Nepal recently voted for a new Constituent Assembly and the poll results reflected the shift of preference of Nepali people towards political parties. The business community has been very much hopeful from the preliminary results of the election. In this scenario, Ajay Bahadur Pradhanang, President of Nepal Young Entrepreneur’s Forum (NYEF) and member of FNCCI recently spoke with The Corporate’s Angila Sharma, on issues surrounding latest political development and the promises it has for Nepal’s business community. Excerpts:

 

As a member of FNCCI, what is your opinion on political strikes? 

Agitation or conflict between political parties does not usually correspond or hold with what the common people think. The recent confrontation between the 33 political parties and the major parties was a huge setback for the nation. We are not going into the politics of what is being done, what is being said or thought. The point is that there has to be a solution for the political problems, agitations or conflicts through democratic means. We believe the best way to do it is through elections. And since the election has been concluded, I will believe it will provide platform where these kinds of conflicts can be resolved.  

 

Do you think political agenda of various political parties will actually bolster the economy?

One of the major changes this time in the elections has been that every political party has come up with their economic agenda. These are crucial for the growth of the private sector, for the prosperity of the nation. So, this is a big plus in this year’s election as highlighted in the manifestos of most of the political parties. I personally believe that every political party with economic agenda on its manifesto will definitely implement them if they come to power. With most of them prioritizing economic growth in their manifesto, I believe that this CA will provide political parties a common platform to materialize their promises to people.  

 

There are two political parties who have pledged not to organize strikes in their election manifesto. Will it actually be fruitful?

 The culture of strike has really impacted our society and economy in a negative way. People, a commoner or a political party leader, have realized this. People’s reaction during the recent strike called by the agitating 33 parties, reflected that people are annoyed with strike-culture. They could be so many other ways of protesting or registering discontentment, other than organizing strikes.Though most political parties are yet to make such commitments against such undemocratic practices, some have done it and that is appreciable. Every common man is tired of strikes and the political parties have to understand this as they represent the common man. If they fail to do so, next time the common man will also forget them while voting. I feel that political parties understand this and will gradually give up upholding culture of strike.

 

What does the FNCCI do towards compensating business losses during strike? 

As such, FNCCI can never compensate on the losses made during strikes. It is a totally different organization which is a platform where people go and work. People go for policy advocacy, networking and all these kind of things. But, regarding the losses made by strikes, the only thing that can be done is to stop strikes. The recent resistance shown by people during the strike called by the agitating political parties shows that people have become more resistive. This gives me feeling that strike-culture will be demoted in the days ahead. 

 

Do you work with any international bodies?

There are various organizations working for the development of the private sector. As such, like FNCCI, we have organizations like SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries which works into organizing private sectors or networking the private sectors within the South Asian region. Similarly, there is CACCI (Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry). There are bi-lateral agreements with many countries that help us linking with similar organizations.

 

Nepal is in its transitional phase. How will you attract international businesses to invest here?

I always admire the story of Onassis. Onassis was a Greek industrialist. After the Second World War, the shipping industry was in a dire state at that time. Onassis said that nobody would buy ships at that time because it was war time and thus, he bought a lot of ships. He bought it at a very low price because nobody thought it was a good business at that time. He had the vision that this industry would do good and so, bought all of those. Later, things improved after the Second World War and Onassis made fortunes out of the ships. He turned out to be a renowned industrialist. I really admire this story when we talk about Nepal now. With the numerous opportunities here, Nepal right now has got the scope for businesses as the cost of doing business is very low here. There are adamant opportunities here in comparison to countries that have already developed. In Nepal, because the environment is not conducive, the competitive nature is also not as such and the cost of business is also very low. So, that is the principle thing that business men could see over here.

 

What do you want to say to politicians and young entrepreneurs of Nepal?

For the political parties, I have only one thing to say: Think about the nation more than individual or partisan goals. They need to keep this thing in mind Nepal’s prosperity is essential for our prosperity. Where will we Nepali be, if there is no Nepal. For their own good, political parties should think for the nation’s good. For the entrepreneurs and everyone in Nepal I would like to say: As a nation we are in a very difficult position. So, all of us should think about contribution that we can make for the nation instead of working for individual or institutional benefit.