Central Bank threatens stern action against DTT

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KATHMANDU, March 13 : In a bold step against Delloitte Touche Tomatsu (DTT) for its continuing non-response to initiate formal dialogue to settle the compensation claim, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has warned of initiating stringent legal actions if DTT does not respond by April 12, 2003.

A highly placed source of the NRB informed The Kathmandu Post that the central bank sent a letter to the DTT last week urging it to make a concrete response by April 12.

"If the DTT ignores the deadline, the NRB will have no option other than to go for arbitration to realise the claimed compensation amount," the source said.

In addition to initiating arbitration process, he further said that the central bank would also take steps to blacklist the DTT, which among others, would bar any company associated with the DTT to operate inside the country.

"If the NRB decides to blacklist the DTT, such decision would be circulated to all major donor agencies including the World Bank and would also be pasted in the NRB’s web site," he informed.

After the DTT’s unilateral breach of the management take-over contract of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), the NRB, in January sent a letter to the DTT claiming a compensation of about Rs 500 million for the financial loss that the central bank incurred.

The NRB had asked the DTT to either compensate the contract value signed between them or substitution value that the NRB has to bear while constituting a new management team for the RBB.

However, in its first official response to the compensation claim of the NRB, the DTT had refused to pay the compensation, but had urged the NRB to initiate negotiations to find out an amicable solution to the problem.

In response to the call of the DTT for dialogue, the NRB in February had expressed its readiness for the dialogue and had asked the former to respond immediately specifying the venue and date of negotiations.

According to concerned officials, despite the readiness of both the DTT and the NRB to initiate negotiations for an agreeable solution of the problem, the continuing venue dispute has been the greatest hurdle in furthering the process. The NRB has been maintaining that Kathmandu should be the venue for the negotiation.

The DTT, in its earlier communication with the NRB had refused to come here citing fragile law and order situation of the country. The NRB has argued that since various international seminars and conferences are being held in Kathmandu, the security situation of the country is good enough for negotiations, said the source.

As per the agreement, in case of arising any complications, both the parties are first required to initiate negotiations for amicable solution to the dispute. If that fails, then both parties shall go for arbitration. Either party can go to court, if the arbitration fails to satisfy them.

The DTT, which had signed a contract with the NRB in January last year to take over management control of the RBB, unilaterally breached the contract some seven months ago on the grounds of weak security condition of the country.

The NRB has claimed that the action led to a huge loss due to DTT’s initial delay and eventual cancellation of the management take-over contract.

According to a report, the RBB alone had to bear a loss of about Rs 10 million a day due to the unnecessary delay in the process. The breach of trust by the DTT also played a crucial role in weakening the financial condition of the bank due to which the non-performing assets climbed to 48 per cent.

Govt to introduce new guide to lure foreign investors

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KATHMANDU, March 13 : In the latest attempt to curb dwindling foreign investments into the country and to make it attractive for the aspirant foreign investors by providing various new facilities and concessions, the government has initiated in-depth homework to formulate an investment guide.

Speaking at a programme on "Exporting to India: Prospects and Challenges" organised jointly by Trade Promotion Center (TPC) and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) today, Laba Kumar Devkota, secretary of Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) said that the upcoming guide will make Nepal a more lucrative investment venue.

"The guide, which will incorporate foreign investment friendly policies and provisions along with the required strategies, will be finalised soon," Secretary Devkota informed the gathering.

Inaugurating the workshop Jagat Bahadur Gurung, Assistant Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies stressed that the export should positively impact the economic activities in rural Nepal as well. "This is important to secure poverty reduction along with restoration of peace," he added.

While the TPC executive director Naresh Chandra Lamichhane expressed concern over widening trade deficit with India, Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada, member of the National Planning Commission (NPC) viewed that the deficit, which is still at manageable limit, is not problematic.

Khatiwada, however, cautioned that the country might face great challenges in trade with India in the days to come. "The Indian currency has depleted by about 4 per cent in a year and this might affect the import capacity of the country from India," he said.

He also stressed on the need to attracting more Indian investment and maintaining the balance of payment and making current account favourable to deal with the problem. "Also the time has come to review how the current foreign exchange regime has served Nepal’s trade with India," said Dr Khatiwada.

At the same time, he called for synchronization of trade facilitation measures and elimination of trade distortion policies for fair and favourable bilateral trade.

"The higher Indian growth rate has inspired Nepal. But it should also help Nepal in its economic advancement," he said. He was referring to India’s potential as a capital exporting country and booming market.

Stating that poverty crosses border when problem in the adjoining country swells, he said that Nepal and India should work together for growth and poverty reduction.

Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Shyam Saran viewed that Nepal is yet to tap its potential to exploit the Indian market and Indian capital. "The areas of comparative advantages, primarily the service sector, is where Nepal should turn to," he said.

Citing example, he said that Nepal is yet to attract Indian tourists to a desired level, diversify its products in areas like floriculture and horticulture. He also said that Nepal has failed to make use of the technology available next door at economic rates.

Moreover, he was also quick to add that weak duty drawback system and lack of security of intellectual property, among others, have been compelling the Indian investors to hold back while investing in Nepal.

He also stressed for a need to finalise the bilateral investment protection agreement (BIPA) to attract Indian investment. "Materialisation of the BIPA would strengthen the sense of security among Indian investors," he said.

However, Binod Bahadur Shrestha, acting president of the FNCCI, urged India not to impose non-tariff barriers to Nepali products. He was referring to problems like quality and standard of the Nepali exports. "Quarantine certification is another major problem which has been affecting the Nepali agriculture exports," he added.

Nepali team to visit S Korea to settle job row

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KATHMANDU, March 13 : Following a growing fear that South Korea might revoke the recent employment offer for over four thousand Nepali youths, the government has decided to make a visit to South Korea to avoid possible revocation of the offer.

"The government has decided to go to South Korea to explore employment opportunities and to request the South Korean employers that Nepal should not be deprived of any employment opportunity," said a highly placed source at the of the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management.

The government’s decision to visit South Korea has come in the wake of growing dispute between Nepal United Association of Manpower Entrepreneurs (NUAME) and the government, on who should be the final supplier of Nepali manpower to South Korea, after an association offered job for over 4,200 Nepali youths recently.

The Nepali team, which is scheduled to leave for Korea during the first week of April, will be led by Lalit Bahadur Thapa, Director General of Department of Labour and Employment Promotion (DoLEP). The other members of the delegation has not been announced yet.

The NUAME had expressed its serious concerns over the government’s recommendation module when Korean Federation of Small and Medium Business (KFSMB) requested to authorise one agency to supply Nepali manpower.

While the government claims to have recommended five Nepali manpower agencies to supplying manpower to South Korea, the NUAME on the other hand has been demanding with the government to delegate power to them as they are the sole association of entire foreign employment agencies.

"The dispute seems to have sent wrong message to South Korean employers due to which they are lingering to approve the quota of over 4,200 Nepali workers for employment," added the source. "The ministry, therefore has decided to request the South Korean employer to decide on the recent employment offer during the visit."

Talking to The Kathmandu Post, Thapa said that besides requesting the KFSMB for an immediate decision on delegating authority for supplying Nepali manpower, the team would also explore other employment opportunities in South Korea. "We are planning to visit with other big employers as well to identify more such lucrative opportunities for our people," added Thapa.

The team, according to Thapa, has also planned to visit senior officials of the South Korean Government in a bid to ensure more reserved employment options to Nepali citizens.

The goodwill visit by the government has been planned in line with the present government’s policy of promoting foreign employment. According to an independent estimate, over Rs 74 billion flows into the country in remittance.

‘Develop human resource to strengthen organisation’

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KATHMANDU, March 13 : When the world business is breaking the myths and shifting the paradigm, the value of human resources is increasing and thus it needs to be developed so that its role can be vital in formulation of vision and strategy of any organisation.

Chandrasekhar Pingali, Regional Head of Human Resource of the Standard Chartered Bank expressed such views during his key presentation on Human Resource – Best Practices and Challenges, organised by Standard Chartered Bank here today.

During his presentation, Pingali pointed out that creating changes, developing leaders, promoting learning organisation, centre on customer, maximising services and performance are some of the success predictors of human resources. "The failure predictors of human resource are non-promotional of changes, non-emphasis on values, and annoyance of customers, among others," he added.

The workshop was designed to provide a forum for interaction on pertinent issues in the area of human resource management that are important to all types of industry regardless of the services type. People from banking and non-banking sector participated in the programme.

The Standard Chartered Bank is celebrating its 150 years of worldwide establishment and 15 years of service in Nepal. It is the leading international bank in Sub-Saharan Africa, operating in several countries, the most prominent being Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Ghana. The bank serves the consumers and wholesale-banking customers. It employs almost 28,000 people in over 500 offices.

Birgunj Customs Office expedites clearance process

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BIRGUNJ, March 13 : Birgunj Customs Office has strictly implemented new directive, which requires customs clearance of incoming consignment to be made within two hours of submission of necessary documents.

"Our mission is to clear consignment within two hours," said Bodh Raj Niraula, chief of Birgunj Customs Office who issued the directives. "The employees who fail to meet the clearance deadline will now need to submit written explanation for the delay," he added.

According to Niraula, clearance of similar types of consignments would be made within half an hour. "In case of different types of consignments, clearance require more time. Hence, two hours time is fixed," he added.

Prior to the implementation of the directives, clearance of one consignment used to take nearly a day, according to clearance agents. Minor mistakes used to prolong the clearance process for a week, they added.

"Now, the officials themselves have started to confirm the minor details and the clearance process has become fast and easy," said Pradeep Upadhyaya, a clearance agent.

Likewise, employees have been directed to wear uniform and discouraged to levy charges for issuing customs clearance. Such a direction is aimed at simplifying and regularising the customs proceedings, he claimed. Earlier, collecting fees for the customs clearance was common.

"Mostly the lower level customs employees used to busy themselves collecting such charges," said Kashi Raj Upadhyaya, President of Customs Service Federation, an apex body of customs clearance agents.

Customs officials said that such reform was necessary to regain the image of the revenue officials. "If the revenue employees did not improve their practice, they would find difficulty in dealing with the people," said Niraula, adding that the employees have taken the directives positively.

Even the customs clearance agents have hailed the latest changes seen in the customs office and in the behaviour of the customs officials. The signs of improvement has been seen in the customs, said Upadhyaya.

"Continuation of this reform would definitely increase the revenue mobilisation. This will also help customs officials in regaining lost image," he added.

Apart from the uniform, now all 175 revenue employees including 8 officers wear their identity cards during office hours. And this has been said to facilitate the businessmen a lot.

"The use of identity card has made it easier for the people to identify revenue employees and helped smoothen the overall clearance process," said Satya Narayan Kayal, a businessman.

Furthermore, the work of the customs office has been divided into six divisions. Each division is headed by a section officer. Information regarding the name and responsibility of given officials have been displayed at various places of the office premises which are easily noticeable.

The office has also modified the customs clearance handling method. Unlike the previous practice, now the customs clearance is issued after the documentation is approved by three officials. Earlier, single revenue employee used to oversee the clearance process.

Arguing that such an involvement of a single employee throughout the clearance process increased chances of corruption, Niraula said that new provision is expected to curb corruption. Also, different officers have been assigned for job description, evaluation and inspection.

However, Satya Narayan Agrawal, President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) said that the discretionary power of revenue officers still remained unchecked. Such discretion is usually seen in the case of rarely imported goods, he said.

He argued that the customs officials should recognise the original bill submitted by the businessmen. "If that is not convincing, then the price could be checked through Internet," he argued.

Farmers face imminent threats: Experts

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New Delhi, India, March 13 : Farmers of the developing and the least developed countries (LDCs) face imminent danger of infringement on their rights if the respective states do not take proper measures to counter the adversities that globalisation has brought about.

And the infringement is made by the pro-rich agreements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that contain provisions which disregard the interests of small and marginalised farmers, especially that of the underdeveloped and developing economies.

Experts say the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has come as the greatest challenge to the farmers of the Hindukush region, which extends from Afghanistan to Myanmar, and includes Nepal and India, among others.

They were speaking at a workshop organised jointly by the India-based Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), Nepal.

Unless the respective governments take proactive and pre-emptive measures to thwart the negative consequences of the WTO agreements, poor farmers will be thrown out to the mercy of the economics of demand and supply, experts pointed.

While the contribution of the agricultural sector to the Gross Domestic Product in Nepal stands at around 40 per cent, the same ratio in India stands at 26 percent. The share of the agro-sector in other South Asian economies is not less important. In Nepal, over 80 percent of the population depend on agriculture for sustenance.

The apprehension of experts arises particularly as a result of one of the provisions under the TRIPS agreement, which allows multinational companies to patent seed varieties, among others, and prevents farmers from saving, reusing, selling or exchanging branded seeds.

Dr Ghayur Alam, Director at Centre for Sustainable Development, India, said, "If farmers are not given the right to save, reuse and exchange all kinds of seeds, then certainly such an arrangement would be tremendously disadvantageous."

The workshop was held as a parallel session to a three-day international partnership conclave on ‘Governance and its Relationship with Poverty Reduction’ that began on Wednesday. The conclave is being organised to mark the twentieth anniversary of CUTS.

Experts during the workshop pointed out that farmers in the WTO regime can gain only if breeders share their ‘benefits’ with them. All who had taken part in the workshop approved this view.

Dr Nabin Sen, Professor at the University of Calcutta, said that the mountain farmers are more vulnerable than their brethren in the plains. "The vulnerability of the mountain farming community is because of their geographical location, and lack of effective access to inputs, technology and markets," he said.

Dr Ashish Ghosh, Director at Centre for Environment and Development, said that India has recently drafted a ‘Biodiversity Protection Bill’ that has the core aim of protecting India’s biodiversity and promoting the Indian farmers in the face of WTO agreements.

However, he said, "The bill that took ten years to be prepared still fails to completely protect the rights of local communities over their biological resources, crop varieties, knowledge and indigenous technologies". This explains why developing countries and LDCs, such as Nepal, need to prepare to protect domestic farmers.

Experts clarified that there is a big push being made by the developed countries to impose their standards for the protection of plant variety on the developing and the least developed economies.

"The International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV) model only serves the interest of the multinational commercial breeders at the victimisation of our farmers," said Ratnakar Adhikari, Executive Director at SAWTEE.

To provide relief to the farmers, experts deliberated on the concepts of ‘Farmer Insurance Scheme’, ‘Village-based Seed Banks’ and ‘Community Biodiversity Register’, among others.

Destination Manang 2004 to be observed

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KATHMANDU, March 13 : The year 2004 will be observed as "Destination Manang 2004" at the initiative of Manang Youth Society (MYS) and with support from Trekking Agents’ Association of Nepal (TAAN). The MYS and TAAN began the formal promotion campaign of the event here today.

During the programme, the official web site www.destinationmanang.com and other promotional videos, CDs and calendars were also released.

Opening the programme, TAAN General Secretary Phurba G. Sherpa pledged full support of the association to the programme and expressed hope that the programme would help in uplifting the ailing tourism sector.

TAAN president Suman Pandey said that they would also appeal to the Indian and Nepali Hindu niche groups to visit Manang.

Trekking to Nar and Phu, two antiquated villages opened to foreign tourists from March 2002 is going to be one of the main activities. The villages are noted for their beauty and preservation of their ancient look.

Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said that the event would be a success as the world-renowned trekking magazines have stated Annapurna Circuit as one of the world’s 12 best trekking route, which passes through Manang.

Former Tourism Minister and noted scholar Dr. Harka Gurung said that Manang should be marketed as a destination where tradition and custom go hand in hand with nature.

MYS president Tripple P. Gurung said that MYS is planning to restart the Badhe festival that has not been marked for the last ten years. He also said that the only way to promote such places is tourism. "We are going to promote not only the Tilicho lake area, Muktinath and the Thorang-La pass, but also other places of importance of the district," he stressed.

Minister for Information and Communications and General Administrations Ramesh Nath Pandey requested the travel writers to use their pen to build up good image of Nepal and a safe and majestic place for visitors.

Programmes like Snow Leopard watching, religious ceremonies and festivals, mountain climbing, safari and treks to Milarepa cave and monasteries, mountain bike rides, marathons etc will be organised during the year.

The MYS is also planning to take a group comprising representatives from domestic and foreign tour operators, media and representatives of other relevant sectors on a tour of Manang to promote the district as a safe tourist destination.