Arun Chaudhary
"The wind blows the strongest against
those who stand the tallest", says Arun chaudhary when asked to comment
on why his Chaudhary Group repeatedly faces criticisms.
The youngest of the three brothers who
from a Troika that manages over 40 companies under Chaudhary Group, Arun
Chaudhary is particularly looking after automobile business and processed
food business to some extent, while his elder brothers look after the
rest. And in automobile, the Maruti cars that the group sells in Nepal
have over 50% market share by units, it is claimed.
"You have to identify your core competencies
and concentrate in that", says Arun about his business credo and
cites hydro-power, tourism and financial services as areas in which Nepal
has to concentrate to be competitive in the regional market.
About his own group, he says it has been
concentrating in food, automobiles, financial services and health services
with the next area of involvement being hydro-power. And in food and automobile,
the group is already a leader in the country. "I believe that whatever
you do, you should be the major player", he says about his next management
credo.
As an incumbent Vice President of Nepal
India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI), young Chaudhary is also
regarded as the next President of NICCI as there seems to be trend catching
up among the chambers to have the incumbent Vice-President as the next
president. Chaudhary does not try to hide that he too harbours that ambition.
when asked about it, he simply quotes John F. Kennedy who had said that
if you are going to settle for the second position. you will remain so
throughout you life.
Nepal-India trade relations periodically
turn sour and so they are now. Five years of them being the best as if
there is a cycle of five years for these relations going up and down,
Chaudhary says, the experience shows that only business-to-business relations
between the two countries being cordial is not enough. There must be a
good understanding between the governments of both countries. "We
from NICCI have to define our role as to what can we do to avoid such
situations as the present one from being repeated in the future".
he says and suggests that the government should delegate to NICCI some
of the tasks so that NICCI can address potential problems in time in consultation
with its counterparts in India.
