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Kathmandu Monday February 05, 2001 Magh 23, 2057.
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Govt liberal to foreign
investors: PM
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 4 - Prime Minister Girija
Prasad Koirala has said that more open and liberal situation to investors has been created
by the trade and foreign investment policy. Procedures under export/import regime have
been simplified and tariffs rates rationalized. So, the attempts to offer concession and
incentives, as much possible, to the foreign investors will continue, he said.
Inaugurating the Fifth South Asian Economic
Cooperation Conference on ‘Government-Private Sector Partnership: A Strategic
Alliance for 2010’ here today, Premier Koirala said SAARC Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (SCCI) has become a good platform to enhance intra-regional trade; leading to
increased production, investment and joint ventures.
"Government-private partnership has
become a thrust for development after the restoration of democracy in Nepal, and better
economic policies have seen the private sector as an engine to accelerate the economic,
social and the cultural development in the country", PM Koirala said.
Secretary General of South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Nihal Rodrigo said the strategic alliance between
government and private sector is related in many respects to the larger global impact.
But, the two sector are often seen as two exclusive, even adversarial groups with
different agenda, ethics and methods.
However, all South Asian governments have
indeed declared their commitment to accountability and transparency. They are committed to
carrying out their manifestoes and declared policies. The state has been moving away from
its all pervasive role of 50 years’ ago, he said.
The private sector’s stake in the economy
is getting more extensive. Poverty alleviation and rapid social upliftment requires a
multi-dimensional, sustained effort which is not possible from either the government or
the private sector alone, he said.
Although, the SCCI has contributed to the
SAARC position, a sustained interaction on a regular basis with trade and industry
representatives is not yet part of the national negotiating culture of South Asia, the
secretary general observed.
Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, President of
Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) said partnership should
not be confined to one government and the private sector. As international agreements and
negotiations made by the governments have direct impacts on business, the governments
should inform the private sector what they are planning to do at the international level,
he stressed.
The SCCI has been quite forceful in promoting
the idea of South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) and South Asian Free Trade
Area (SAFTA) and has been quite supportive of the idea of increased regional trade and
investment on a preferential basis, Shrestha said.
Qasim Ibrahim, President of SCCI said there
are a number of cross-sectoral issues relating to government-private sector partnership.
However, there is a broad agreement that government should specialize in planning,
structuring and regulation while the private sector should specialize in management,
investment, construction and financing.
Long-term domestic financing sources must be
developed and commercial risks should be assigned to the private sector but other risks
should be assigned according to which party is able to mitigate, he added.
Padma Jyoti, vice-president of SCCI said
government and the private sector should discuss critical issues and work out strategies
for making progress towards achieving economic goals. Strike, violence, intolerance seem
to be getting upperhand in our society and there is politicization of all sectors and
issues within and between countries. By propagating the theme of partnership, we are
trying to redress this shortcoming, he added.
The conference jointly organized by FNCCI and
SCCI is being participated in by business leaders from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
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