital expenditure.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Taking the private sector into confidence is the only way out to propel economic growth while policy stability and endorsement of essential laws is a must to boost the private sector’s confidence, according to Khanal. </div> <div> </div> <div> The banking sector is still reluctant to invest in hydro projects and other big projects, he said. The government should identify the problems of banks and foster an environment where all banks can invest in big projects which will help boost economic activities.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/mn1%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 397px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2342', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2406', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Richest Countries Poor In Anti-Money Laundering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world. The study documented that the developed countries are highly responsible for steady increase in illicit financial flows from developing countries, most of which is being absorbed in the developed countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> For a long time, the traditional view in the developed countries was that illegal capital flight, money laundering and terrorist financing were problems only for developing countries. Similarly, they used to say that the corrupt governments and bureaucracy as well as poor business environments in the developing countries led capital to flee to their markets and promote money laundering. </div> <div> </div> <div> Accordingly, they were putting high pressure on developing and least developed countries like ours to obey all the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations on AML-CTF. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, “one of the most damning findings of the study is that 27 of the 34 OECD countries are either “non compliant” or only “partially compliant” with the FATF recommendations,” reads the report. The report also shows that none of the OECD countries are “fully compliant” with the standards on transparency of corporate ownership information, which aims to tackle money laundering by anonymous shell companies. The study indicates that most of the developed countries, which have been receiving the largest chunk of money that vanished from the developing countries, are in a rush to collect the illicit financial flows rather than help to restrain it. While policymakers in developing countries bear some of the responsibility for this problem, this is a two-way street. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chief economic advisor for the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal accepts the reality that the money drained from poor countries like Nepal is being received by the developed countries. “The high income countries have been absorbing the illicit financial flows in the name of offshore financial system, secrecy jurisdictions and tax haven lands,” said Nepal, suggesting that the developing countries should raise their voice collectively on FATF and other multilateral platforms. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Krishna Hari Baskota, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, although the degree of pressure on and anomalies in the developing countries in the name of ML/TF has been rising internationally, the OECD countries underscore their voice. “However, Nepal is in a safe zone now as per the criteria set by FATF,” said Baskota adding that this is a result of continuous efforts of Government of Nepal in policy formulation and enforcement to contain ML/TF. He further argued that the latest study should serve as a wake-up call to the world leaders regarding illicit financial flows and ML/TF. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Western nations established an offshore financial system comprised of tax havens, anonymous shell companies, and various trade-based money laundering techniques, and they have not done enough to remedy this system to date,” said Raymond Baker President of GFI in a comment on the OECD report. According to Baker, Illicit financial flows and money laundering are the most damaging economic problem facing the global poor, and they are growing at a terrifying pace. The FATF recommendations on beneficial ownership are only a first step towards eliminating the use of anonymous ‘phantom firms’ and effectively curtailing ML/TF. But the shameful reality is that every OECD member fails to comply with even these weak standards on corporate ownership transparency and most of them aren’t even close, according to the report.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the latest report of GFI, nearly USD 1 trillion drained from the developing world in 2011 with an annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent during the last decade i.e. 2002 to 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world.', 'sortorder' => '2313', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2450', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'New Foreign Aid Policy Ready Ceiling On Loans, Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.</div> <div> </div> <div> The new policy has some new provisions regarding foreign aid. According to the new policy, the government will not accept a foreign loan of less than USD 20 million and a grant of less than USD 5 million. However, the policy accepts technical assistances of smaller size.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The new policy has put ceilings on foreign loans and grants,” Marasini said, “It also has the provision of mentioning all foreign assistance in the Red Book.” According to Marasini, smaller donors will have to make their contribution through a pool fund.</div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the revised policy is aimed at boosting investments in sectors such as energy, infrastructure (highways and airports), agriculture and irrigation. “The new policy has prioritized these sectors which need huge investment,” Marasini made it clear. </div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the new policy will make the foreign assistance regime transparent. “It’s us who should be sitting in the driver’s seat, not the donors. This, in essence, is the fundamental of the new aid policy,” Marasini shared.</div> <div> </div> <div> The policy aims at graduating Nepal out of the group of least developed countries to the block of developing countries by 2022. </div> <div> </div> <div> At present, there are nearly 500 projects being run through foreign assistance. The new aid policy aims at bringing down the number of such projects to 150.</div> <div> </div> <div> There are nearly 40 international donors providing foreign assistance including loans, grants and technical assistance to Nepal at present. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.', 'sortorder' => '2293', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2316', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Muktishree’s Investment Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Muktishree" src="/userfiles/images/MN1.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; width: 200px; height: 139px;" />Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chairman of Muktishree Pvt Ltd Ajeya raj Sumargi on Sunday unveiled the business diversification plan of the company. According to him, hydropower, hotel and cement industry are new areas of investment of the company. It has already involved in telecom and drinking water business. </div> <div> </div> <div> The company has already invested in various projects including Hetauda Mines Industry, Everest Minerals Products, Durga Cold Storage, Himalayan Spring Water, Inco Panel Industries, Hetauda Education Foundation, National College of Higher Education and Yeti Development Bank. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people.', 'sortorder' => '2285', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2357', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Birgunj To Host Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The Expo which is being organized in Birgunj, one of Nepal’s major commercial and industrial hubs, is very important for promoting business and trade in the country,” Baidya said, “The main purpose of the trade Expo is to expose Birgunj’s prospects and possibilities in the area of business and trade.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, President of Minds Nepal, Madan Lamsal said that the Expo will bring to the surface the possibilities of economic development and thus help achieve a robust economic growth through the utilization of these possibilities. “The Expo will help reduce the trade deficit by promoting the export of domestic products,” hoped Lamsal.</div> <div> </div> <div> The organizers have said that the Expo will be a common platform for investors, producers, distributors and exporters from both India and Nepal to interact with each other and know about different products and services. Music concerts, food festivals and other entertaining activities will also be organized during the Expo, according to the organizers.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nearly half a million people are expected to observe the Expo. Similarly, the organisers also expect a business transaction of Rs 200 million during the Expo. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Expo is being organised in association with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Ministry of Industry, Birgunj Sub-metropolis and Parsa District Development Committee. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.', 'sortorder' => '2284', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2407', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Employees’ Productivity Erodes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment. </div> <div> </div> <div> The drop in productivity will affect employees overall growth, he said, adding that the productivity could ensure competitive salary and respectable employment situation.</div> <div> </div> <div> The productivity indicator that stood at 3.71 per cent – the highest in last one decade – in 2007 dropped to -1.03 in 2011, according to the preliminary estimation of the ministry. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Employment Coordination and Labour Relations Division under the ministry has been preparing a policy at present, confirmed joint spokesperson at the ministry, Buddhi Nath Bhattarai. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the statistics collected by the ministry, some 12.13 million were employed in 2002. However, employment increased to 15.09 million in 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment.', 'sortorder' => '2254', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2355', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'India Proposes Regional Bank: Can Nepal Take Benefit?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press. </div> <div> </div> <div> Indian Commerce Department has written to the finance ministry in support of such a lender, which it sees playing a critical role in facilitating trade among the eight members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, Indian media quoted a source at the department. “The final call lies with the ministry of finance and partner countries.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Commenting on the development, Nepal’s Consul General in Kolkata Chandra Prasad Ghimire said, India has clearly shown its interest in regional trade. “India seems to be interested to invest in hydropower projects and expand its market throughout the SAARC region,” he said. The idea of a regional bank may have come to materialize the Indian wish to expand its investment throughout the region, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> Starting a regional bank is good news per se, he said, adding, “But the challenges for a small and land-locked country like Nepal are how to take maximum advantage from such regional lending arm.”</div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC countries are signatories to the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement on goods that came into force on January 1, 2006. A regional financial entity may help materialize SAFTA in effective manner as such entity helps facilitate cross-border transport, Ghimire further said.</div> <div> </div> <div> SAFTA required the developing countries -- India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- to lower customs duties down to 20% in the first phase of the two-year period ending in 2007 and to zero by 2016 in phases. </div> <div> </div> <div> Currently, the SAARC countries are negotiating to address non-tariff barriers and implement trade-facilitation measures that include the easing of customs procedures. Experts say investment from single financial institution in the region will help in trade-facilitation.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Most of the non-tariff barriers are related to infrastructure deficiency which needs money. So trade facilitation is actually a question of finding money. That is what the South Asia Development Bank will facilitate,” Indian media quoted Department of Commerce official as saying. </div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce department has suggested that the bank could be set up with whatever the partner countries agree to put in as equity. </div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC comprises Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan. </div> <div> </div> <div> Cynical views</div> <div> Many experts, however, see the proposal as the Indian attempt to expand its hegemony at the regional level. The proposal can be seen as an attempt to overshadowed Asian Development Bank in which the traditional domination of Japan can be seen, an economist told The Corporate. India wants to weaken the presence of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in the region by establishing a regional lending agency with its own domination, he opined. Despite positive aspect, the proposal should be studies carefully by all SAARC countries, he said. It will be backfiring for all SAARC countries if India utilizes the lending agency just as a means of expanding its market in the region, he further said. India is also active in forming development bank with $100 billion in the BRICS nations. BRICS nations have decided to initiate a new lending arm which, as many believe, is set to rival the dominance of the World Bank and the IMF over BRICS bloc.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Possible benefits for Nepal </strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Facilitation in cross-border transport</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Development of regional transmission line for hydropower projects</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Construction of big hydropower projects in Joint Venture</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Trade facilitation </div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Address the bottlenecks in non-tariff barriers </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Possibility of South Asian regional road network </div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances for direct trade with Bangladesh and Pakistan and other SAARC countries</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Challenges Ahead</strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Preserving rights of small economy</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Collect equity to inject in the bank</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Domination of regional giants</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances of export may suffer the problem of low productivity at the national level</div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Businessmen at the national level may face severe competition from their regional counterparts </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal might only be consumption market</div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepali may get only blue colour jobs due to domination of richer nation in high posts</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press.', 'sortorder' => '2250', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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According to FNCCI, the main organiser of the event, the Summit will be a milestone for policy changes to attract foreign investment, both domestic and foreign, in three key sectors of Nepal – agriculture, tourism and energy. Economists and some businessmen, however, say that ‘attracting foreign investment’ has been one of the overused phrases over the years. “Luring foreign investment has now become rhetorical,” agreed economist and former National Planning Commission Vice Chairman Deependra Bahadur Kshetry.</p> <p> The government should ensure investment friendly environment for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), he told <em>The Corporate</em>. The most important aspect to lure FDI is taking investors into confidence, Kshetry added. “China is not a liberal economy. Yet, why is foreign investment inflow high in china? Because the country has investment friendly environment and it has succeeded to win confidence of investors.”</p> <p> The event is aimed at seeking all possible solution on how we can make Nepal a lucrative destination for investment globally and can remove hurdles that prevail at present, director general at FNCCI Dr Hemanta Dawadi said. The summit will be followed by abusiness conclave in March this year. FNCCI will be inviting potential investors to this conclave for discussing investment possibilities, Dawadi informed.</p> <p> Economist Prithvi Raj Ligal, on the other hand, said that the hurdles have already been identified. All we need is sincere commitments from concerned stakeholders for addressing existing hurdles and to foster an environment favourable for investment, he added. Political instability, security issues, poor infrastructure and frequent labour unrest in the nation among others are some of the core issues that pose serious challenge to attract foreign investment, he opined.</p> <p> Questioning the very objective of organizing of such meets while identified bottlenecks remain unaddressed, he said that the government should focus its efforts to address problems also, instead of solely focusing on repeatedly organizing summit after summit. “Gathering world’s renowned business figures is a good initiative. But repeating the same actions on the same line will be useless. Its time to address the identified bottlenecks while establishing business contacts simultaneously,” Ligal said. The organizers, on the other hand, claim the summit will be a groundbreaking event. FNCCI President Suraj Vaidya said the Summit aims solely to create a platform where business leaders, experts, high level political leaders and international delegates will search for a common ground that will help make Nepal an attractive destination for local as well as foreign investors.</p> <p> “Nepal has tremendous investment potentials in agriculture, tourism and energy sectors. However, there are policy hurdles and there is a lack of investment-friendly environment. The Summit will look for ways to tackle such problems,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> The FNCCI has already prepared a list of 27 projects that are concidered ‘quite feasible’ for investment. Vaidya said the Summit will try to attract FDI in these projects. “The Summit will help explore investment possibilities for these 27 projects whose total cost has been estimated at Rs 300 billion,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> Economists, successful entrepreneurs and experts in agriculture, tourism and clean energy from the USA, the UK, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Germany and Thailand, among others, will be attending this Summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.</p> <p> Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), World Bank and its private sector arm International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Nepal Tourism Board are the partners of the Summit. Similarly, Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation, is the knowledge partner of the event.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>FDI in Seven Months</strong></span><br /> Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nepal has reached Rs 18.9 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. At a programme organised at the Prime Minister’s Office on February 16, officials said that 135 FDI projects have been approved during the period. The country received Rs 19.94 billion FDI in fiscal year 2012/13 and Rs 7.14 billion in the previous fiscal year.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'It is high time the business community and the government proved their effi ciency to attract more foreign investment instead of organizing one after another conference and summit.', 'sortorder' => '2528', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2645', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Govt Seeks ‘Formula’ To Reduce Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="18" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="192"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear: both;"> Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.</div> <p> The trade imbalance has now become a serious problem as the country’s trade deficit continues widening year on year, said secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister, Krishna Hari Baskota. “The government is serious to increase promotional activities for Nepal’s products in the international market for reducing the<br /> trade deficit.”</p> <p> According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the nation’s trade deficit with India has reached Rs 190.95 billion, out of the overall trade deficit of Rs 288.76 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Trade deficit has a multiple effects since it drains money from the country’s economy, Banskota said, adding that remittance inflow has become crucial in maintaining Balance of Payment (BoP) of the country. It is not good for country’s financial health to rely on remittance inflow forever, he opined. According to the central bank, the country witnessed a total of Rs 266 billion remittance inflow in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Coordination among various stakeholders is a must to reduce hassles in trade, he said. The coordination among various stakeholders has not been materialised so far, he informed. It is time that policymakers and businesses made concerted and coordinated attempts to tackle country’s trade imbalances before we are faced with serious crisis, he further said, adding that it is also the right time to address the issue as the country is all set to get a moderate and liberal government led by parties which embrace liberal economy policy.</p> <p> Elaborating further Banskota pointed that the ‘one stop services’ to promote export promotion has been limited to papers. “We need to seriously implement all provisions which the government has introduced with aim of facilitating trade activities,” he said. He blamed the private sector for being hell bent on collecting service charge rather than contributing to trade facilitation. It is not necessary to issue both Generalize System of Preference (GSP) and Certificate of Origin (CO) for the products. But, this hassle has not been removed, as private sector does not want to lower their profit, which they have been collecting while issuing these two certificates, he blamed.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Govt’s Mantra to Reduce Trade Deficit</strong></span></p> <p> • Establishment of herbs collection and processing centres<br /> • Upgradation of labs<br /> • Verification of organic products<br /> • Acquiring collective trademark<br /> • Government’s assistance in acquiring trademarks<br /> • Increased participation in global trade fairs<br /> • Effective implementation of Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2010</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-02-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.', 'sortorder' => '2494', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2590', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo In Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj. </div> <div> </div> <div> Ambassador Rae underlined the need for infrastructure development to attract more foreign investment to Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepal needs to implement investment friendly policies,” he suggested. He informed that Indian government has planned to expand railway facility in five bordering districts in Nepal. The railway link is expected to facilitate trade between the two countries, he added. The process of establishing Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at three major customs points along the Nepal-India border has also started, he said.</div> <div> </div> <div> He urged Nepali private sector and the government to take Indian investors into confidence as there is high potential of Indian investment in Nepal. He emphasized on the bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal should increase the volume of export to India to reduce the existing trade deficit with India, he suggested. “Nepal can export hydroelectricity to India which will help reduce the trade deficit.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Minds Nepal has organized the expo that is aimed at increasing international trade particularly with India and the SAARC countries. The 10-day exhibition has been displaying a wide range of products from Nepal, India and the SAARC region, the organizer said. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Nepal-India Border Summit </strong></span></div> <div> Nepal-India border summit concluded on Saturday (February 15) issuing a 15-point “Birgunj Declaration 2070”. Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry had organized the summit with participation of parliamentarians from bordering districts. In the programme, six parliamentarians from Bara and Parsa districts of and two parliamentarians from India participated. </div> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/1%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI’s immediate past president Ashok Temani (second from right) helping Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae to unwrap the Greater Nepal CD for launching while FNCCI president Suraj Vaidhya (far left) looks on</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the readymade garment stall." src="/userfiles/images/2%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the readymade garment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya " src="/userfiles/images/3%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 179px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya (4th from the right) with participants of Nepal - India Border Summit</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the electric equipment stall." src="/userfiles/images/4%20(Copy)(3).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 339px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the electric equipment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj.', 'sortorder' => '2493', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2589', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Made In Nepal: Fantasy And Fact', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> What does ‘Made in Nepal’ stand for? The Nepali products cannot get foothold in global market unless manufacturers cannot answer this question. Young entrepreneurs, Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs), industrialists and even bureaucrats often talk about making Brand Nepal visible. It, however, has been more than evident that they have ignored or neglected bottlenecks to make the brand Nepal visible.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepali products lack competitiveness. High lending rate and unnecessary labour cost have resulted in higher production cost of Nepali products,” says economist Rameshore Khanal.</div> <div> </div> <div> Another crucial issue is quality. Economist Sujeev Shakya opines, “Made in Nepal tag should not be equivalent to substandard products. Quality is key issue and our products cannot get good reputation unless we can assure it.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal could make its own identity in agro and herbs products if there would have been a lab that could assure quality, said Khanal. Developed countries give high priority to quality while importing agro products, he said. But Nepal lacks even a standard lab.</div> <div> </div> <div> Honey and other products could get market if we had been able to assure their quality.</div> <div> </div> <div> Some Nepali brands are finding markets in other countries. But the question is: are they commercialized? Generally, Nepali products are focused on niche segments that are too small, said young entrepreneur Sabda Gyawali.</div> <div> </div> <div> In fact, Made in Nepal products have still a long journey to go in terms of commercialization. It is harsh reality that foreigners do not buy Nepali products because of its commercial value but as a souvenir or showpiece or for aesthetic, Gyawali shared with The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturer should be able to create unique selling point (USP) of their products, agreed Samir Thapa, president of Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum that organizes Made in Nepal expo every year.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, point out that the current modalities of promotional activities are very effective. “It is quite ironical that we target Nepali Diaspora population even if we organize Made in Nepal expo abroad,” an economist told The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturers’ failure to tap evolving market is another reason. Researcher and member of NYEF Manish Jha said that Nepali manufacturers have failed to identify their target market. Export to Europe and USA has been quite rhetorical, he said. “It is time to seek evolving market like South Asia which is more convenient to Nepali exporters.”</div> <div> </div> <div> It is important to emphasise here that we need to invest in various aspect including that of branding, marketing skills, technology and networking before ‘Made in Nepal’ tag gains recognition and respect in the global market.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'As Nepali entrepreneurs look to expand their footprint globally, many analysts believe that they still have a long way to go. Nepali products should maintain quality to make the tag ‘Made in Nepal’ an accepted one in the global market.', 'sortorder' => '2486', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2501', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Illicit Financial Flow From Nepal Is Far More Than Foreign Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Latest studies show that the Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) drained from Nepal on an average far exceeds the Official Development Assistance (ODA) the country receives as grants from the donor community. </div> <div> </div> <div> A report published by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, reveals Rs 62 billion has been drained from Nepal annually during the period of 2002 to 2011 in the form of IFF. On the other hand, the statistics maintained by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) shows that Nepal has received Rs 37 billion as grants annually during the same period. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to these statistics, on an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price. </div> <div> </div> <div> During the period, the capital flight from Nepal has increased by an annual average growth rate of 15.64 percent. In 2010, a record high Rs 155 billion was drained from the country while the year 2003 witnessed the lowest capital flight which stands at Rs 25 billion. The trends show that Nepal suffered the most from the problem of capital flight during 2007 to 2010. Perennial political transition, instability created by communist-led government and ambiguity in the policy front are considered some of the major reasons for the problem of capital flight for that period. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Maoist government failed to take the business community into confidence due to their weak commitments for free market economy and failure to safeguard the right to private propriety encouraged big investors to take their investment out of the country,” an economist said. </div> <div> </div> <div> The annual grant received by Nepal increased by 31.85 percent during the study period. The percentage of currency outflow is higher than the actual grant the country received which clearly suggests that the country was at loss.</div> <div> </div> <div> As far as grant is concerned, the country received the highest amount of grant of Rs 70 billion in 2009 whereas it received only Rs 8 billion in 2003. It was yet again political reason – lack of political stability and lack of local bodies to maintain transparency of the aid money – for the low amount of grant, an official at the Ministry of Finance said. </div> <div> </div> <div> “How can a country take the path of prosperity when the government cannot spend grant money effectively on the one hand and is unable to stop capital flight on the other?” asked the official.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Major Reasons for the Capital Flight </strong></span></div> <div> <strong>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Decade long internal conflict followed by political Instability</strong></div> <div> <strong>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant Corruption in Bureaucracy as well as business community </strong></div> <div> <strong>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Tax evasion oriented mindset among businessmen </strong></div> <div> <strong>4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Lack of accountability/transparency in private sector </strong></div> <div> <strong>5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Unnecessary conditions of the donors </strong></div> <div> <strong>6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Low confidence of investors </strong></div> <div> <strong>7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Government’s Failure to Safeguard the right to private Property</strong></div> <div> <strong>8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Problem of under-invoicing and over-invoicing in trading </strong></div> <div> <strong>9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant transfer pricing in international trade </strong></div> <div> <strong>10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Emergence of conservative (communist) forces in the government</strong></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-02-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'On an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price.', 'sortorder' => '2420', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2548', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Readying For A Fresh Start', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN. Of the 17 seats, six are to be filled by representatives of institutional members and the rest by individual members. The final list of candidates has 20 from the individuals and eight from institutions. </div> <div> </div> <div> All the 28 prospective candidates for the top MAN posts are busy in lobbying and making their permutation and combination right. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the new office bearers of MAN will be decided by the executive committee members, some candidates have expressed their interest in the vital posts. Former general secretary Shiva Adhikari has expressed his interest for the key post of president while other candidates are busy in their cover campaigning. </div> <div> </div> <div> The theme for this year’s AGM is ‘Political Management: A Case of Nepal’. President Shah claims the topic to be “highly relevant as Nepal is in dire need of political management.” He says, “The political leadership should be able to manage political differences and tensions to ensure stability in the business sector.” </div> <div> </div> <div> A critical issue facing the Association is representation of the private sector in the executive body. MAN has not been able to attract enough corporate/private sector managers in the Association. “The world has moved on very fast but MAN has not,” says one of the Association’s former presidents Arzu Rana Deuba. “MAN leadership should realize the fact that the institution is yet to be owned by Nepal’s private sector/ big corporate houses.” Other former presidents of MAN express similar views. “With the adoption of liberal economy in 1990, involvement of managers from the private sector should have increased in MAN but it could not happen,” said former finance minister Madhukar SJB Rana, who is also a former president of MAN. Rana also suggested to the private sector to realize the importance of institutions like MAN. “The Private sector is yet to realize the importance of MAN. They seem focused more on organizations established at their own initiatives such as FNCCI and CNI,” he said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Another former President of MAN Rameshore Khanal who retired as Finance Secretary said, “MAN has failed to offer services which are useful to the corporate sector. This is one of the main reasons behind the lower representation of the private sector in the organization.” He said MAN cannot be a complete platform for all managers until it ensures representation of the private sector.</div> <div> </div> <div> Besides active representation of private sector, there are several other challenges as well that MAN needs to address. MAN should conduct research, provide education, and impart training in the field of management, Khanal said. “But these are not easy tasks and the organization should not take all these responsibilities as a mere formality.” The major challenges before MAN is to connect management movement of the country with that of global trends, he said. </div> <div> According to former chief secretary and another former president of MAN, Bimal Koirala, the lack of commitment from MAN members has been very challenging to make the organization vibrant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Incumbent president hah said that both MAN office bearers and private sector should put collective effort for taking the organization to the next level. Lower participation of the private sector in the organization may be the reason of lower corporate culture in business units, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The Corporate’s Suggestions to MAN </strong></span></div> <div> 1)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should create a platform to share innovative practices in corporate governance in Nepal </div> <div> 2)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should recognise corporate houses that have commercially and profitably implemented innovative ideas in practice. </div> <div> 3)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take initiative to ensure that the upcoming government passes a resolution to allocate 1 or 2 % of the turnover to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities</div> <div> 4)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should bring out a code of conduct for self-regulation of its members to bring about transparency in corporate governance</div> <div> 5)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take up sectoral reforms and assist entrepreneurs by way of exchange programmes for NRN youth</div> <div> 6)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>With the help from the government, MAN can organise NRN Summit on Management</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>MAN’s Vision for the Future</strong></span></div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Increase participation of private sector in the organization</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Expansion of its network base by incorporating B-Schools and corporate houses</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote professional management education through innovative programmes and initiatives</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide a platform for sharing ideas and exchanging knowledge </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Enhance knowledge of members by sharing experiences on newer trends in the field of management in the backdrop of changing global environment</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Maintain best-in-class standards of education and training to build a world class management institution</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide relevant inputs to the government regarding changed global trends in the management movement </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote and facilitate academic research and set-up a research facility</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN.', 'sortorder' => '2407', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2549', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Women A Minority In MAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Eliza Tuladhar</strong></div> <div> </div> <table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Shanti Laxmi Shakya, Treasurer, MAN" src="/userfiles/images/2(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <strong>Shanti Laxmi Shakya</strong></div> <div> Treasurer, MAN</div> </div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low. “The number of women members is increasing gradually but we still need their active participation and representation in the association’s activities,” said Treasurer of MAN Shanti Laxmi Shakya who has been working as acting director of legal department of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) since 2045. Shakya is however, in the executive committee for the last 20 years. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to her, the number of women members and their participation in the association is still not satisfactory. “Women should not remain passive, they should come forward with their views and ideas. If they don’t they will be always deprived from every opportunity,” said Shakya and further stressed on the need for women to struggle and move ahead. “Since its establishment there has been only one female president, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba,” said Shakya. </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2002the association started awarding best women managers with the “Women Manager Recognition Award.”</div> <div> </div> <div> So far, nine women have received this award. Meera Bhattarai is the first to receive the ‘Woman Manager Recognition Award’ in 2002, while she was serving as the executive director of Association for Craft Producers. Later in 2004 Hajuri Bista, managing director of H.K Food Products received the award. Other outstanding women managers to receive this award are Saraswati Shrestha, executive chairman of Women Cooperative Society Limited (2004), Lily Thapa, executive chairman of WHR, Single Women Group (2006), Sangita Nirola, executive director of SWATI (2007), Rama Pokharel Dahal, assistant general manager of Everest Insurance Limited (2009), Barsha Shrestha, general manager of Clean Energy Development Bank (2010), Pramila Rijal, executive chairman of SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council (2011) and Indira Maiya Shrestha chief executive officer of Shtrii Shakti (S2)(2012). </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2008 Anuradha Koirala, executive chairperson of Maiti Nepal was presented the ‘Outstanding Management Award’ of MAN and she is the only women to receive this award so far.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low', 'sortorder' => '2396', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2502', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'NSBM Takes Initiative For Int’l Quality Certification Of Domestic Goods And Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Bureau is planning to establish NAFP in collaboration with India’s National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB). According to Manandhar, an agreement to this effect was signed between the NSBM and NABCB on last Wednesday (January 22). She also informed The Corporate that NAFP would request NABCB for quality certification. “As there is no separate body for [international] quality certification at the Bureau, we have signed an agreement with NABCB,” she added.</div> <div> </div> <div> The establishment of NAFP will help reduce the international quality certification cost of Nepali goods and services and will ease the entire process of quality certification, according to Manandhar. The NSBM is preparing to make a two-year work plan for NAFP. However, it’s going to take a few months before the NAFP starts working for international quality certification. </div> <div> </div> <div> For the time being, the office of NAFP will be located on the NSBM premises.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.', 'sortorder' => '2344', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2449', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'World Bank Forecasts 3.8 % Economic Growth Challenges Ahead', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. </div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013. </div> <div> </div> <div> The data of Global Economic Prospectus 2014 report released by the World Bank clearly showed that the country has still a long way to go to achieve the growth target set by the government. According to the latest monetary policy, the government aims to achieve 5.5 per cent economic growth in 2014. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/twb%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 200px; height: 95px;" />The growth forecast by the bank is a blow to the government’s plan of achieving 7 per cent economic growth. The forecast also showed that the government’s plan of improving its status as the developing country from existing Least Developed Country (LDC) is an ambitious plan which is hard to achieve any time soon as the World Bank has projected 4.4 per cent growth rate for 2015 and 5.2 for 2016.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, say that the country can do better than World Bank’s forecast if it aims at mobilizing more investment from the private sector. </div> <div> </div> <div> World Bank’s projection is based on the data of October 2013, said former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal. “The economic situation was better in December as the agriculture sector witnessed improvement including the production of crops.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We can say the World Bank’s data has underestimated the country’s economic situation to some extent, he claimed. “The country can achieve around 4.5 per cent economic growth in 2014.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We must focus on our major sectors such as agriculture, tourism, water resource if we are to attain speedy economic growth, said economist Dr Chiranjibi Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> Slower government expenditure – especially capital expenditure – despite timely monsoon that might boost agriculture growth, is still a big challenge for the country, he opined. “It is expected that the new government will bring policy to accelerate capital expenditure.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Taking the private sector into confidence is the only way out to propel economic growth while policy stability and endorsement of essential laws is a must to boost the private sector’s confidence, according to Khanal. </div> <div> </div> <div> The banking sector is still reluctant to invest in hydro projects and other big projects, he said. The government should identify the problems of banks and foster an environment where all banks can invest in big projects which will help boost economic activities.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/mn1%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 397px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2342', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2406', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Richest Countries Poor In Anti-Money Laundering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world. The study documented that the developed countries are highly responsible for steady increase in illicit financial flows from developing countries, most of which is being absorbed in the developed countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> For a long time, the traditional view in the developed countries was that illegal capital flight, money laundering and terrorist financing were problems only for developing countries. Similarly, they used to say that the corrupt governments and bureaucracy as well as poor business environments in the developing countries led capital to flee to their markets and promote money laundering. </div> <div> </div> <div> Accordingly, they were putting high pressure on developing and least developed countries like ours to obey all the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations on AML-CTF. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, “one of the most damning findings of the study is that 27 of the 34 OECD countries are either “non compliant” or only “partially compliant” with the FATF recommendations,” reads the report. The report also shows that none of the OECD countries are “fully compliant” with the standards on transparency of corporate ownership information, which aims to tackle money laundering by anonymous shell companies. The study indicates that most of the developed countries, which have been receiving the largest chunk of money that vanished from the developing countries, are in a rush to collect the illicit financial flows rather than help to restrain it. While policymakers in developing countries bear some of the responsibility for this problem, this is a two-way street. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chief economic advisor for the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal accepts the reality that the money drained from poor countries like Nepal is being received by the developed countries. “The high income countries have been absorbing the illicit financial flows in the name of offshore financial system, secrecy jurisdictions and tax haven lands,” said Nepal, suggesting that the developing countries should raise their voice collectively on FATF and other multilateral platforms. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Krishna Hari Baskota, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, although the degree of pressure on and anomalies in the developing countries in the name of ML/TF has been rising internationally, the OECD countries underscore their voice. “However, Nepal is in a safe zone now as per the criteria set by FATF,” said Baskota adding that this is a result of continuous efforts of Government of Nepal in policy formulation and enforcement to contain ML/TF. He further argued that the latest study should serve as a wake-up call to the world leaders regarding illicit financial flows and ML/TF. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Western nations established an offshore financial system comprised of tax havens, anonymous shell companies, and various trade-based money laundering techniques, and they have not done enough to remedy this system to date,” said Raymond Baker President of GFI in a comment on the OECD report. According to Baker, Illicit financial flows and money laundering are the most damaging economic problem facing the global poor, and they are growing at a terrifying pace. The FATF recommendations on beneficial ownership are only a first step towards eliminating the use of anonymous ‘phantom firms’ and effectively curtailing ML/TF. But the shameful reality is that every OECD member fails to comply with even these weak standards on corporate ownership transparency and most of them aren’t even close, according to the report.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the latest report of GFI, nearly USD 1 trillion drained from the developing world in 2011 with an annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent during the last decade i.e. 2002 to 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world.', 'sortorder' => '2313', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2450', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'New Foreign Aid Policy Ready Ceiling On Loans, Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.</div> <div> </div> <div> The new policy has some new provisions regarding foreign aid. According to the new policy, the government will not accept a foreign loan of less than USD 20 million and a grant of less than USD 5 million. However, the policy accepts technical assistances of smaller size.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The new policy has put ceilings on foreign loans and grants,” Marasini said, “It also has the provision of mentioning all foreign assistance in the Red Book.” According to Marasini, smaller donors will have to make their contribution through a pool fund.</div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the revised policy is aimed at boosting investments in sectors such as energy, infrastructure (highways and airports), agriculture and irrigation. “The new policy has prioritized these sectors which need huge investment,” Marasini made it clear. </div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the new policy will make the foreign assistance regime transparent. “It’s us who should be sitting in the driver’s seat, not the donors. This, in essence, is the fundamental of the new aid policy,” Marasini shared.</div> <div> </div> <div> The policy aims at graduating Nepal out of the group of least developed countries to the block of developing countries by 2022. </div> <div> </div> <div> At present, there are nearly 500 projects being run through foreign assistance. The new aid policy aims at bringing down the number of such projects to 150.</div> <div> </div> <div> There are nearly 40 international donors providing foreign assistance including loans, grants and technical assistance to Nepal at present. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.', 'sortorder' => '2293', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2316', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Muktishree’s Investment Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Muktishree" src="/userfiles/images/MN1.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; width: 200px; height: 139px;" />Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chairman of Muktishree Pvt Ltd Ajeya raj Sumargi on Sunday unveiled the business diversification plan of the company. According to him, hydropower, hotel and cement industry are new areas of investment of the company. It has already involved in telecom and drinking water business. </div> <div> </div> <div> The company has already invested in various projects including Hetauda Mines Industry, Everest Minerals Products, Durga Cold Storage, Himalayan Spring Water, Inco Panel Industries, Hetauda Education Foundation, National College of Higher Education and Yeti Development Bank. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people.', 'sortorder' => '2285', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2357', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Birgunj To Host Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The Expo which is being organized in Birgunj, one of Nepal’s major commercial and industrial hubs, is very important for promoting business and trade in the country,” Baidya said, “The main purpose of the trade Expo is to expose Birgunj’s prospects and possibilities in the area of business and trade.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, President of Minds Nepal, Madan Lamsal said that the Expo will bring to the surface the possibilities of economic development and thus help achieve a robust economic growth through the utilization of these possibilities. “The Expo will help reduce the trade deficit by promoting the export of domestic products,” hoped Lamsal.</div> <div> </div> <div> The organizers have said that the Expo will be a common platform for investors, producers, distributors and exporters from both India and Nepal to interact with each other and know about different products and services. Music concerts, food festivals and other entertaining activities will also be organized during the Expo, according to the organizers.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nearly half a million people are expected to observe the Expo. Similarly, the organisers also expect a business transaction of Rs 200 million during the Expo. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Expo is being organised in association with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Ministry of Industry, Birgunj Sub-metropolis and Parsa District Development Committee. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.', 'sortorder' => '2284', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2407', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Employees’ Productivity Erodes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment. </div> <div> </div> <div> The drop in productivity will affect employees overall growth, he said, adding that the productivity could ensure competitive salary and respectable employment situation.</div> <div> </div> <div> The productivity indicator that stood at 3.71 per cent – the highest in last one decade – in 2007 dropped to -1.03 in 2011, according to the preliminary estimation of the ministry. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Employment Coordination and Labour Relations Division under the ministry has been preparing a policy at present, confirmed joint spokesperson at the ministry, Buddhi Nath Bhattarai. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the statistics collected by the ministry, some 12.13 million were employed in 2002. However, employment increased to 15.09 million in 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment.', 'sortorder' => '2254', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2355', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'India Proposes Regional Bank: Can Nepal Take Benefit?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press. </div> <div> </div> <div> Indian Commerce Department has written to the finance ministry in support of such a lender, which it sees playing a critical role in facilitating trade among the eight members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, Indian media quoted a source at the department. “The final call lies with the ministry of finance and partner countries.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Commenting on the development, Nepal’s Consul General in Kolkata Chandra Prasad Ghimire said, India has clearly shown its interest in regional trade. “India seems to be interested to invest in hydropower projects and expand its market throughout the SAARC region,” he said. The idea of a regional bank may have come to materialize the Indian wish to expand its investment throughout the region, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> Starting a regional bank is good news per se, he said, adding, “But the challenges for a small and land-locked country like Nepal are how to take maximum advantage from such regional lending arm.”</div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC countries are signatories to the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement on goods that came into force on January 1, 2006. A regional financial entity may help materialize SAFTA in effective manner as such entity helps facilitate cross-border transport, Ghimire further said.</div> <div> </div> <div> SAFTA required the developing countries -- India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- to lower customs duties down to 20% in the first phase of the two-year period ending in 2007 and to zero by 2016 in phases. </div> <div> </div> <div> Currently, the SAARC countries are negotiating to address non-tariff barriers and implement trade-facilitation measures that include the easing of customs procedures. Experts say investment from single financial institution in the region will help in trade-facilitation.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Most of the non-tariff barriers are related to infrastructure deficiency which needs money. So trade facilitation is actually a question of finding money. That is what the South Asia Development Bank will facilitate,” Indian media quoted Department of Commerce official as saying. </div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce department has suggested that the bank could be set up with whatever the partner countries agree to put in as equity. </div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC comprises Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan. </div> <div> </div> <div> Cynical views</div> <div> Many experts, however, see the proposal as the Indian attempt to expand its hegemony at the regional level. The proposal can be seen as an attempt to overshadowed Asian Development Bank in which the traditional domination of Japan can be seen, an economist told The Corporate. India wants to weaken the presence of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in the region by establishing a regional lending agency with its own domination, he opined. Despite positive aspect, the proposal should be studies carefully by all SAARC countries, he said. It will be backfiring for all SAARC countries if India utilizes the lending agency just as a means of expanding its market in the region, he further said. India is also active in forming development bank with $100 billion in the BRICS nations. BRICS nations have decided to initiate a new lending arm which, as many believe, is set to rival the dominance of the World Bank and the IMF over BRICS bloc.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Possible benefits for Nepal </strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Facilitation in cross-border transport</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Development of regional transmission line for hydropower projects</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Construction of big hydropower projects in Joint Venture</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Trade facilitation </div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Address the bottlenecks in non-tariff barriers </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Possibility of South Asian regional road network </div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances for direct trade with Bangladesh and Pakistan and other SAARC countries</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Challenges Ahead</strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Preserving rights of small economy</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Collect equity to inject in the bank</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Domination of regional giants</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances of export may suffer the problem of low productivity at the national level</div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Businessmen at the national level may face severe competition from their regional counterparts </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal might only be consumption market</div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepali may get only blue colour jobs due to domination of richer nation in high posts</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press.', 'sortorder' => '2250', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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According to FNCCI, the main organiser of the event, the Summit will be a milestone for policy changes to attract foreign investment, both domestic and foreign, in three key sectors of Nepal – agriculture, tourism and energy. Economists and some businessmen, however, say that ‘attracting foreign investment’ has been one of the overused phrases over the years. “Luring foreign investment has now become rhetorical,” agreed economist and former National Planning Commission Vice Chairman Deependra Bahadur Kshetry.</p> <p> The government should ensure investment friendly environment for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), he told <em>The Corporate</em>. The most important aspect to lure FDI is taking investors into confidence, Kshetry added. “China is not a liberal economy. Yet, why is foreign investment inflow high in china? Because the country has investment friendly environment and it has succeeded to win confidence of investors.”</p> <p> The event is aimed at seeking all possible solution on how we can make Nepal a lucrative destination for investment globally and can remove hurdles that prevail at present, director general at FNCCI Dr Hemanta Dawadi said. The summit will be followed by abusiness conclave in March this year. FNCCI will be inviting potential investors to this conclave for discussing investment possibilities, Dawadi informed.</p> <p> Economist Prithvi Raj Ligal, on the other hand, said that the hurdles have already been identified. All we need is sincere commitments from concerned stakeholders for addressing existing hurdles and to foster an environment favourable for investment, he added. Political instability, security issues, poor infrastructure and frequent labour unrest in the nation among others are some of the core issues that pose serious challenge to attract foreign investment, he opined.</p> <p> Questioning the very objective of organizing of such meets while identified bottlenecks remain unaddressed, he said that the government should focus its efforts to address problems also, instead of solely focusing on repeatedly organizing summit after summit. “Gathering world’s renowned business figures is a good initiative. But repeating the same actions on the same line will be useless. Its time to address the identified bottlenecks while establishing business contacts simultaneously,” Ligal said. The organizers, on the other hand, claim the summit will be a groundbreaking event. FNCCI President Suraj Vaidya said the Summit aims solely to create a platform where business leaders, experts, high level political leaders and international delegates will search for a common ground that will help make Nepal an attractive destination for local as well as foreign investors.</p> <p> “Nepal has tremendous investment potentials in agriculture, tourism and energy sectors. However, there are policy hurdles and there is a lack of investment-friendly environment. The Summit will look for ways to tackle such problems,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> The FNCCI has already prepared a list of 27 projects that are concidered ‘quite feasible’ for investment. Vaidya said the Summit will try to attract FDI in these projects. “The Summit will help explore investment possibilities for these 27 projects whose total cost has been estimated at Rs 300 billion,” said Vaidya.</p> <p> Economists, successful entrepreneurs and experts in agriculture, tourism and clean energy from the USA, the UK, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, Germany and Thailand, among others, will be attending this Summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.</p> <p> Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), World Bank and its private sector arm International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Nepal Tourism Board are the partners of the Summit. Similarly, Samriddhi, The Prosperity Foundation, is the knowledge partner of the event.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>FDI in Seven Months</strong></span><br /> Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nepal has reached Rs 18.9 billion during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. At a programme organised at the Prime Minister’s Office on February 16, officials said that 135 FDI projects have been approved during the period. The country received Rs 19.94 billion FDI in fiscal year 2012/13 and Rs 7.14 billion in the previous fiscal year.</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-03-03', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'It is high time the business community and the government proved their effi ciency to attract more foreign investment instead of organizing one after another conference and summit.', 'sortorder' => '2528', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2645', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Govt Seeks ‘Formula’ To Reduce Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="18" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="192"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="left"> <p> <strong>By TC Correspondent</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear: both;"> Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.</div> <p> The trade imbalance has now become a serious problem as the country’s trade deficit continues widening year on year, said secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister, Krishna Hari Baskota. “The government is serious to increase promotional activities for Nepal’s products in the international market for reducing the<br /> trade deficit.”</p> <p> According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the nation’s trade deficit with India has reached Rs 190.95 billion, out of the overall trade deficit of Rs 288.76 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Trade deficit has a multiple effects since it drains money from the country’s economy, Banskota said, adding that remittance inflow has become crucial in maintaining Balance of Payment (BoP) of the country. It is not good for country’s financial health to rely on remittance inflow forever, he opined. According to the central bank, the country witnessed a total of Rs 266 billion remittance inflow in the first half of the current fiscal year.</p> <p> Coordination among various stakeholders is a must to reduce hassles in trade, he said. The coordination among various stakeholders has not been materialised so far, he informed. It is time that policymakers and businesses made concerted and coordinated attempts to tackle country’s trade imbalances before we are faced with serious crisis, he further said, adding that it is also the right time to address the issue as the country is all set to get a moderate and liberal government led by parties which embrace liberal economy policy.</p> <p> Elaborating further Banskota pointed that the ‘one stop services’ to promote export promotion has been limited to papers. “We need to seriously implement all provisions which the government has introduced with aim of facilitating trade activities,” he said. He blamed the private sector for being hell bent on collecting service charge rather than contributing to trade facilitation. It is not necessary to issue both Generalize System of Preference (GSP) and Certificate of Origin (CO) for the products. But, this hassle has not been removed, as private sector does not want to lower their profit, which they have been collecting while issuing these two certificates, he blamed.</p> <p> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Govt’s Mantra to Reduce Trade Deficit</strong></span></p> <p> • Establishment of herbs collection and processing centres<br /> • Upgradation of labs<br /> • Verification of organic products<br /> • Acquiring collective trademark<br /> • Government’s assistance in acquiring trademarks<br /> • Increased participation in global trade fairs<br /> • Effective implementation of Nepal Trade Integration Strategy 2010</p>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-23', 'modified' => '2014-02-24', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Alarmed by a whopping trade-deficit, the government is all set to form a separate high-level taskforce, which will identify possible solution to reduce the existing trade deficit.', 'sortorder' => '2494', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2590', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo In Birgunj', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj. </div> <div> </div> <div> Ambassador Rae underlined the need for infrastructure development to attract more foreign investment to Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepal needs to implement investment friendly policies,” he suggested. He informed that Indian government has planned to expand railway facility in five bordering districts in Nepal. The railway link is expected to facilitate trade between the two countries, he added. The process of establishing Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at three major customs points along the Nepal-India border has also started, he said.</div> <div> </div> <div> He urged Nepali private sector and the government to take Indian investors into confidence as there is high potential of Indian investment in Nepal. He emphasized on the bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit. </div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal should increase the volume of export to India to reduce the existing trade deficit with India, he suggested. “Nepal can export hydroelectricity to India which will help reduce the trade deficit.”</div> <div> </div> <div> The Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with Minds Nepal has organized the expo that is aimed at increasing international trade particularly with India and the SAARC countries. The 10-day exhibition has been displaying a wide range of products from Nepal, India and the SAARC region, the organizer said. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Nepal-India Border Summit </strong></span></div> <div> Nepal-India border summit concluded on Saturday (February 15) issuing a 15-point “Birgunj Declaration 2070”. Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry had organized the summit with participation of parliamentarians from bordering districts. In the programme, six parliamentarians from Bara and Parsa districts of and two parliamentarians from India participated. </div> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/1%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI’s immediate past president Ashok Temani (second from right) helping Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae to unwrap the Greater Nepal CD for launching while FNCCI president Suraj Vaidhya (far left) looks on</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the readymade garment stall." src="/userfiles/images/2%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 354px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the readymade garment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya " src="/userfiles/images/3%20(Copy)(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 179px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>BiCCI president Ashok Vaidhya (4th from the right) with participants of Nepal - India Border Summit</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div> <table align="center" width="100"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Crowd at the electric equipment stall." src="/userfiles/images/4%20(Copy)(3).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 550px; height: 339px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#DDDDDD"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Crowd at the electric equipment stall.</strong></div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-23', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A ten-day Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014 kicked off in Birgunj last Thursday (February 13). Indian ambassador to Nepal Rajit Rae inaugurated the expo amid a function organized at Aadarshanagar stadium in Birgunj.', 'sortorder' => '2493', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2589', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Made In Nepal: Fantasy And Fact', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> What does ‘Made in Nepal’ stand for? The Nepali products cannot get foothold in global market unless manufacturers cannot answer this question. Young entrepreneurs, Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs), industrialists and even bureaucrats often talk about making Brand Nepal visible. It, however, has been more than evident that they have ignored or neglected bottlenecks to make the brand Nepal visible.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Nepali products lack competitiveness. High lending rate and unnecessary labour cost have resulted in higher production cost of Nepali products,” says economist Rameshore Khanal.</div> <div> </div> <div> Another crucial issue is quality. Economist Sujeev Shakya opines, “Made in Nepal tag should not be equivalent to substandard products. Quality is key issue and our products cannot get good reputation unless we can assure it.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal could make its own identity in agro and herbs products if there would have been a lab that could assure quality, said Khanal. Developed countries give high priority to quality while importing agro products, he said. But Nepal lacks even a standard lab.</div> <div> </div> <div> Honey and other products could get market if we had been able to assure their quality.</div> <div> </div> <div> Some Nepali brands are finding markets in other countries. But the question is: are they commercialized? Generally, Nepali products are focused on niche segments that are too small, said young entrepreneur Sabda Gyawali.</div> <div> </div> <div> In fact, Made in Nepal products have still a long journey to go in terms of commercialization. It is harsh reality that foreigners do not buy Nepali products because of its commercial value but as a souvenir or showpiece or for aesthetic, Gyawali shared with The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturer should be able to create unique selling point (USP) of their products, agreed Samir Thapa, president of Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum that organizes Made in Nepal expo every year.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, point out that the current modalities of promotional activities are very effective. “It is quite ironical that we target Nepali Diaspora population even if we organize Made in Nepal expo abroad,” an economist told The Corporate.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali manufacturers’ failure to tap evolving market is another reason. Researcher and member of NYEF Manish Jha said that Nepali manufacturers have failed to identify their target market. Export to Europe and USA has been quite rhetorical, he said. “It is time to seek evolving market like South Asia which is more convenient to Nepali exporters.”</div> <div> </div> <div> It is important to emphasise here that we need to invest in various aspect including that of branding, marketing skills, technology and networking before ‘Made in Nepal’ tag gains recognition and respect in the global market.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-17', 'modified' => '2014-02-21', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'As Nepali entrepreneurs look to expand their footprint globally, many analysts believe that they still have a long way to go. Nepali products should maintain quality to make the tag ‘Made in Nepal’ an accepted one in the global market.', 'sortorder' => '2486', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2501', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Illicit Financial Flow From Nepal Is Far More Than Foreign Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Latest studies show that the Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) drained from Nepal on an average far exceeds the Official Development Assistance (ODA) the country receives as grants from the donor community. </div> <div> </div> <div> A report published by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, reveals Rs 62 billion has been drained from Nepal annually during the period of 2002 to 2011 in the form of IFF. On the other hand, the statistics maintained by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) shows that Nepal has received Rs 37 billion as grants annually during the same period. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to these statistics, on an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price. </div> <div> </div> <div> During the period, the capital flight from Nepal has increased by an annual average growth rate of 15.64 percent. In 2010, a record high Rs 155 billion was drained from the country while the year 2003 witnessed the lowest capital flight which stands at Rs 25 billion. The trends show that Nepal suffered the most from the problem of capital flight during 2007 to 2010. Perennial political transition, instability created by communist-led government and ambiguity in the policy front are considered some of the major reasons for the problem of capital flight for that period. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Maoist government failed to take the business community into confidence due to their weak commitments for free market economy and failure to safeguard the right to private propriety encouraged big investors to take their investment out of the country,” an economist said. </div> <div> </div> <div> The annual grant received by Nepal increased by 31.85 percent during the study period. The percentage of currency outflow is higher than the actual grant the country received which clearly suggests that the country was at loss.</div> <div> </div> <div> As far as grant is concerned, the country received the highest amount of grant of Rs 70 billion in 2009 whereas it received only Rs 8 billion in 2003. It was yet again political reason – lack of political stability and lack of local bodies to maintain transparency of the aid money – for the low amount of grant, an official at the Ministry of Finance said. </div> <div> </div> <div> “How can a country take the path of prosperity when the government cannot spend grant money effectively on the one hand and is unable to stop capital flight on the other?” asked the official.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Major Reasons for the Capital Flight </strong></span></div> <div> <strong>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Decade long internal conflict followed by political Instability</strong></div> <div> <strong>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant Corruption in Bureaucracy as well as business community </strong></div> <div> <strong>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Tax evasion oriented mindset among businessmen </strong></div> <div> <strong>4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Lack of accountability/transparency in private sector </strong></div> <div> <strong>5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Unnecessary conditions of the donors </strong></div> <div> <strong>6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Low confidence of investors </strong></div> <div> <strong>7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Government’s Failure to Safeguard the right to private Property</strong></div> <div> <strong>8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Problem of under-invoicing and over-invoicing in trading </strong></div> <div> <strong>9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rampant transfer pricing in international trade </strong></div> <div> <strong>10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Emergence of conservative (communist) forces in the government</strong></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-02-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'On an average Nepal has been losing Rs 25 billion annually. This net outflow of money is more than 5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nepal in constant price.', 'sortorder' => '2420', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2548', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Readying For A Fresh Start', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Siromani Dhungana</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN. Of the 17 seats, six are to be filled by representatives of institutional members and the rest by individual members. The final list of candidates has 20 from the individuals and eight from institutions. </div> <div> </div> <div> All the 28 prospective candidates for the top MAN posts are busy in lobbying and making their permutation and combination right. </div> <div> </div> <div> Though the new office bearers of MAN will be decided by the executive committee members, some candidates have expressed their interest in the vital posts. Former general secretary Shiva Adhikari has expressed his interest for the key post of president while other candidates are busy in their cover campaigning. </div> <div> </div> <div> The theme for this year’s AGM is ‘Political Management: A Case of Nepal’. President Shah claims the topic to be “highly relevant as Nepal is in dire need of political management.” He says, “The political leadership should be able to manage political differences and tensions to ensure stability in the business sector.” </div> <div> </div> <div> A critical issue facing the Association is representation of the private sector in the executive body. MAN has not been able to attract enough corporate/private sector managers in the Association. “The world has moved on very fast but MAN has not,” says one of the Association’s former presidents Arzu Rana Deuba. “MAN leadership should realize the fact that the institution is yet to be owned by Nepal’s private sector/ big corporate houses.” Other former presidents of MAN express similar views. “With the adoption of liberal economy in 1990, involvement of managers from the private sector should have increased in MAN but it could not happen,” said former finance minister Madhukar SJB Rana, who is also a former president of MAN. Rana also suggested to the private sector to realize the importance of institutions like MAN. “The Private sector is yet to realize the importance of MAN. They seem focused more on organizations established at their own initiatives such as FNCCI and CNI,” he said. </div> <div> </div> <div> Another former President of MAN Rameshore Khanal who retired as Finance Secretary said, “MAN has failed to offer services which are useful to the corporate sector. This is one of the main reasons behind the lower representation of the private sector in the organization.” He said MAN cannot be a complete platform for all managers until it ensures representation of the private sector.</div> <div> </div> <div> Besides active representation of private sector, there are several other challenges as well that MAN needs to address. MAN should conduct research, provide education, and impart training in the field of management, Khanal said. “But these are not easy tasks and the organization should not take all these responsibilities as a mere formality.” The major challenges before MAN is to connect management movement of the country with that of global trends, he said. </div> <div> According to former chief secretary and another former president of MAN, Bimal Koirala, the lack of commitment from MAN members has been very challenging to make the organization vibrant. </div> <div> </div> <div> Incumbent president hah said that both MAN office bearers and private sector should put collective effort for taking the organization to the next level. Lower participation of the private sector in the organization may be the reason of lower corporate culture in business units, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>The Corporate’s Suggestions to MAN </strong></span></div> <div> 1)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should create a platform to share innovative practices in corporate governance in Nepal </div> <div> 2)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should recognise corporate houses that have commercially and profitably implemented innovative ideas in practice. </div> <div> 3)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take initiative to ensure that the upcoming government passes a resolution to allocate 1 or 2 % of the turnover to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities</div> <div> 4)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should bring out a code of conduct for self-regulation of its members to bring about transparency in corporate governance</div> <div> 5)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>MAN should take up sectoral reforms and assist entrepreneurs by way of exchange programmes for NRN youth</div> <div> 6)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>With the help from the government, MAN can organise NRN Summit on Management</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>MAN’s Vision for the Future</strong></span></div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Increase participation of private sector in the organization</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Expansion of its network base by incorporating B-Schools and corporate houses</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote professional management education through innovative programmes and initiatives</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide a platform for sharing ideas and exchanging knowledge </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Enhance knowledge of members by sharing experiences on newer trends in the field of management in the backdrop of changing global environment</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Maintain best-in-class standards of education and training to build a world class management institution</div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Provide relevant inputs to the government regarding changed global trends in the management movement </div> <div> •<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Promote and facilitate academic research and set-up a research facility</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Election fever has gripped the Nepali management community as the Management Association of Nepal (MAN) is electing a new executive body amidst a call for expanding private sector participation in the organization. The 33rd National Management Convention and Annual General Meeting of MAN on Friday will elect a 17-member 17th executive committee, said Janak Raj Shah, president of MAN.', 'sortorder' => '2407', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2549', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Women A Minority In MAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By Eliza Tuladhar</strong></div> <div> </div> <table align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" width="25"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <img alt="Shanti Laxmi Shakya, Treasurer, MAN" src="/userfiles/images/2(4).jpg" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; width: 200px; height: 239px;" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <div align="center"> <div style="text-align: center;"> <div> <strong>Shanti Laxmi Shakya</strong></div> <div> Treasurer, MAN</div> </div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div> Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low. “The number of women members is increasing gradually but we still need their active participation and representation in the association’s activities,” said Treasurer of MAN Shanti Laxmi Shakya who has been working as acting director of legal department of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) since 2045. Shakya is however, in the executive committee for the last 20 years. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to her, the number of women members and their participation in the association is still not satisfactory. “Women should not remain passive, they should come forward with their views and ideas. If they don’t they will be always deprived from every opportunity,” said Shakya and further stressed on the need for women to struggle and move ahead. “Since its establishment there has been only one female president, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba,” said Shakya. </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2002the association started awarding best women managers with the “Women Manager Recognition Award.”</div> <div> </div> <div> So far, nine women have received this award. Meera Bhattarai is the first to receive the ‘Woman Manager Recognition Award’ in 2002, while she was serving as the executive director of Association for Craft Producers. Later in 2004 Hajuri Bista, managing director of H.K Food Products received the award. Other outstanding women managers to receive this award are Saraswati Shrestha, executive chairman of Women Cooperative Society Limited (2004), Lily Thapa, executive chairman of WHR, Single Women Group (2006), Sangita Nirola, executive director of SWATI (2007), Rama Pokharel Dahal, assistant general manager of Everest Insurance Limited (2009), Barsha Shrestha, general manager of Clean Energy Development Bank (2010), Pramila Rijal, executive chairman of SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council (2011) and Indira Maiya Shrestha chief executive officer of Shtrii Shakti (S2)(2012). </div> <div> </div> <div> In 2008 Anuradha Koirala, executive chairperson of Maiti Nepal was presented the ‘Outstanding Management Award’ of MAN and she is the only women to receive this award so far.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-02-08', 'modified' => '2014-02-09', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Despite the widespread rhetoric on increasing women’s participation in the management sector, the Management Association of Nepal (MAN), the only association of management professionals from various fields in the country lacks such participation. Though 40 per cent of its members are woman, their participation in the association’s activities is quite low', 'sortorder' => '2396', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2502', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'NSBM Takes Initiative For Int’l Quality Certification Of Domestic Goods And Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.</div> <div> </div> <div> The Bureau is planning to establish NAFP in collaboration with India’s National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB). According to Manandhar, an agreement to this effect was signed between the NSBM and NABCB on last Wednesday (January 22). She also informed The Corporate that NAFP would request NABCB for quality certification. “As there is no separate body for [international] quality certification at the Bureau, we have signed an agreement with NABCB,” she added.</div> <div> </div> <div> The establishment of NAFP will help reduce the international quality certification cost of Nepali goods and services and will ease the entire process of quality certification, according to Manandhar. The NSBM is preparing to make a two-year work plan for NAFP. However, it’s going to take a few months before the NAFP starts working for international quality certification. </div> <div> </div> <div> For the time being, the office of NAFP will be located on the NSBM premises.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-26', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal has taken initiative to start the international quality certification of the goods and services produced in the country. Along with the preparation to establish the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP), the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NSBM) has taken the initiative to start the international quality certification within the nation itself, says, Romi Manandhar , Deputy Director General at the Bureau. Currently different organizations are taking their own initiative for certification.', 'sortorder' => '2344', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2449', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'World Bank Forecasts 3.8 % Economic Growth Challenges Ahead', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. </div> <div> </div> <div> The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013. </div> <div> </div> <div> The data of Global Economic Prospectus 2014 report released by the World Bank clearly showed that the country has still a long way to go to achieve the growth target set by the government. According to the latest monetary policy, the government aims to achieve 5.5 per cent economic growth in 2014. </div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/twb%20(Copy).jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; width: 200px; height: 95px;" />The growth forecast by the bank is a blow to the government’s plan of achieving 7 per cent economic growth. The forecast also showed that the government’s plan of improving its status as the developing country from existing Least Developed Country (LDC) is an ambitious plan which is hard to achieve any time soon as the World Bank has projected 4.4 per cent growth rate for 2015 and 5.2 for 2016.</div> <div> </div> <div> Experts, however, say that the country can do better than World Bank’s forecast if it aims at mobilizing more investment from the private sector. </div> <div> </div> <div> World Bank’s projection is based on the data of October 2013, said former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal. “The economic situation was better in December as the agriculture sector witnessed improvement including the production of crops.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We can say the World Bank’s data has underestimated the country’s economic situation to some extent, he claimed. “The country can achieve around 4.5 per cent economic growth in 2014.”</div> <div> </div> <div> We must focus on our major sectors such as agriculture, tourism, water resource if we are to attain speedy economic growth, said economist Dr Chiranjibi Nepal. </div> <div> </div> <div> Slower government expenditure – especially capital expenditure – despite timely monsoon that might boost agriculture growth, is still a big challenge for the country, he opined. “It is expected that the new government will bring policy to accelerate capital expenditure.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Taking the private sector into confidence is the only way out to propel economic growth while policy stability and endorsement of essential laws is a must to boost the private sector’s confidence, according to Khanal. </div> <div> </div> <div> The banking sector is still reluctant to invest in hydro projects and other big projects, he said. The government should identify the problems of banks and foster an environment where all banks can invest in big projects which will help boost economic activities.</div> <div> </div> <div> <img alt="" src="/userfiles/images/mn1%20(Copy).jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 397px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" /></div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-26', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'The country will not regain strength in economic growth in 2014 despite a successful second Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The World Bank has estimated Nepal’s economic growth to be not more than 3.8 per cent in 2014, a marginal improvement compared to the 3.6 per cent growth rate in 2013.', 'sortorder' => '2342', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2406', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Richest Countries Poor In Anti-Money Laundering', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By Hom Nath Gaire </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world. The study documented that the developed countries are highly responsible for steady increase in illicit financial flows from developing countries, most of which is being absorbed in the developed countries. </div> <div> </div> <div> For a long time, the traditional view in the developed countries was that illegal capital flight, money laundering and terrorist financing were problems only for developing countries. Similarly, they used to say that the corrupt governments and bureaucracy as well as poor business environments in the developing countries led capital to flee to their markets and promote money laundering. </div> <div> </div> <div> Accordingly, they were putting high pressure on developing and least developed countries like ours to obey all the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations on AML-CTF. </div> <div> </div> <div> However, “one of the most damning findings of the study is that 27 of the 34 OECD countries are either “non compliant” or only “partially compliant” with the FATF recommendations,” reads the report. The report also shows that none of the OECD countries are “fully compliant” with the standards on transparency of corporate ownership information, which aims to tackle money laundering by anonymous shell companies. The study indicates that most of the developed countries, which have been receiving the largest chunk of money that vanished from the developing countries, are in a rush to collect the illicit financial flows rather than help to restrain it. While policymakers in developing countries bear some of the responsibility for this problem, this is a two-way street. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chief economic advisor for the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Chiranjibi Nepal accepts the reality that the money drained from poor countries like Nepal is being received by the developed countries. “The high income countries have been absorbing the illicit financial flows in the name of offshore financial system, secrecy jurisdictions and tax haven lands,” said Nepal, suggesting that the developing countries should raise their voice collectively on FATF and other multilateral platforms. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to Krishna Hari Baskota, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, although the degree of pressure on and anomalies in the developing countries in the name of ML/TF has been rising internationally, the OECD countries underscore their voice. “However, Nepal is in a safe zone now as per the criteria set by FATF,” said Baskota adding that this is a result of continuous efforts of Government of Nepal in policy formulation and enforcement to contain ML/TF. He further argued that the latest study should serve as a wake-up call to the world leaders regarding illicit financial flows and ML/TF. </div> <div> </div> <div> “Western nations established an offshore financial system comprised of tax havens, anonymous shell companies, and various trade-based money laundering techniques, and they have not done enough to remedy this system to date,” said Raymond Baker President of GFI in a comment on the OECD report. According to Baker, Illicit financial flows and money laundering are the most damaging economic problem facing the global poor, and they are growing at a terrifying pace. The FATF recommendations on beneficial ownership are only a first step towards eliminating the use of anonymous ‘phantom firms’ and effectively curtailing ML/TF. But the shameful reality is that every OECD member fails to comply with even these weak standards on corporate ownership transparency and most of them aren’t even close, according to the report.</div> <div> </div> <div> According to the latest report of GFI, nearly USD 1 trillion drained from the developing world in 2011 with an annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent during the last decade i.e. 2002 to 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'A landmark report published last week by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that the richest countries in the world are failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) Regimes. The OECD study titled “Measuring OECD Responses to Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries” was published just one week after Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US longtime authority on financial crimes, released its annual update on illicit financial outflows from the developing world.', 'sortorder' => '2313', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2450', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'New Foreign Aid Policy Ready Ceiling On Loans, Grants', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.</div> <div> </div> <div> The new policy has some new provisions regarding foreign aid. According to the new policy, the government will not accept a foreign loan of less than USD 20 million and a grant of less than USD 5 million. However, the policy accepts technical assistances of smaller size.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The new policy has put ceilings on foreign loans and grants,” Marasini said, “It also has the provision of mentioning all foreign assistance in the Red Book.” According to Marasini, smaller donors will have to make their contribution through a pool fund.</div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the revised policy is aimed at boosting investments in sectors such as energy, infrastructure (highways and airports), agriculture and irrigation. “The new policy has prioritized these sectors which need huge investment,” Marasini made it clear. </div> <div> </div> <div> He added that the new policy will make the foreign assistance regime transparent. “It’s us who should be sitting in the driver’s seat, not the donors. This, in essence, is the fundamental of the new aid policy,” Marasini shared.</div> <div> </div> <div> The policy aims at graduating Nepal out of the group of least developed countries to the block of developing countries by 2022. </div> <div> </div> <div> At present, there are nearly 500 projects being run through foreign assistance. The new aid policy aims at bringing down the number of such projects to 150.</div> <div> </div> <div> There are nearly 40 international donors providing foreign assistance including loans, grants and technical assistance to Nepal at present. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-19', 'modified' => '2014-01-20', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'In a bid to bring foreign aid under the ambit of national system and priorities, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has prepared a new foreign aid policy which will be implemented after the formation of a new elected government. “The new foreign aid policy is ready. It has been prepared after homework of nearly a decade following consultations with all stakeholders. Now we are waiting for the new government to implement it,” said Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini, chief of the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division under the MoF.', 'sortorder' => '2293', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2316', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Muktishree’s Investment Plan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <img alt="Muktishree" src="/userfiles/images/MN1.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; width: 200px; height: 139px;" />Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people. </div> <div> </div> <div> Chairman of Muktishree Pvt Ltd Ajeya raj Sumargi on Sunday unveiled the business diversification plan of the company. According to him, hydropower, hotel and cement industry are new areas of investment of the company. It has already involved in telecom and drinking water business. </div> <div> </div> <div> The company has already invested in various projects including Hetauda Mines Industry, Everest Minerals Products, Durga Cold Storage, Himalayan Spring Water, Inco Panel Industries, Hetauda Education Foundation, National College of Higher Education and Yeti Development Bank. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-23', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Muktishree Pvt Ltd has come up with an assertive plan of injecting a total of Rs 23.5 billion in various ambitious projects. The company has also targeted to create a total of 10,000 jobs through the investment. Currently, it has provided employment opportunity to around 1,500 people.', 'sortorder' => '2285', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2357', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Birgunj To Host Nepal-India Trade Expo 2014', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent </strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.</div> <div> </div> <div> “The Expo which is being organized in Birgunj, one of Nepal’s major commercial and industrial hubs, is very important for promoting business and trade in the country,” Baidya said, “The main purpose of the trade Expo is to expose Birgunj’s prospects and possibilities in the area of business and trade.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Similarly, President of Minds Nepal, Madan Lamsal said that the Expo will bring to the surface the possibilities of economic development and thus help achieve a robust economic growth through the utilization of these possibilities. “The Expo will help reduce the trade deficit by promoting the export of domestic products,” hoped Lamsal.</div> <div> </div> <div> The organizers have said that the Expo will be a common platform for investors, producers, distributors and exporters from both India and Nepal to interact with each other and know about different products and services. Music concerts, food festivals and other entertaining activities will also be organized during the Expo, according to the organizers.</div> <div> </div> <div> Nearly half a million people are expected to observe the Expo. Similarly, the organisers also expect a business transaction of Rs 200 million during the Expo. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Expo is being organised in association with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Ministry of Industry, Birgunj Sub-metropolis and Parsa District Development Committee. </div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-10', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepal-India Trade Expo-2014 will be organized at the Adarshnagar Stadium of Birgunj city from February 13 to 20, according to Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BiCCI) and Minds Nepal Pvt Ltd, organizers of the event. Speaking at a press conference organized in Birgunj on December 27, BiCCI President Ashok Kumar Baidya said that the Expo will feature nearly 200 stalls related with different business and industries including tourism, technology and agriculture, among others.', 'sortorder' => '2284', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2407', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'Employees’ Productivity Erodes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment. </div> <div> </div> <div> The drop in productivity will affect employees overall growth, he said, adding that the productivity could ensure competitive salary and respectable employment situation.</div> <div> </div> <div> The productivity indicator that stood at 3.71 per cent – the highest in last one decade – in 2007 dropped to -1.03 in 2011, according to the preliminary estimation of the ministry. </div> <div> </div> <div> The Employment Coordination and Labour Relations Division under the ministry has been preparing a policy at present, confirmed joint spokesperson at the ministry, Buddhi Nath Bhattarai. </div> <div> </div> <div> According to the statistics collected by the ministry, some 12.13 million were employed in 2002. However, employment increased to 15.09 million in 2011.</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2014-01-06', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'Nepali employees’ productivity has eroded in the last one decade (from 2002 to 2011), according to an official at the Ministry of Labour and Employment.', 'sortorder' => '2254', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '2355', 'article_category_id' => '91', 'title' => 'India Proposes Regional Bank: Can Nepal Take Benefit?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => null, 'content' => '<div> </div> <div> <strong>--By TC Correspondent</strong></div> <div> </div> <div> South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press. </div> <div> </div> <div> Indian Commerce Department has written to the finance ministry in support of such a lender, which it sees playing a critical role in facilitating trade among the eight members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, Indian media quoted a source at the department. “The final call lies with the ministry of finance and partner countries.”</div> <div> </div> <div> Commenting on the development, Nepal’s Consul General in Kolkata Chandra Prasad Ghimire said, India has clearly shown its interest in regional trade. “India seems to be interested to invest in hydropower projects and expand its market throughout the SAARC region,” he said. The idea of a regional bank may have come to materialize the Indian wish to expand its investment throughout the region, he opined. </div> <div> </div> <div> Starting a regional bank is good news per se, he said, adding, “But the challenges for a small and land-locked country like Nepal are how to take maximum advantage from such regional lending arm.”</div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC countries are signatories to the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement on goods that came into force on January 1, 2006. A regional financial entity may help materialize SAFTA in effective manner as such entity helps facilitate cross-border transport, Ghimire further said.</div> <div> </div> <div> SAFTA required the developing countries -- India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- to lower customs duties down to 20% in the first phase of the two-year period ending in 2007 and to zero by 2016 in phases. </div> <div> </div> <div> Currently, the SAARC countries are negotiating to address non-tariff barriers and implement trade-facilitation measures that include the easing of customs procedures. Experts say investment from single financial institution in the region will help in trade-facilitation.</div> <div> </div> <div> “Most of the non-tariff barriers are related to infrastructure deficiency which needs money. So trade facilitation is actually a question of finding money. That is what the South Asia Development Bank will facilitate,” Indian media quoted Department of Commerce official as saying. </div> <div> </div> <div> The commerce department has suggested that the bank could be set up with whatever the partner countries agree to put in as equity. </div> <div> </div> <div> SAARC comprises Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan. </div> <div> </div> <div> Cynical views</div> <div> Many experts, however, see the proposal as the Indian attempt to expand its hegemony at the regional level. The proposal can be seen as an attempt to overshadowed Asian Development Bank in which the traditional domination of Japan can be seen, an economist told The Corporate. India wants to weaken the presence of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in the region by establishing a regional lending agency with its own domination, he opined. Despite positive aspect, the proposal should be studies carefully by all SAARC countries, he said. It will be backfiring for all SAARC countries if India utilizes the lending agency just as a means of expanding its market in the region, he further said. India is also active in forming development bank with $100 billion in the BRICS nations. BRICS nations have decided to initiate a new lending arm which, as many believe, is set to rival the dominance of the World Bank and the IMF over BRICS bloc.</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Possible benefits for Nepal </strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Facilitation in cross-border transport</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Development of regional transmission line for hydropower projects</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Construction of big hydropower projects in Joint Venture</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Trade facilitation </div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Address the bottlenecks in non-tariff barriers </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Possibility of South Asian regional road network </div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances for direct trade with Bangladesh and Pakistan and other SAARC countries</div> <div> </div> <div> <span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>Challenges Ahead</strong></span></div> <div> 1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Preserving rights of small economy</div> <div> 2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Collect equity to inject in the bank</div> <div> 3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Domination of regional giants</div> <div> 4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Chances of export may suffer the problem of low productivity at the national level</div> <div> 5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Businessmen at the national level may face severe competition from their regional counterparts </div> <div> 6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepal might only be consumption market</div> <div> 7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Nepali may get only blue colour jobs due to domination of richer nation in high posts</div>', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2013-12-30', 'modified' => '2014-01-06', 'keywords' => 'the corporate weekly from Nepal, nepali corporate events – news – interviews – reviews, nepali corporate focus, nepali corporate status and news, news from nepali corporate industry, corporate happenings – events – news from nepal', 'description' => 'South Asian economic giant India is considering the establishment of a South Asian development bank that will fund infrastructure projects and promote trade in the region, according to reports in the Indian press.', 'sortorder' => '2250', 'image' => null, 'article_date' => '0000-00-00 00:00:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '0' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
