‘Non-intervention fosters private sector’

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KATHMANDU, Oct 1 – Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat has said that the government’s policy of non-intervention in the private sector has fostered the growth of the sector. The lesser the government intervention, the better results it produces, he said.

Speaking at the third Annual General Convention of the Society of Economic Journalists-Nepal (SEJON), he said, "During the last decade, after the restoration of the democracy, the Nepalese journalism has grown incredibly." And it is because the government has not intervened into the press, he added.

Dr Mahat further said, "A noticeable growth has been observed not only in the field of journalism, but every other field where the government intervention is less". The export of the country and the revenue collection have increased by more than 10 times during the last 12 years, he added.

At a time when the entire world is dominated by economic issues, the economic issues have not got enough coverage in the media in our country. He also suggested to present the economic issues in simpler and non-technical form, targeting the general readers.

However, the Finance Minister, as usual, expressed dissatisfaction over the mismanagement and ineffective monitoring system of the government.

Presenting a paper on "Role of Economic Journalists in Economic Development of Nepal", Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Executive Director at Nepal Rastra Bank, suggested economic journalists to focus mainly on governance.

He also said that economic journalists could play a vital role in opinion building for good policies and programmes, which will, to a greater extent, help in furthering the process of nation building.

Citing examples from different parts of the world, he also cautioned the media not to be lured by unethical temptations to maintain transparency among themselves. Stating that transparency is a crucial factor in the economic growth of any nation, he urged the press to be vigilant and to point out the shortfalls.

Suraj Baidya, the fourth Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), presenting a paper on Role of Economic Journalists in Private Sector Development said that the economic journalist must point out shortcomings and present measures to correct them. "They should reach to the root of issues and report authentically," he said.

Suresh Acharya, President of the Federation of Nepalese Journalist, presenting a paper Media Advancement and Future of Specialized Journalism in Nepal, expressed satisfaction over the tremendous growth of specialized journalism over the years. But, he showed dissatisfaction over the government’s role in the growth of the media.

Representatives from various donor communities and INGOs and government officials attended the programme. Gajendra Bista, President and Gopal Tiwari, Secretary General of SEJON also spoke on the occasion.

Sustainable development of tourism stressed

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KATHMANDU, Oct 1 – Top tourism entrepreneurs and experts gathered at a program have stressed that Nepal should now change its decades old tourism marketing strategy and should concentrate majority of its marketing efforts on the Indian and Chinese markets to achieve sustainable development of tourism in Nepal.

They also unanimously demanded that the government should take immediate and concrete steps to safeguard the entire tourism industry from a complete collapse. Among others, temporary scrap of the visa and other entry fees and launching of effective promotional programs are some of the efforts that government should undertake immediately, they said.

Addressing the Special General Meeting of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, Prithvi Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) informed the mass that the final agreement between Nepal and China on enlisting Nepal on China’s outbound destination list would be signed in the first week of November.

Last year, China had recognized Nepal as its ninth outbound destination for the Chinese tourists but the delay in signing the final agreement has been hindering the inflow of Chinese tourists.
Experts believe that after the signing of final agreement, Nepal could get a windfall in the form of Chinese tourists as over 10 million Chinese tourists visits abroad annually.

Highlighting the various activities of the NTB in promoting tourism industry, Pandey further said that the Board has initiated a mega campaign to project Nepal as the safest tourist destination of South Asia. "We have launched an effective international campaign to assure that Nepal is still a secure place to travel."

Narendra Bajracharya, President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) said that the hotel industry has been passing through the most difficult time. "More than 50 per cent of the hotel bookings have been cancelled and it is growing day by day, clearly indicating a gloomy future for the industry."

He also warned that the entire hotel industry would either be closed or there would be a massive layoff of employees from the industry, if the government fails to bring timely measures to curb the shrinking tourism industry.

Addressing the program, Shankar Koirala, Acting secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation and Tourism informed the gathering that the Ministry has initiated necessary homework to lift travel restriction for foreigners in 6 more districts of the Himalayan range. "This would definitely help in promoting tourism, particularly trekking business."

He further said that the government understands the existing problems of tourism industry and assured that it would make maximum efforts to fulfill the demands put forwarded by the industry.

Ashok Pokhrel, Chairman of PATA Nepal said that Nepali tourism industry is facing problems due to the internal as well as external causes. "The industry which already was shrinking due to worsening internal security received a major blow after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington." He urged to all concerned that they should be serious and united to formulate a long-term development strategy to revive the industry.