Justify the visit

The interaction among leaders of different political shades regarding the possible agenda for talks during the Prime Minister’s forthcoming visit to New Delhi with his Indian counterpart has a timely exercise that must not be lost on the ruling party. The Nepalese Prime Minister’s visit to New Delhi is obviously a long awaited occasion for the ruling Nepali Congress party though it may not mean much to others, especially if it fails to be low on delivery. At the interaction programme, political leaders were not far from the mark when they said that Nepalese prime ministers have generally been ill prepared during their India visits. This only underscores the need for a definite agenda in place of the "whole gamut" during official talks. Speaker after speaker pointed out the need for the Prime Minister to concentrate on two key issues, namely, water resources and security including the revision of the 1950 treaty. The border dispute, including the issue of immediate return of Kalapani to Nepal and India’s good offices for resolving the Bhutanese refugee problem are two other important areas where the Prime Minister can do much.

Nepal has become India’s whipping boy as far as security is concerned. India seems to conveniently forget that it has as much responsibility to prevent unwanted elements from entering India through Nepal as it has in preventing the same from other countries with which it has common border. The fact is that there are differences in the security perceptions of Nepal and India. These differences will remain because the two countries are independent sovereign nations. But this apart, the Prime Minister will have to raise the question of sharing of water resources and ask India to abstain from constructing dams and structures near the border that will have adverse impact on Nepal, as has been the case with the Laxmanpur dam.

Nepal’s vast hydroelectric potential remains untapped because of lack of power purchase agreement between the two neighbouring countries. Can the Prime Minister do anything about this in New Delhi? Equal sharing of the waters of common border rivers without any side taking recourse to "prior use" theory; and the need for the beneficiary country to pay for any additional water it may receive as a result of construction upstream are two other important issues. Unless the Prime Minister sets his agenda accordingly and prepares for the necessary discussions, no amount of aid flow from India, which once upon a time used to be Nepal’s number one donor, will really justify Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s visit--his first outing since he assumed office almost four months ago--down south. The Prime Minister, in short, must be able to justify his India visit.

The Summit Hotel, Kathmandu Population and poverty in Nepal

By Om Murty Vaidya

Nepal’s population is increasing every year at the rate of 2.1 percent in spite of efforts to slash it down. Rapid increase in population through the years should not be attributed to natural increase only. Since 1960, Nepal has been receiving refugees and in-migrants from neighbouring countries as well and this has aggravated the situation all the more. Debarring the influx of people from outside, the present natural increase adds 384 thousand new heads to the population each year. If this trend continues, the country will double its population within a period of 30 years. By the next census which will be held in the year 2001, the population will reach around 23 million. The present growth rate should be seen as too big for the country where the annual economic growth rate has remained somewhere around 2 to 3 percent since a decade.

Before 1960, population growth in Nepal was not considered to be such a grave concern as it is deemed today. The population during that period stood at less than half the present day number. With the passing of time, the population grew rather alarmingly and it has now become a national concern.

Nepal is a poor country with around 60 percent of its population living below the poverty line. At present it stands second in the list of least developed nations. Agriculture predominates in the economy, yet the country imports food grains from outside. Per capita income is estimated to be around US $200. The majority of the population are village dwellers. Transport and communication have yet to reach most villages. Other social services like education and health are not yet easily available in the villages. This is more so in mountainous and hilly regions where people who account for more than 53 percent of the population reside in 77 percent of the total area of the country.

Population growth is highest in the plains as compared to the hills and mountains clearly indicating the influx of outsiders and migration from hills and mountains.

Though agriculture is the main occupation, traditional methods still prevail widely. Only around 15 percent of the total cultivated land receives irrigation facilities, thus limiting the use of improved seeds and chemical fertilisers.

The picture of other sectors of the economy also does not look bright. Though second in hydropower in the world, the country up till now has been able to harness less than 0.5 percent of the total potential. Trade deficits are mounting every year, foreign grants and other loans bear the same fate. Industries and tourism suffer from political unrest time and again. The gap between rich and poor is widening and corruption is rampant.

At present, the country has two major problems--the rapidly growing population and the poverty of the people. In order to combat rapid population growth, family planning education and the devices should reach the people. Available figures and facts speak of vast areas still untouched by family planning activities. Official figures show 95 percent of the population are aware of family planning whereas only 30 percent use family planning devices. As long as couples have no access to devices, the population growth rate will come down only in paper.

Government agencies and many NGOs are also working in the population and family planning sector, but it is reported that their area coverage is limited mostly to urban, suburban areas. NGOs based in urban and suburban areas have only a handful of staff which is obviously insufficient for delivering services. Refugees and undeclared influx of people from across the border have been a serious threat in terms of rapid population growth. The open border has ever been a problem for both sides. The government has not been able to arrive at a decision to repatriate either refugees or migrants. The citizenship issue has time and again posed problems for the country.

Rich and developed nations have low growth rate and poor and under developed ones have higher growth suggesting close relationship between economic soundness and population growth. In Nepal’s case, the matter is not the other way round. Rapid population growth is the result of poverty. Poverty makes people physically and psychologically incapable of having access to family planning. In remote and rural areas people are poorer and the devices are distant from them. This calls for the alleviation of poverty.

Alleviation of poverty calls for strong political and economic commitment on the part of the government. Corruption must at all costs be curbed, foreign assistance and loans must be channelled in those areas only where majority of the population can receive employment and livelihood. These eventually help boost the economy thereby making the population economically sound.

Nepal should give complete thrust to agricultural development. In this sector, increase in irrigation facility alone would help increase production appreciably thereby resulting in more income for the majority of the population. That is, increase in employment both in agriculture and other sectors. This would help alleviate the poverty of Nepalese masses. The country’s experience with the traditional approach for lowering in the rate of population growth has met with little success. She can now try a different approach to bring down the growth rate and develop the economy. For this, the government should win public support.

What to be ?

By Ritesh Shrestha

In the middle of the night a man dressed in dirty Nepalese attire with a khukuri in his waist asked for a lift. The other man showed generosity by deciding to offer him a lift. However, as the man was getting into the jeep, the generous man started spitting out words of wisdom, which completely left the former confused and humiliated. Suddenly the tranquil spot was disturbed by a gunshot followed by a harsh statement - "you damn Maoist!"

I was shocked and instantly woke up from my dream, as the dead person was no one but myself. I couldn’t contemplate anything as I continued to rest on the pavement under the lamppost after a hectic day's work. As a light shower drove me towards my rented house, my brain sought connection between my dream and my life. Slowly I started to remember.

A friend of mine crazed with football due to the EURO 2000 decided to arrange a friendly match between two private companies. Before the game started, they expected to perform as well as the EURO standard but everybody knows this is easier than done. They were aggravated and the blame was hurled upon me as I was also expected to be like EURO umpire. My blood pressure pumped up and my ears couldn’t resist the compliment from the spectators but I still kept quiet knowing for sure of the boomerang effect. Judge it perfectly or not, an umpire’s name is always chocolate flavoured.

Right from the moment my eyes and mouth could communicate, I was always blessed with - babu timi thulo manchhe banchhau (you will become a great person). This always left me blissful. However, I felt cheated when the blessing started to seem like a curse later on. This is heart-pinching yet a truth.

I chose to study engineering in a governmental college, though my only wish in life was to become a doctor (being very poor and devoid of ministerial contacts, I could not fulfil my wish). My second choice, (not exactly mine) was to do modelling, as all of my intimates suggested it was the best track for me. However, a candidate has to be from the upper class, who cares about his looks?

Nowadays, most Nepalese have been lured towards politics, as one has high chances of being a millionaire overnight. I had thought about this, but was this possible if I didn’t possess the least elementary qualification of a typical Nepalese politician?

Joining the armed force is not a bad idea but our country doesn’t necessarily need it, except occasionally for rescue work. It’s foreign countries that use our force and we know very well, this group earns a hell let of money. And in turn their children enjoy a heavenly life.

As the country’s crime rate (like Maoism, daylight slaughter, robbery etc) has considerably increased, we definitely need highly skilled police force. However when the police are themselves corrupt and as I can’t fit into the gang, I am not that foolish enough to become a Kabab me haddi".

Though the general saying is, if you spit from the top of Dharahara, either it will land on the head of a stray dog or a civil engineer." I was attracted towards this field because the saturated city of Kathmandu badly needed skyscrapers, overhead roads and an efficient sewer system. Who else can do it better than civil engineers? It was not that the plight of jobless civil engineers did not haunt me every hour and second during my studies, however, I never regretted my choice. I had confidence that I would do something for the country. But I was stung dead when my expectations made a hundred and eight degrees turn.

Every politicians claims youth are nation builders. How true they are; I have just built a toilet!

Paradigm shift in marketing

By Aditya Baral

Most nations today--regardless of their level of economic development or their political philosophies, recognize the importance of marketing. Indeed, economic growth in developing nations depends greatly on the ability to design effective marketing systems for their raw materials and industrial output.

Two cross-cutting trends are coming together to challenge basic assumptions of how markets function and evolve. The first is the globalization of markets, which has long been part of the reality of most firms gathering strength. The second is the convergence of previously distinct industries and the consequent blurring of market boundaries. These two trends are also contributing to the consolidation of competitors in most industries and the disruption of previously stable power balances.

The continuing progression from a world of distinct and self contained national markets to one of linked global markets is being fuelled by persistent forces of homogenization of customer needs, gradual liberalization of trade and recognition of competitive advantages of global presence. But, the catalyst is technological change which enables global coordination within widely dispersed activities. The pressure for globalization drives the extension of technology into new applications (e-mail, internet, e-commerce).

In the global cobweb type economy, all countries have been forced to adopt liberal open-market philosophies albeit reluctantly in many areas of their strength. In the light of the liberal attitude manifested by the two so-called extreme rivals of the Cold War era, the firms of these two countries are sharing many platforms for manufacturing and marketing on joint venture basis. USA, until the late 1970s, was providing a large domestic market for American firms, and there was no significant foreign competition in most industries in that market. But the picture changed dramatically through the 1980s as foreign firms improved their products with marketing expertise and successfully entered the American market. Many imported products have thus been able to seize major chunk of the market share. As a consequence, today, United States has been running trade deficits.

Today, the economic scenario is changing with time. Even global players are constantly being chased and face myriads of threats from superb products or services and intelligent marketing. The trade pressures started reverting from Asia to Europe and America. The significant exertion mounted by the four "Asian tigers" (Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong) on American and European blocs are no doubt historical.

For the purpose of confronting competitive global market, the seven South Asian countries also formed a trading bloc, SAARC, with an aim to reinforce collective bargaining for mobilizing internal resources and resolving local barriers for forging ahead in tandem with the regional and global economy. Although member states realise the paramount importance of economic diplomacy, the noble wish of SAARC has been time and again, tottering in view of its objective within the realms of perpetual proxy war between member states. As a consequence, the seven nations have never been able to create conducive investment environment despite being endowed with abundance of natural resources. The potential investors or Multi National Companies (MNCs) for whom Third World Countries die hard these days are indeed hovering around, reckoning South Asia’s potential. However, persistent cross border backlash and diatribe and fickle policies are playing havoc in everyone’s mindset, leaving aside rare avenues to explore the most perishable resource—opportunity.

On the threshold of complying with stiff world trade regimes, the schism within SAARC is weakening the perception of big powers toward our strength areas. A small mountain-locked nation like ours has tremendous complexities even within the ambit of our expertise. Hence, time has come to capitalize on our skilled manpower for creating future knowledge reservoirs and internationalizing our national brands of strength (herbs, carpets, garments, handicraft, tourism) through collective efforts.

Global focus is directed toward skilled/knowledge powered human resource more than anything else— as a hard core input among the three—Men, Material and Machinery. The new millennium gifted the south with "Knowledged Men". Today it is the only distinctive identity that the South possesses to demarcate it from the North for securing its seat at the power centre. So far, the North has managed to block the South with its political clout. But the South has hoarded knowledge and today, only knowledge provides a global platform. This is the underlying basic reason why Americans are in dire need of young Indian Software technocrats to run their business. As a result, a major percentage of Silicon valley business is empowered by young Indians.

The explosion in the sphere of media can also be ascribed to software’s discovery. The Information, Communication and the Entertainment (ICE) revolution has almost cut short the ways for reaching the ultimate consumers. The pace of development in these fields has also prompted amendment of many marketing concepts. It has enabled many more companies to sell their products and services directly to customers without intermediaries. Companies are using all these media to make direct offers to existing customers and to identify new prospects. Direct marketing enables companies to target their offers and to measure their results more accurately.

Technology is eliminating the "Place" in market place and replacing it with market-spaces, which are network based global arenas in which needs are communicated, transactions occur, and value is extracted. These networks enable companies to provide 24-hour service as customer requests are transferred from one time zone to another, and customers in turn are increasingly able to source from anywhere in the world.

The extraordinary growth of direct marketing is the resulted mix of many ingredients. Market "demassification" has resulted in ever-increasing number of market niches with distinct preferences. Higher cost of driving, traffic congestion, parking headaches, lack of time, a shortage of retail sales help and queues at check out counters all favour home shopping which is convenient. Increasingly, business marketers have turned to direct mail and telemarketing in response to the high and increasing costs of reaching business markets through the sales force.

Therefore, erosion of the mass market is likely to accelerate from the combined effect of product, media, and channel proliferation and the introduction of mass customization and "sense and respond" strategies.

(The author is lecturer at the Central Department of Management, TU)