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Nepalese economy liberal,no trade barriers: PM BY A STAFF REPORTER Kathmandu, April 5: According to the organisers, the meeting aims at
acquainting the international business community with Nepal’s policies and strategies
for the promotion of Nepalese exports and tourism in the world market and to attract
foreign investment in the country’s socio-economic development. “The meeting
will also provide first hand information to all on opportunities and prospects of
investment in different sectors of economy, including tourism, hydropower projects,
computer software, and medicinal herbs,” they said. More than 400 delegates, half of which representing
Nepal’s government and non-governmental organisations, from 33 different countries
across the world are taking part in the three-day meeting, which was organised in
conjunction with yesterday’s Nepal Trade Fair 2000. In his inaugural speech, Prime Minister Koirala said
that the main objective of the meeting was to achieve a better understanding amongst the
participants of the opportunities available for trade and investment potentials in Nepal.
“Such meetings will further promote the understanding between the participants and
will contribute to widen the trade and investment prospects in Nepal.” Showing a bright picture of Nepal’s economy,
Koirala said that the government had been promoting investment through a variety of fiscal
and non-fiscal incentives for local and foreign investors. “In addition to selected
manufacturing and service industries, tourism and water resources are the prominent areas
of foreign investment in Nepal.” RSS adds: Stating that Nepal’s economy had
undergone considerable changes in the last nine years, Prime Minister Koirala referred to
the important progress made by the country in achieving and maintaining macro-economic
stability and removal of the major restrictions that impeded the development of trade and
industry. Nepal’s economy was already quite liberal with
almost no barriers to international trade, a fairly open foreign investment regime and
deregulated interest rates and the inflation rate had also been brought down to low level,
he added. Referring to tourism and water as the prominent areas
for foreign investment apart from selected manufacturing and service industries, Prime
Minister Koirala noted that Nepal could contribute significantly to the growing demand for
power prompted by the surge of industrial, economic and population growth in South Asia. “Nepal has the world’s highest mountains,
famous pilgrimage sites like Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and a number of other
attraction,” he noted, adding that the government had adopted the “open sky”
policy to attract more investment in the aviation sector. These reforms had made Nepal a much better place for
trade and investment compared with our South Asian partners, he added. The award winners are Paramount Carpet Industries,
Momento Apparels P. Ltd., Narayani Leather Manufacturing Industries, Triveni Dal and Oil
Industries P. Ltd., New Himalaya Akash Exports, Aseatic Traders and Exporters and Dabur
Nepal P. Ltd. Welcoming the guests and participants earlier,
Commerce Minister Ram Krishna Tamrakar informed that the Ministry would soon establish
Economic Information Centre to disseminate Nepal’s policies and strategies on the
promotion of exports, tourism and investment. He expressed the hope that the meeting would enhance
Nepal’s tourism sector and help attract more economic activities in the country. Referring to the giant neighbours India and China as
world’s two largest markets, Minister Tamrakar said that investment in Nepal had
bright prospects. President
of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Pradeep Kumar Shrestha
said Nepal was quite aware of the fact that the success in bringing prosperity to the
people of the country would depend on the ability to successfully participate in the
global economy and for this purpose, market products and services should be provided as
per the demand of the world market. Paudel emphasizes inter-party conciliation Kathmandu, April 5 (RSS): Speaking at the House of Representatives today after taking
time from the Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister said that as the country belongs to
everyone, it is the common responsibility of everyone to safeguard national sovereignty,
territorial integrity, and the fundamental rights and freedom of the people. In the present context of the serious problems of law and order,
corruption and good governance facing the country, Mr Paudel said the present government
is committed maintaining law and order, eradicating corruption and establishing good
governance in the country. A few elements are engaged in violent activities in the name of the
sovereignty, freedom and fundamental rights attained by the Nepalese people, Mr Paudel
said, adding that an understanding between all the political parties remaining within the
framework of the constitution is needed to resolve this problem. Expressing the view that no issue should be politicised and the
ruling and opposition parties should create a positive atmosphere for impartial
investigation of any incident, Mr Paudel said the government is serious over impartial
investigation into the Rautahat incident. Informing the House that a few persons had been arrested in
connection with the setting ablaze of the house of Minister of State for Forest and Soil
Conservation Mohammad Aftab Alam and innocent persons had already been released after
necessary investigation, the Deputy Prime Minister said that as the minister of state Alam
has already denied involvement in the kidnapping of Rautahat DDC member Jayaprakash
Kaushal, the government is conducting an impartial investigation into the incident. The Deputy Prime Minister said the committee constituted under his
convenorship to maintain coordination with the opposition parties on issues of national
concern has been holding talks with the opposition to resolve problems of national
interests. Meanwhile, as soon as the meeting of the House of Representatives
began here today, the main opposition MPs reiterated their three demands regarding
the incident of Rautahat and made a firm stand that they will not allow the
regular proceedings of the parliament. Rajendra Prasad Pandey of the CPN-UML while reiterating the demand
for the release of his party workers, taking action against the kidnappers and the
sacking of the Minister of State Mohammad Aftaf Alam, demanded the release of the
158 students including the ANNFSU president Hikmat Karki who were arrested by the police
this morning while they were staging a peaceful sit in at the Singha Durbar. Chief whip of the ruling party Tek Bahadur Chokhal said the
proceedings of the parliament should be resumed as the kidnappers of DDC member had been
arrested, and all the innocent persons except those involved in the setting fire to
the house of the Minister of State had been released. Subhas Nemwang of the CPN-UML said his party is being held
responsible for the Hautahat incident which has been owned by the Maoists, adding that the
CPN-UML which is an alternate power will always counter the government lapses by pin
pointing them. Vidya Bhandari of the same party expressed regret over the
lobbing of teargas and resorting to lathicharge on the students by violating their
fundamental rights to stage a peaceful sit in and demanded their release. When N. P Saud of the Nepali Congress said both the ruling
and the opposition parties should have the patience to listen to each other’s views,
K. P Oli of the CPN-UML raised a point of order and said his party is ready to listen to
all if the government responds to the three demands put forward by the CPN-UML. Speaker Taranath Ranabhat requested the MPs to resolve the
problems by behaving seriously in the Parliament at a time when there are complex problems
facing the nation. At a time when the ruling party was demanding their right to speak
raising point of order and the main opposition demanding reply on the Rautahat incident
from the government, the Speaker gave Pashupati Shamsher J. B. Rana of the Rastriya
Prajatantra Party time to speak. MP Rana said it is a serious issue on the part of the Minister of
State to take the law into his hand and accused the Nepali Congress of framing
innocent workers of his party in a number of incidents. Narayanman Bijukchhe of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party
expressed the view that there should be a rule of law in the country and the
government should not take the laws onto its hand adding that the
responsibility goes to the Prime Minister if such actions continue. Chitra Bahadur K.C. of the Rastriya Janamorcha said the NC
has also implicated his party workers in false cases and called for serious thought
on the part of the ruling party towards the demands of the opposition. Lilamani Pokhrel of the Samyukta Janamorcha asked as to who
will punish the government if it violates the laws as it is obvious that the
government will punish the citizens if they violate the law. He accused the police of
harassing innocent people. Pradip Nepal of the CPN-UML said the ruling party has adopted the
policy of suppressing the opposition and accused the ruling party of trying to
call off the Parliament at a time when the opposition has been raising serious
issues. He reiterated his stand that the parliamentary proceedings will not be allowed
unless the Minister of State resigns. Meanwhile, the Speaker repeatedly requested the main
opposition MPs to cooperate by moving ahead the proceedings of the House but they
began to chant slogans by standing up from their seats and near the well. Amid such uproar, the Speaker announced that the agenda of today’s
programmes had been cancelled and read out the communication received from the Royal
Palace proroguing of the 17th session of the Parliament. The Speaker thanked all the ruling and opposition MPs and all
the employees for making the 17th session of the parliament successful. Kathmandu, Apr. 5 (RSS): The power generated from the project has been fed into the central
grid since April 4. All the equipment including turbine generator, governor, switching
system and transformers were recently instatted in the two units of project implemented
with the joint investment of His Majesty’s Government and Nepal Electricity
Authority. The power house is now manned by the technicians of NEA. According to the project chief Bishnu Bahadur Singh, all the tasks
concerning design, construction supervision and quality control had been completed with
internal resources and indigenous technology. A 4-metres heigh and 30-metre long barrage has been constructed
under the project. The waters of Puwakhola has been diverted through the 2.5-km
underground tunnel to the head tank and reservoir constructed at Golakharka on the bank of
Mai River. The reservior stretching over 925 square feet has a capacity of 2,000 cubic
metres. The power house releases the waters to the Mai River through a
30-metre long tail race. The project is to generate on an average 4.8 crores kilowatt hour
electricity annually. The 4-km-long 33 kv transmission line built up to the Ilam terminal
has been linked up with the national grid system. The entire project will entail a cost of around 15.5 million
us dollar, 25 per cent of which is to be borne by hmg and the rest by nea. The per unit cost of its power generation is Rs. 2.80 and the total
investment in the project is expected to be recovered within next 5-6 years. The project under construction is of run-of-river type and its
environmental pollution factor is negligible. In order to improve the surrounding environment of the project,
tree plantation has been carried out and a follow-up is now underway with the help of the
local consultant. With the operation of the project, it will help significantly in
the setting up of cottage and small industries, tea processing industries,
production of fruits and vegetable in the locality. The project provided a 3-month house wiring training to some 20
local persons who were affected in one way or other by the project. The major contractors for the civil engineering work of barrage,
tunnel and power house are China national water resources and hydro power engineering
corporation and Laxmi Shrestha Power Company of Nepal. The
construction of gates and penstock pipes were completed under the hydro mechanical work by
Nepal Hydro and Electric Company Pvt. Ltd., Butwal and installation of turbines,
generators and switches under electro-mechanical works by the Hongphang Electric
Corporation, China. HR commission formation soon: Bastola Kathmandu, Apr. 5 (RSS): Minister Bastola said, “the United Nations, ever since its
inception, has been instrumental in shaping the desire of the international community in
matters of protecting and preserving human rights.” Referring to enhanced people’s awareness on human rights as a
result of the rapid development taking place in the field of communications technology, he
said that human rights had been recognised as universal values. Stating that human beings should have the opportunity to enjoy
their rights without fear and pursue their lives in a befitting manner, the Foreign
Minister said that as this had not been the case on many occasions, international
community should redouble its effort to address this problem. “Human rights enshrined in various instruments cannot be
fully enjoyed in an environment where extreme poverty persists,” Minister Bastola
said, adding that investment in the human resources development and social sector and
creating safety nets for the most vulnerable groups of the society was a must for reducing
poverty. Noting that the choice of the topic “Poverty and the
enjoyment of human rights” as the theme for the special dialogue during the ongoing
session of the commission was very pertinent, he called for debt relief measures and
generous economic assistance to the least developed and landlocked countries including
Nepal to make all sets of human rights an enjoyable reality. His Majesty’s Government (hmg) was fully committed to the
promotion and protection of human rights and a party to the sixteen human rights
instruments, Foreign Minister Bastola said, adding: “The present constitution of the
Kingdom of Nepal guarantees the basic law, constitutional monarchy, multi-party democracy,
independence of judiciary and fundamental human rights as the basic structure of the
constitution which are not subject to amendment.” Abolition of the death penalty and legislative initiatives to
eliminate inequality between men and women in matters of inheritance were some of the
other steps being undertaken by hmg in recent times, he noted. Trafficking in children, young women and child labour had been a
serious problem in our region including Nepal and though Nepal had adopted various
measures to check the menace, innocent people had often been prey to unscrupulous elements
due to extreme poverty and lack of awareness, he added. Minister Bastola also had a meeting with the un secretary general
Mr Kofi Annan, according the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal to the un. Minister
Bastola also informed the Commission that hmg of Nepal was going to host the Asia-Pacific
conference on the use of children’s soldiers in Kathmandu from May 15 to 18, 2000. 99.83% refugees are Bhutanese citizens: Survey BY A STAFF REPORTER Kathmandu, Apr.5: Association of Human Rights Activists, Bhutan (AHURA, Bhutan), a
Bhutanese Human Rights organisation in exile, surveyed 4,553 Bhutanese refugee families to
prepare the database – loaded in compact disk released here today. “Up to 95 per cent have either both the citizenship papers and
legal land and property holding documents in their possession,” said Ratan Gazmere,
Chief Co-ordinator of AHURA, Bhutan in a press meet here. “Only 0.17 per cent did not
have any papers due to seizure by government authorities, loss or theft.” The findings comes at a time when Nepal and Bhutan are engaged in
working out the modalities to verify the around 100,000 Bhutanese refugees in the
UNHCR-maintained camps. The two Himalayan Kingdoms had agreed in 1993 to categorise the
refugees into four groups – Bonafide Bhutanese citizens, Bhutanese who have
emigrated, Non-Bhutanese, and Bhutanese who have committed crimes. “The contents of our database put a question mark to the
categorisation of the refugees since all of them are found to be genuine Bhutanese
refugees,” said Gazmere who will be highlighting the database in the ongoing 56th
session of the United Nations Commission of Human Rights meeting in Geneva next week. The summary report of the database, according to AHURA, will also
be made available in its websitehttp:ahurabht.tripod.com The survey findings have shown
that the refugees in the camps have different documentary evidences including citizenship
certificates, identity cards, tax receipts, land and property documents – all issued
by the Bhutanese government – some even dating back to 1890’s. The digitalised database has the details of around 50,000 refugees
including their names, their address in Bhutan, present refugee camp address, family
structure, the date when they were evicted from the Dragon Kingdom, documentary evidences
to prove their Bhutanese citizenship, among others. Minute details like the refugees’ house numbers, land-property
measurements, among others, have also been included. Of the surveyed refugees, 22,000 have
been found under 18 years of age. Also included in the database are the details about the six
southern Bhutanese districts from where most of the refugees were evicted. The blocks,
villages, houses under the refugees’ names, among other details, within these
districts have been well-documented. “The families included in this survey have had to leave behind
more than 5,000 houses, 30,000 acres of land and property and other mobile and immobile
property whose present market value would run into millions of US Dollars,” states a
press statement of AHURA. The database has also included detailed information on what led to
refugees leave their homelands. Of the total interviewed refugee families, 57 per cent
were found to have been forced to leave Bhutan, often under gun-point or with serious
threat to life. They were also compelled to sign voluntary migration forms. “Most of
the people filling the voluntary migration forms are those from interior districts and
villages from where fleeing to safety is impossible,” said Gazmere. Chirang, one of the interior districts, alone claims 23 per cent
the total refugees who were forced to sign the migration forms, the database shows. Besides
bringing out the digitialised facts and figures, AHURA also released a book “Bhutan:
A Shangri-La without Human Rights” here today. Sagarmatha’s innocence tempting: Dawa Kathmandu, April 5 (RSS): Dawa says, “Sagarmatha is innocent, it does not cheat anybody.
It is beautiful and I don’t fear it much. But I wish to remain away from Kathmandu
and the its drivers.” A team of Dawa Mingma Yangji Sherpa, Dolma Sherpa and Kesang Diki
Sherpa led by Lakpa Sherpa is departing here soon after receiving a national flag from the
Prime Minister. Born 21 years ago in Solukhumbu, Ms. Dawa had come to Kathmandu two
years ago. She had opened a tea shop with the money taken from her own parents at the age
of 16 at a small village in Solu. With the money earned from the shop, she paid off the
loans her parents had taken. Talking to RSS, she said, “Kathmandu allured me when I heard
the stories of its glamour from my friends. When asked how she felt upon arriving here, Ms. Dawa added, “Kathmandu
is always enveloped with the blankets of smoke. Everywhere vehicles are seen plying on the
roads. I found no faces familiar to me. In fact, Solu is much more beautiful than
Kathmandu” When I first arrived here, I took a taxi at Naxal for Mitra Park. I
could not guess where the taxi driver was taking me. When I asked why it took so much time
to reach my place, he said to my astonishment, “you seem to be a newcomer. I will
make a round for you.” “I took off my ear rings and put it inside my pockets. Then,
he proposed marriage to me,” she further said. Dilli Bazaar girls campus organised a reception in honour of a
mountaineers expedition team here today. CPN-UML standing committee member Ishwor Pokhrel said courage of
these five women shows that if there is a strong willpower there is nothing that cannot be
achieved. Former speaker Damannath Dhungana spoke of the need for Nepal to
take leadership of mountaineering tourism. Chairman of the Sushma Memorial Trust Sujata Koirala which
sponsored the programme, campus chief Ram Prasad Dahal and others also expressed their
views at the function chaired by MP Homnath Dahal. |
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