October 26: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has launched CNI Think Tank. Organising an event in the capital on October 25, the private sector body announced the formation of the group comprising of 15 prominent personalities from various walks of life. According to CNI, the newly formed Think Tank will be active in policy advocacy and providing the government and lawmakers with suggestions for formulating and implementing sound policies for the economic betterment of the country. The group has former Nepali Permanent Representative to the UN Prof Dr Sambhu Ram Simkhada as the Coordinator and Dr Shanker Prasad Sharma, Umakant Jha, Prof Dr Subas KC, Prof Dr Govinda Pokharel, Dr Bindu Lohani, Purushowattam Ojha, Krishna Gyawali, Kishore Thapa, Sureshman Shrestha, Prof Dr Meena Vaidhya Malla, Himalaya Thapa, Govinda Thapa and Dr Biswo Poudel are its members.

“We have talked a lot about politics. Now we need to start discourse on introduction and implementation of proper economic policies,” said CNI President Sharma announcing the formation of the Think Tank. “The group will start discussions on agendas regarding the prosperity of the country and exploration of economic potentials.” He mentioned that the main idea behind establishing the group is to help the government and policymakers to make the country a better place for investment. “The size of our economy has expanded over the years. However, our capacity to add value to the economy has decreased,” he said.