Govt requests WB to extend ICD project

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KATHMANDU, Sept 8 : The government has requested the World Bank (WB) to further extend the project deadline for Nepal Multi-model Transit and Trade Facilitation Project (NMTTFP) which constructed dry ports in three major custom points.

The extension request has been made as operating the Birgunj-based Inland Container Depot (ICD) within the deadline which expires this month, is very unlikely, said the source.

Senior officials of the project today commenced the consultation meeting on the matter with a mission of the bank, the principal lender of the project, which is currently in the capital.

"The mission will basically review the proceedings of the project and achievement realised so far," the source added.

During the meeting today, the Nepali officials reiterated that delay in finalising Nepal-India Railways Agreement (NIRA) was the sole reason behind brining dry port in Birgunj into operation, the source said. Signing the agreement is mandatory, as operation of the ICD is based on railways.

The construction of the ICD having railway link with Kolkata, was completed over two years back. Two other dry ports based in Bhairahawa and Biratnagar have already come into operation.

"The review meeting would continue for the next few days," the source said, further stating that the WB officials also expressed concern over the delay in materialising the railways agreement today. Most importantly, they are aware that delay in operating the Birgunj ICD was not due to local problem, he said expressing optimism of the deadline extension.

Nepal has already concluded negotiations on bilateral railway agreement with India. But, there are still ‘minor nitty-gritty’, as officials put it, which have been delaying finalisation of the agreement.

The intention of the Indian government to impose Indian Railways Act on cargo train operating between Kolkata and ICD till Nepal prepares its own Railways Act, is the major hindrance to finalising the agreement. Such an intention was reflected in the draft agreement that India forwarded and the cabinet declined to agree on it, the source said.

He added that the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management is currently drafting the Railways Act to pave way for early signing of the agreement. "The draft Act will be forwarded to the cabinet soon," he added.

The WB funded government-run NMTTFP was initiated in 1998. An investment of over US$ 18 million has been made for constructing Birgunj-based ICD. India too assisted in the project by extending a broad-gauge railway line to ICD from Raxaul.

Three parties in final round to take BBTF

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KATHMANDU, Sept 8 : Of the seven competing private parties to acquire state-owned Bhaktapur Brick and Tile Factory (BBTF), the privatization cell of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has selected three parties for the final round of competition.

According to a source at the ministry, the privatization cell has selected the technical bids submitted by Subarna Das Tuladhar and Groups, Bala Ram Neupane and RRP Enterprises allowing them to compete for the financial bidding, which is expected to take place within this week.

As per the standard bidding process set for the privatization in Nepal, all parties that have submitted both the technical and financial bids separately are required to qualify in the technical bidding to be eligible to fight for the financial bidding.

"The privatization cell today sent letters to all the competing parties informing about the decision," said the source. The selection of the three parties is based on the recommendation made by a five-member committee led by secretary of Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, which was formulated by the government in mid May to evaluate technical bids submitted by all the competing parties.

Other members of the committee include legal experts representing Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, a chartered accountant appointed by the Charter Accountants Association of Nepal, Joint Secretary of the Public Enterprises Coordination Division (PECD) and General Manager of the BBF.and the committee

The seven competing parties that had competed for take-over BBF were are Subarna Das Tuladhar and Groups, Eastern Suppliers, Bala Ram Neupane, Kalika Construction Private Limited, Laxmi Bhakta Kawang, RRP Enterprises and Shrestha Brother Investment Private Limited.

Of the eight parties that purchased bid document paying Rs 25,000 for a form, seven aspirant private parties had submitted their technical and financial bids within the deadline that had expired on May 13, 2003.

In a second bid to hand-over the factory, the MoF had published a 45-day privatization notice on March 8, 2003 inviting tender calls from aspirant private sector to purchase assets and leasing out land and buildings for a period of 10 years.

The BBF, which was built in 1979 with the financial and technical assistance from the government of China, was one of the most successful state-owned ventures till 1992. But since then, hard hit by the frequent political intervention and overstaffing, the financial condition of the factory, which has the production capacity of around 15 billion units of brick per year, started deteriorating due to heavy losses it incurred over the years.

The government back in mid-nineties had contracted out the management of the factory to a private factory, but was compelled to take it back after the contractor failed to run the factory as per the agreement signed with the government.

Kathmandu Festival from Wednesday

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KATHMANDU, Sept 8 : Everest Exhibitions is organising a two-week long Kathmandu Festival 2060 in the capital from September 10th. Organisers of the festival announced it at a programme here today.

The festival targets the market for the Dashain, Nepal’s greatest festival. "We have been regularly organising the festival since 1995, and this is a continuity to the same," said Bhaskar Raj Karnikar, Managing Director of Everest Exhibition.

According to Karnikar, the festival will offer varieties of consumer goods at cheaper prices. "We have already booked 162 stalls for the exhibition and it is likely that there would be more stalls," he added.

Almost a dozen of Indian companies are also participating in the exhibition. The Indian companies would be exhibiting several handicraft products, along with the daily consumer goods and the leather products.

The entry fee is Rs 25. In addition to the general sales, the special entertainment programmes are also being organised.

The organisers are expecting almost 200,000 visitors. The main sponsors of the programme is San Miguel Beer, and the joint-sponsors are Wainscot Whiskey, Nepal Bangladesh Bank, Quality Ice-cream and Aqua Mineral water.

Rural finance key to poverty reduction

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KATHMANDU, Sept 8 : Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Dr Tilak Rawal has said that healthy economic growth alone is not sufficient to reduce poverty.

Citing example of Bangladesh, where economic growth was good over the past few years, but poverty reduction remained a distant dream, he urged the financial institutions to reach out the rural populace.

Inaugurating the Executive Development Programme for Cooperatives and Rural Financing Institutions here today, Governor Rawal said the prudential norms set by the central bank are purely targeted at strengthening the financial institutions.

He expressed the views that the regional seminar would be instrumental in finding out solutions to the problems of rural financing.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhanu Prasad Acharya, Secretary at the Ministry of Finance said that the programmes targeted at poverty reduction need to be re-oriented, as efforts made in the past have not produced desired results.

Micro-finance is instrumental in poverty reduction and all the stakeholders should make concerted efforts, and expressed the hope that the seminar would come up with new vision and strategies to expedite rural financing.

Speaking on the occasion, Ram Chandra Maharjan, General Manager of Agricultural Development Bank (ADB/N), said that the basic problem facing the country is making the rural credit available easily in a cost effective and sustainable manner.

"Skilled, experienced and committed manpower in rural credit institutions is considered to be crucial to generate desired impact on people living in rural areas," he added.

The five-day regional seminar is being jointly organised by NRB, ADB/N, Nepal Bank Limited, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Cooperatives Development Board and Centre for International Cooperation and Training in Agricultural Banking (CICTAB).

The main objective of the seminar is to sharing experiences on various activities carried out by the member institutions in agricultural and rural development sector.

Altogether 25 representatives from Nepal, India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are participating in the seminar.

Cease-fire breakdown hits recuperating hoteliers

By Krishna Regmi & Saurav Jung Thapa

Kathmandu, Sept 8 : With the not-so-unexpected breakdown of the fragile cease-fire last week, prominent hoteliers, including from star hotels in the capital have reported massive cancellations of their bookings for rooms and conference facilities.

In fact, the massive retraction of bookings have dealt a severe blow to the vulnerable hospitality sector of the country, which had shown signs of a recovery after facing a historic recession due to steep consistent downturn in tourist arrival since last couple of years.

With the resumption of lethal violence, the industry, which had witnessed a remarkable boom during the seven-month long cease-fire between the Maoist rebels, is sure to face yet another decline in the number tourist arrivals, leading to a double-dip recession.

In a quick survey of hotel establishments conducted by The Kathmandu Post, managers of all the leading hotels expressed their unqualified dismay at the timing of the breakdown of the cease-fire, which came smack at the beginning of the lucrative western tourist season.

Abhinav Rana, Acting-General Manager of Radisson - a spanking new five-star hotel located in the heart of a posh residential and diplomatic colony in the capital, spoke of the painful situation the mounting violence has brought. "For this August, prior to the resumption of hostilities, the occupancy rate was at a healthy 58 percent compared to a meagre 25 percent last year," said Rana.

For the month of September, bookings were at an even robust 65 percent that is, until a week back. Now however, the cancellations of room and conference facility bookings from multinational companies have begun coming in chock o’ block. "In the span of little more than a week, the situation has deteriorated so badly that we would regard even a 40 percent occupancy rate for this month as superb, " said a visibly tense Rana.

On a similar tone, Jugesh Shrestha, deputy sales director at the Soaltee Crowne Plaza appealed to the warring parties to display maturity and responsibility to the people of the nation by immediately halting their activities that have been detrimental to the economic well-being of the nation. "Otherwise, the entire hotel industry, face devastating low occupancy rates such as our forecasted below-50 percent for this month," he said.

Citing policy directives, officials of the Hyatt Regency were uncommunicative when queried about their occupancy rates, sending a clear signal that gloomy days have already started and are likely to continue for some time to come.

Reservation Officer Kamal Chhetri of the 155 room-capacity Hotel de l’ Annapurna at Durbar Marg also shared similar views. "For August we had a comfortable 52 percent occupancy rate, but now due to a flood of cancellations since the past week, expected occupancy for this month is a dismal 25 percent," said Chhetri.

Commenting on the searing plight of hotels, Narendra Bajracharya, President of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), said that hotels of all categories, especially the star ones catering to a foreign clientele, have started receiving large scale cancellations.

"If the current predicament of the country, which has already posed a serious threat for the entire hotel industry, deteriorates further, some of our hotels including five-star ones in the city will have to close shop by this winter," he announced.

He added that the hospitality sector of the country, which was witnessing a whopping decline in the arrival of Indian tourists – a key segment of the industry, in recent months, has enjoyed a double-digit increment. "The signs and symptoms of the present state of affairs portend ill for the future," he concluded on an ominous note.