Businessmen plead to call off bandh

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KATHMANDU, May 13 - Businessmen and entrepreneurs have requested the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) not to stage Nepal bandh (general strike), to make efforts to amend the Labour Act and to create an environment conducive to investment.

The participants at an interaction on pre-budget agenda, organized by the Central Planning and Monitoring Department of the CPN-UML at its party office, expressed their views here Sunday.

Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), requested the Party not to call bandh as it blows hard to the industrial sector.

Rajesh Kaji Shrestha, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) echoing the FNCCI chief suggested to go for a symbolic bandh or to find its alternative for their protest program. "If one has the right to call bandh, we also have the right to open our business, but who listens to our voice?" questioned Shrestha.

Tourism entrepreneur Shyam Bahadur Pandey warned that the announced bandh will further worsen the tourism industry.

The participants were referring to the call for 3-day Nepal bandh starting May 27 as announced by the CPN-UML along other five left parties as a part of their protest program demanding resignation of the prime minister.

However, CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said that they have called the bandh out of compulsion. "We also don’t want toclose down the entire nation for three days, but it is our compulsion. You just remove a person from power, there will be new horizon of opportunity," he said without referring the name of the prime minister.

Most of the entrepreneurs blamed all the political parties for their failure to create an environment conducive to investment due to a lack of clear policies regarding investment. "Therefore, the UML should make effort to favourable environment for investment in the forthcoming budget," said the FNCCI chief.

First Vice-President of FNCCI Ravi Bhakta Shrestha said that investors are not in a condition to invest in a deteriorating law and order situation.

Jagadish Lal Agrawal of Revenue Committee of the FNCCI, said that demand for consumer goods is declining in the market, new investments are not coming and the existing industries are ailing.

Entrepreneurs also suggested all political parties to unanimously raise economic agenda in the parliament, instead of concentrating only on political issues.

Former FNCCI Chief Mahesh Lal Agrawal went to the extent of saying that if the economic agenda are overshadowed by the political ones, one day businessmen will be compelled to open their own party.

Speaking on the same occasion, entrepreneur Rajendra Kumar Khetan said that employees are troubling the industrialists and suggested to give the employers rights to hire and fire employees who employ certain number of workers.

The participants also suggested to include the agenda of financial sector reform, reform in tax administration and controlling corruption in the forthcoming budget.

Former Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari said that it is high time we evaluated the past performances. "We have made some mistakes in the past and we should correct them," he added.

Businessmen bribe political leaders: Nepal

KATHMANDU, May 13 (PR) - CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal requested the business community not to encourage the people in power to be involved in corruption. It is the businessmen who bribe the political leaders, he said.

He also said that corruption is a cancer to development and his party was ready to amend the constitution to curb corruption. Though our party is committed to implement market economy, it believes that the state should have a role on it.

"The UML has a clear policy that the nascent industry should be protected and we do not implement liberalization, privatization and globalization (LPG) blindly," Nepal said, adding, "we have to select the model that fits us."

Opposing the decision of giving management contract of two commercial banks to foreign party, the General Secretary Nepal said handing it over to foreigners will not solve the problem. The government policy is also responsible for bad debts of the banks, he added.

Finance companies deceiving public: experts

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KATHMANDU, May 13 - Most of the finance companies have the tendency of earning profit in a short time not by issuing public shares for a long period after their operation. The finance promoters and executives lack required qualification, which has plagued the financial sectors, said Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) officials.

The officials expressed the views at a seminar on Role of Corporate Governance in Finance Company Operation organized by the Non-banking Inspection and Supervision Department of the central bank here Sunday.

They said that finance companies are not following the Company Act, which has resulted in opaque activities of the companies. Absence of public representatives to the board of directors has resulted in the lack of control and balance.

Presenting a joint paper, Director of Non-banking Inspection and Supervision Department Bhola Ram Shrestha and Deputy Director of Non-banking Department Basu Dev Acharya said that lending without proper decision which is against the interest of the depositors and high overhead are some of the anomalies prevalent in the sector.

Upendra Poudel of Nepal Merchant Banking and Finance Limited, presenting a paper, stated that finance companies have to be transparent for financial reform. In order to avert possible financial crisis and economic irregularities, corporate governance is but inevitable, he added.

Deputy Governor Ram Babu Pant said that corporate governance plays an important role in enhancing the image of the finance companies. If they do not act according to the rules and regulations, the licence to open an institution will be a licence to steal public money. He also said that the central bank has amended Nepal Rastra Bank Act and submitted it to the parliament for approval.

Deputy Governor Vijaya Nath Bhattarai said that finance companies have not issued their public shares and get their accounts audited in time. Due to the liberal economic policy adopted by the government, the number of commercial banks and finance companies are growing in a large scale and it has been difficult for the central bank to monitor them, he added.

Seminar on budget formulation process held

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KATHMANDU, May 13 - Citizens Poverty Watch Forum (CPWF) and Nepal Participatory Activities Group (NEPAG) jointly organized a one-day seminar on ‘Budget Formulation Process in Nepal: How Much Pro-Poor and Participatory’ in the Capital Saturday.

The seminar aimed at providing inputs into the upcoming budget for the next fiscal year. The main objective was to make the budget formulation process more participatory so that the budget can be made more pro-poor for attaining the poverty alleviation targets set by the Ninth Five-Year Plan.

Speaking on the occasion, Bal Gopal Baidhya, former member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), said that the national budget is usually one-sided, since it is formulated at the central level. "Many projects in the budget are passed under pressure of politicians rather than on a participatory manner," he said.

Similarly, Dr Bhola Chalise, former government officer, said that there is a need to enhance the participation of the poor to make the budget more objective. "Planning at the central level only promotes corruption," he said.

On the same occasion, Dr Dwarika Dhungel, another former government officer, said that the government has implemented lots of programs and the donors to uplift the poor, but significant results have yet to be obtained. "Past budgets so far have not addressed the issue of poverty alleviation as they deserve," he said.