NATIONAL 3 -(Spotlight Weekly)

NBCCI: A Strong Bond Between Nepal And Great Britain

By RAJENDRA K. KHETAN

The Nepal-Britain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NBCCI) was established some six years ago with the noble objective of promoting Nepal Britain ties in the field of business and economy. It was the realization of the need to have greater participation in the international market place if Nepal is to escape from the malaise of economic backwardness and fulfill the aspirations of our people for a better life. So as a bi-national chamber we are fully committed to the ideals of free economy and globalised market.

During these years, we have achieved success by advocating the problems of nepalese bilateral businesses. It gives me immense pleasure to report to you that our views and opinion in making the environment more business friendly have been well received not only by the government but by the cross society at large. In the field of business too this chamber has made considerable efforts in expanding the width and depth of our economic ties. Our efforts have not confined to expanding the business of our members with U.K. We have facilitated exchange of ideas and information among businessmen of the two countries. We have been continuously involved in promoting and popularizing British goods and technology in Nepal. Our efforts have produced some positive results. Our export to UK has been showing a continuous growth in terms of volume as well as share in the total export of Nepal. During the fished year 1999/2000 our export amounted to 1.6 billion Nepalese Rupees, which was 2. 3 percent of our total export. The British tourist arrival remained more than 30,000 which would be 7%+ of total arrival. But we think, we cannot take solace from this achievement. It is rather meager when we consider the potentials. There are many products and sectors where we could and should increase our trade and other forms of business dealings.

The people of our two countries have been enjoying cordial relationship. The Gurkhas in the British security forces have been serving Britain for more than a century now. The low pace of growth of the mutually beneficial economic ties between our two countries is not necessarily due to the lack of initiatives and efforts from the business organizations like this chamber. The incidents and developments taking place outside of our control have made a significant contribution in shaping the course development in the economic arena. The economic situation of this country during the last few years has not been that god to say the least. The country, until two years ago was reeling under political instability, which had its negative effects on the business environment. The incidents like the hijacking of Indian Airlines or innumerable bandhs organised by all colours ware sending negative signals to the prospective investors as well as tourists. The horrifying incidents in the name of Hritik Roshan or at the Royal Palace not only halted the economic movements for some days but send a tremor signal to present & future partners of Nepal. The declining law and order situation in the past months arising out of so-called ëpeoples warí has been chilling the investment climate. A political solution to this is must. The attacks in the US and the ensuing fear of continued unrest especially in our region have aggravated the situation, which was already very hard.

We have been raising our concerns with the appropriate authorities. The three areas i.e., security especially industrial security, the tax and revenue collection procedures and the government policy on issues related to industrial relation have been of primary concern to us. The personnel manning these functions of the government, we find are rather negatively oriented towards the private sector. We often find that only lip service is given to the practical and innovative suggestions from the private sector organizations like the FNCCI & binational chambers. They often see sinister desires of the private sector in whatever suggestions we make. This is not a healthy situation. We find our policies and declarations have become more private sector friendly. But have the actions been exhibiting it.

We have been much talking about the mismanagement and economic malpractices. No doubt there is rampant corruption. The situation has gone to the extent that everybody sees sinister motives in whatever is done. Natural justice provides ìevery body is innocent unless proven guiltyî. But in Nepal we seem to have developed our own belief system ìevery body is guilty unless proven innocentî. Decisions are deferred just because some body would see sinister purposes in the decisions. For an ordinary businessman with little access to the authority that be, normal commercial dealings with government or its agency has become next to impossible.

The government, at last seems to be serious toward facilitating industrial security. We hope the current talks between the government and the Maoists would lead to the peaceful resolution of the conflict. The security situation has improved significantly during the last few weeks. We sincerely hope the situation would gradually improve in the days ahead.

We have the privilege of having an ambassador who does not hide behind the veil of diplomatic nicety in describing our problems. He has been a true promoter of business between our two countries He has taken genuine interest in improving the economic. The industrial security group designed by you,your excellency is helping the businesses feel safe. Thank you your Excellency for all your hard initiatives.

The Annual General Meeting for any chamber is the time of taking the stock of the past performance, identifying the past deficiencies and charting out the future course of action. With the active involvement of our members and strong support from our friends we have made considerable achievements. But many more things are yet to be done. This AGM, I am confident, will provide us the guidance on where to concentrate our efforts and which course of action to take for our future initiatives.

(Khetan is the President of NBCCI. Excerpts of his speech at the sixth AGM of the bi-national chamber held in the capital last week.)