Govt to announce DNC events soon

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KATHMANDU, April 12 : After almost three and half months since the formal commencement of the much-touted Destination Nepal Campaign (DNC), a two-year tourism promotion campaign, the government is set to announce the programmes in the coming week.

Government officials say that the much-awaited programme would not focus just on increasing the number of tourists but would also focus on retaining the number of incoming tourists.

"The programmes and events of the campaign is almost prepared and the government would announce them within the next month," officials say.

"The campaign would focus on maintaining the inflow of tourists, developing tourism infrastructures and explore new tourism destinations," said Minister for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation Bal Bahadur KC, talking to The Kathmandu Post today.

Minister KC further said that the government is busy identifying some new tourism spots to attract foreigners. "We are preparing to present the Royal Sukla Phata Reserves, Ilam and Barun Valley as additional tourism destinations," he added.

The government is also preparing to felicitate all Mount Everest conquerors during the campaign period and also preparing to open new routes and explore new places as potential tourism destinations, he further stated.

The government through its annual budget for the current fiscal presented by Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat had announced to celebrate Destination Nepal year in 2002-03, which was later renamed as Destination Nepal Campaign.

The government had even earmarked a budget of Rs 30 million to organise the campaign, which was later reduced by 25 per cent in the wake of the imposition of a state of emergency in the nation.

In an attempt to attract foreigners, the government had announced promotional measures, including the waiver of restrictions imposed on trekking in six different districts. The government also simplified visa procedures and revised visa fees.

With the same motive, the government opened more than 100 peaks for trekking and mountaineering. The government even waived the provision to include liaison officers while trekking in different parts of the country.

Minister KC said that though the tourism industry is the only industry with the highest comparative advantage among the neighbouring countries, it has not received adequate importance from politicians and experts.

He also showed his dissatisfaction over the current bureaucratic complications that have affected the cabinet decisions to reduce the visa fees, scraping liaison officers and opening new trekking routes.

Despite the cabinet’s decision to revise the visa fees and waive restrictions in trekking routes, the government is yet to implement the decisions.

The government is also attempting to formulate a comprehensive tourism plan. And for the purpose the government had invited experts from World Tourism Organisation to formulate the Tourism Master Plan. John Enright, a consultant from the WTO, was in the capital in last December to provide technical assistance to prepare the new document.

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, Enright had said that Nepali tourism products are good but proper planning is necessary for guiding the industry on to a good track.

Gold price surges again

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KATHMANDU, April 12 : Spurred on by an increase in the demand of gold coupled by its low supply, gold price in the domestic market zoomed further today, touching yet another highest mark in the last five year period.

The domestic gold price, which was hovering at around Rs 7,890 per ten gram since last couple of days, surged to touch Rs 7,920 per ten-gram yesterday, increasing today to Rs 7950 per ten gram, recording an increment of Rs 60 within two days.

The highest gold price observed during the last five years was Rs 7970 in November 1996. An all time high price of the gold in the domestic market was witnessed on 8 February 1996, when the market touched Rs 9,040 per ten gram.

However, unlike the past trend when the domestic market gold price used to maintain a positive and sensitive relationship with the international gold price, the domestic gold price surged despite decline in the international price level.

The international price to day slightly slipped to US$ 301.65 per troy ounce from US$ 301.70 recorded yesterday. Such price during last month has jumped to as high as US$ 305 per troy ounce. An increase of a dollar in gold price in the international market would lead to increase of Rs 20 in a ten-gram on the domestic market.

Concerned traders blame low supply and slightly improved demand for the hike in domestic gold price. "In the past supply as well as demand were at the lowest ebb but the demand, in recent days has slightly increased without change in supply and that fueled the price in domestic market to rise," says Taj Ranta Shakya, said President of Nepal Gold-Silver Dealers Association.

The present demand for gold is over 50 per cent lower than last year. However, traders are upbeat by the recent improvement in domestic gold – thanks to the upcoming marriage season during which the gold demand shoots up.

"We have witnessed a slight surge in the local gold demand as the marriage season is inching nearer," said Niranjan Shakya, former president of Nepal gold-Silver Dealers Association.

Gold traders say that the continued poor performance of the global stock market and lingering poor performance of the Japanese economy, world’s second largest economy after the US, are the major reasons behind the continued high gold demand-led-price surge around the world. As a result, investors are still pouring on in financing on gold as the best and reliable alternative investment sector.

Rural flights subsidy approved

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KATHMANDU, April 12 : Ministry of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation, in accordance to the Civil Aviation Regulations 2002, has approved the procedure of compensating losses to domestic airlines while operating in the rural areas.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry, the fund would comprise of US$ 4, collected from each mountain flight passenger, two dollars from other passengers, and two percent of the earnings from the charter flights of all domestic airlines.

Government while revising domestic airfare last January had directed the domestic airliners to allow 25 per cent discount to local passengers and further 25 per cent to the passengers flying to the remote areas.

The government through the same decision had committed to establish a special fund to compensate losses while flying to remote areas.

According to the release, the subsidy would be provided on flights to Thamkharka, Bhojpur, Tumlingtar, Lamidada, Rumjatar, and Phaplu from Biratnagar Airport.

Likewise the subsidy would also be provided in the Pokhara-Manang route, and flights from Nepalgunj to Chorjhari, Dolpa, Bajhang, Bajura, Simikot, Jumla, and Salle. The flights from Dhangadi to Bhajhang and Bajura and from Surkhet to Jumla would also receive the subsidies.

The release further states that the new regulation has provisioned a minimum of 20 per cent seats of the flights in tourists sectors for the domestic passengers.

MoU on Information Superhighway signed

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KATHMANDU, April 12 : Nepal and India today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on setting up Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network along the East-West Highway, which is expected to bring a revolution in the development of information and communication technology (ICT) of the kingdom.

Optical Fibre can transmit voice and data at a far greater speed and volume, more efficiently than the copper wire that is currently being used for telecom services. Optical Fibre also has the capacity to meet unprecedented demand and is expected to bring revolution in information and communication technology (ICT).

Indian Ambassador to Nepal I P Singh and Finance Secretary Dr Bimal Koirala signed the MoU at the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Indian Government and His Majesty’s Government of Nepal respectively.

The setting up of the OFC would make an 891-km long Information Superhighway, which would not only ease the expansion of telecommunications services in the country, but would also contribute significantly to cater to the growing demand for voice, data and video requirement.

The Government of India is providing a grant assistance of NRs 1.344 billion for the project estimated to be completed within two years. Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), a state-run telecom operator of India, and Nepal Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) will jointly work on the project.

A K Sharma, Group General Manager of TCIL, talking to The Kathmandu Post, said that the project would be commenced as soon as the Nepal government gives a go-ahead. He said that an additional pipe would also be laid to meet the future demand of the service.

He said that the TCIL, established more than two decades ago, has set up Optical Fibre in 51 countries in the world, including the UK, USA, Australia Germany and the Netherlands.

The Information Superhighway stretching from Bhadrapur in eastern Nepal to Nepalgunj in the Mid-Western Nepal would connect 79 important townships through 24 core Optical Fibre armoured cable to be laid through HDPE duct using Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) equipment, which ensures high quality and reliable service.

Following the signing of the MoU, Raghubar Lal Shrestha, General Manager of the NTC, said that completion of the project would greatly help in the expansion and enhancement of the quality of telecom services in the country and pave the way for the development of IT-related services simultaneously as well.

NTC, the state-controlled monopoly in the telecom services, has not been able to meet the soaring demand for telephone connections of the customers and leased circuits of the Internet service providers (ISPs), especially outside the Kathmandu valley due mainly to a lack of infrastructure.

Since the Information Superhighway passes through the plains of the country with emerging townships, it will serve as a backbone to meet the future requirement of the services.

After the completion of the project, we will be in a position to distribute the required lease circuits and telephone connections outside the valley where the demand for the services is rising with the growing population, Shrestha added.

The project will in keeping with the projection of the Tenth Five Year Plan, makes use of 1,890 telephone circuits at the lowest level and 30,240 circuits at the higher end, which could further be upgraded to 120, 960 circuits maximally.

A press handout distributed by the NTC at the signing ceremony states that the operation of the yet-to-be-built Information Superhighway would also help NTC in competing with other private operators in future.

India has been assisting in the development of telecom services in the country since 1950 with the establishment of radiotelephone link between Kathmandu and New Delhi. And the present one would be a landmark in the history of telecom service infrastructure of Nepal.