Management hand-over of RBB, NBL may take 6 months

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KATHMANDU, Nov 1 - The final number of companies vying to compete for management contract of Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) and Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) reached 42, excluding duplication, as the official deadline for application ended mid-night Tuesday.

Nepal Rastra Bank source informed The Kathmandu Post that an initial screening committee would short list the applications within a week and then the final proposals would be invited. "The final proposal would include detail modus operandi and management fee," said the source.

The short-listed companies will be given a period of three months to submit the final proposal. A selection committee comprising of NRB officials, and governemnt representatives will award the contract, possibly, within six-months, said the source. However, such award will be subject to final review by the World Bank, which has extended financial assistance for management hand-over.

Banking sector professionals say, among the competitors, five world bank panellist consultant groups_ KPMG Barnet, Arthen Anderson, Deloette H Tauch, Price Water Rice Cupers and Earnest and Young International_and their local associates are the strong contenders to win the contract.

The management contract of the banks will be initially for two years. The management team will be responsible for; taking complete control of day to day running of the banks, providing immediate help to stabilize the banks operations and restore their financial health to an acceptable level, working in close cooperation with a locally recruited accountancy team (recruited as part of these management contracts) to develop and strengthen the accounting capacity of the banks, developing a comprehensive human resource policy for the banks and designing and implementing an information technology plan for the banks.

Coupon distribution in valley incomplete

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KATHMANDU, Nov 1 - Despite government assurances to effectively distribute subsidized kerosene through the card system, consumers from various wards and municipalities are lamenting over the government laxity in distributing the required coupons.

Of the municipalities facing problems in the distribution of the coupons, Kathmandu and Lalitpur municipalities come to the forefront. Distribution of subsidized kerosene in other municipalities of the Kathmandu valley, namely Bhaktapur, Madhyapur and Kirtipur, have, however, started, informed officials at Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).

NOC had sent 140 thousand coupons to the Kathmandu District Administration Office (DAO) for Kathmandu district, out of which 80 thousand coupons have been given to the Kathmandu minicipality alone, said Tulsi Prasad Bhattarai, Chief District Officer (CDO) of the Kathmandu district.

However, the Kathmandu municipality, at the inconvinience of consumers, so far has not distributed the coupons. "Ward representatives are interested to distribute the coupons at the earliest. However, problems arising in the distribution of cards in the municipality office has refrained them from start distribution at once," said a high level official at the municipality.

Ward representatives claim that unavailability of data relating to the number of families living in rent and number of students from other districts who are in Kathmandu for academic purposes has posed problems in determining the exact number of coupons required.

"Consumers are pressing us to distribute the coupons for kerosene at the earliest," they said.

As per the new arrangements announced by the government recently, students residing in a mess system as tenants in the Kathmandu valley is eligible for obtaining coupons for subsidized kerosene at the recommendation of their campus chief they are studying in. In addition, mess group of five prisoners are also eligible for using subsidized kerosene, for which they need to obtain recommendation of the concerned jailor.

NOC has informed that over 3.5 million coupons have already been distributed in most parts of the nations through the DAOs.

RNAC starts flights to Bangalore

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KATHMANDU, Nov 1 - Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC), the national flag carrier, had its maiden flight to Bangalore with 167 passengers on board.

Commenting on the first flight to Bangalore, D P Sharma, Director of RNAC at the Airport office, expressed hope that the new initiation of the corporation would help to expand economic activities between Nepal and India. Sharma also said that it would especially help to promote tourism between the two countries.

RNAC is scheduled to fly to Bangalore twice a week - Sundays and Wednesdays - beginning from November 1.

Sharma said that the new flight would, to a great extent, help bring in more tourists from Bangalore. RNAC also flies to Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay. Presently, it operates 17 flights in a week.

Meanwhile, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), issuing a press release today, stated that with the inauguration of new flights to Bangalore, trade and business activities between the two countries would be further enhanced.

Out of the 167 passengers on board in the maiden flight, a group of 35 invitees were from industry and tourism sector along with Minister for Finance and Defence Mahesh Acharya and Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Tarini Dutta Chataut.

NTB participates in Tour Salon 2000

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KATHMANDU, Nov 1 - Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) participated in Tour Salon 2000 - International Exhibition of Tourism, held in Poznan, Poland from October 19 -22, 2000.

According to a press release issued here today, Tour Salon is the largest of all fair events in Poland. NTB's participation at the fair was aimed at promoting Nepal's tourism image in the emerging potential outbound market of Poland.

The fair was participated in by a total of 607 exhibitors from across the globe, out of which 375 were Polish and 232 foreign. NTB was among the 21 exhibitors who participated in the fair with their official national presentation. The first two days of the fair were open to travel trade visitors only while the last two days was for the general public. Apart from inbound and outbound tourism promotion, the exhibition also featured infrastructure, such as hotels, resorts, health spas etc. This combination of events in the fair reflects the vision of the organizers, who wish to present in Poznan a comprehensive offer of the leisure time fair, involving not only tourism as such, but also sports and tourism equipment, the release states.

The event was attended by agencies for promotion of tourism, chambers of tourism, carriers and insurance companies. The scope of the fair also included sports and tourism equipment, tourism network and software, along with tourism publications.

The fair was an opportunity for Nepal to making good business contacts among the tourism entreprepreneurs of Nepal, Poland and also other countries, says the release.

Polish outbound tourism market promises a dynamic potential in the light of Poland's changed socio-political system, which is resulting in growing affluence of the Polish people towards Nepal, the release concludes.