'Labour Laws Don't Support Industry' By BMD Finally, hoteliers have breathed a sigh of relief after the government formed a high level committee under the Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Prithvi Raj Ligal as coordinator to look into the service charge issue raised by the hotel employees’ unions. The calling off of the two-day bandh (earlier scheduled for 16 and 17 November) by the nine leftist parties has also cheered the travel trade people. The travel trade people had feared that the bandh would have adverse impacts on the country’s entire economy, especially travel trade business during the present season when the inflow of tourists is higher compared to other times of the year. Hoteliers have now pinned hope on the recently formed committee that is supposed to seek a permanent solution to the problem of the service charge within three months. Hotel employees have been raising the issue for the last two decades. Talking to Sunday Despatch, President of Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Narendra Bajracharya said the committee has to thoroughly go through the pros and cons of the service charge before submitting its suggestions to the government. The committee is represented by the government, hotel industry, employees’ unions and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). "The government must take decisions that should be acceptable for both the industry and the employees. We will accept the government’s decision if it is based on real ground," Bajarahcarya said. Hoteliers have been ruling out the demand of a 10 per cent service charge by the employees as they argue that the demand is impractical. They say the number of visitors has declined by around 13 per cent this year and there has also been cut-throat competition among the different hotels. "In such a situation, the service charge is not possible," he said. He also says that the situation of price undercutting has been created since the government has no policy to protect the existing hotels. "The government must stop distributing licenses to set up new hotels in the over-saturated sites like Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan." He advises the government to encourage entrepreneurs to establish hotels and other industries in new areas so that they can be developed as tourist destinations. When asked about the government’s industrial policy and labour laws, he said, "The industrial policy does not comply with the labour laws. The labour laws are not supportive to the industry in the free market economy." He accuses the government of adopting a protective labour policy that has been hampering the country’s industrial development. He says he is also not against the interest of the employees. He is of the opinion that the industry can flourish only when the investors and employees have good relations. "Due to the lack of a favourable industrial policy, politicization has engulfed the industry sector. As a service industry, travel trade sector must be free from politics and political interference," he said. Regarding the frequent bandhs (general strikes) being organised in the country and their repercussions, he urges the organisers to keep in mind the negative impacts of such bandhs. He says that such programmes can tarnish the country’s image among the foreign visitors. He also holds bandhs and strikes responsible for the decrease in tourist arrivals this year. “Political parties and interest groups should hold talks with the government to solve the problem. We earnestly urge them not to go for bandhs and strikes.” By Our Correspondent The NEPSE index, which shows the health of the stock market, last week increased by 32.77 points on the last day compared to the first day. According to the Nepal Stock Exchange Ltd., the index was 507.61 on the first day of the week, which touched 540.28 on the last day of the week. As in the past weeks, the index of the commercial banks group increased remarkably compared to other groups. On the first day of the week, the index was 621.80 on the first day which touched to 673.70 on the last day of the week. The index of the manufacturing and processing group touched to 365.01 from 366.23, insurance and finance group to 342.72 from 336.26 and other groups from 326.96 to 330.39. However, the index of the hotel group declined from 380.98 to 373.56 during the last week. According to stock exchange, not only the index but overall transaction also increased during the last week. A total of 92,109 shares of listed companies were traded for Rs. 123,264,226 whereas 86,760 units of shares were traded for Rs. 100,819,088 during the previous week. Nepal Arab Bank was on top in terms of overall transaction of shares in terms of value. According to the stock exchange, altogether 12,575 units of shares of Nepal Arab Bank Ltd. were traded for Rs. 26,352,531. As in the past weeks, the commercial bank group dominated in the overall trading of shares in terms of value. Commercial banks occupied 91.71 per cent of overall trading. Financial group occupied 4.64 per cent. Last week, securities of 45 companies were registered for transaction but securities of only 38 companies were traded. It Policy Out By Krishna Shrestha IF all goes well, as expected by the officials in the Ministry of Science and Technology, Nepal will be one of the major IT countries in the South Asian region by 2005. Further, Nepal aims at exporting information technology related services equivalent to Rs. 10 billion within the next five years. Nepal hopes to generate employment by providing information technology to the general mass, forming a knowledge-based society, and establishing knowledge-based industries in the country. With these plans, His Majesty’s Government has approved the Information Technology Policy, 2000. Though late, the government has approved the policy, paving the way for the sector's development. Although the first computers were introduced into the country three decades ago, this is the first ever IT policy brought forth by the government. For long, Nepalese IT entrepreneurs and officials have been demanding an IT policy to develop the IT sector. In 1971, Nepal had hired a second-generation computer, an IBM 1401, for the population census. The National Computer Centre was established in 1974 to fulfill the data processing requirements of Nepal. The private sector came in the field of software development and application in the 80s. Although IT professionals in the country are still not very happy with the present policy, they are, however, optimistic because the policy more or less shows the government’s commitment towards developing the IT sector. "Something is better than nothing," says Lochan Lal Amatya, President of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN). The overall vision of the policy is to establish Nepal on the global IT map within the next five years. The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) states that "Information technology will be developed in a way to play a highly contributory role in the all-round development of the nation" with emphasis laid on the utilisation of computers to formulate and manage plans and policies in the government offices. They are also to be used in the fields of education, health, agriculture, finance and intellectual services to develop information technology as development infrastructure. For a country like Nepal, the IT sector offers tremendous potential. The cost of VSAT (very small aperture terminal) has come down. Internet service is not only expanding but also becoming cheaper. Lanklockedness or geographical diversity are no barriers. Furthermore, Nepal has had the experience of exporting software to countries like America, Japan and Germany. And universities too have been focusing on computer education. To achieve the objectives, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the policy has spelled out a 15-point strategy. Accordingly, the government’s role will remain as promoter, facilitator and regulator. Research and development and expansion of information technology will be done, giving it high priority with the private sector’s involvement. With the involvement of the government and private sector, skilled manpower will be developed for the sustainable development and expansion of information technology. Indigenous and foreign investment will be encouraged for the development of information technology and related infrastructure development. Likewise, establishing Nepal on the global IT map, legalising and promoting e-commerce, use of information technology in the development of the rural sector, promotion of IT industry, inclusion of computer education in the school curriculum, establishing Nepal in the international market through IT, and exporting IT-related services (software and hardware) are others strategies of the recently approved IT policy of the country. To translate the strategies into practice, a 17-point policy has been spelt out. They include announcing the IT sector as a priority sector, priority to research and development of IT, creating a private-sector friendly environment, gradual expansion of Internet facility in all the Village Development Committees of the country, helping educational institutes, developing physical and virtual information technology parks in various places of the country, use of IT for promotion of e-commerce, e-education, e-health, and technology transfer in the rural areas, formulating laws to legalise IT application, and use of IT in all governmental procedures and legalising such uses are the policies spelt out in the IT Policy 2000. The government has spelled out the action plan too. The action plan deals with private sector participation in infrastructure development, human resource development, expansion of information technology, promotion of e-business and facility. The IT policy states that customs tariffs will be one per cent only for importing hardware, software and computer parts. IT-related services could be declared as an essential service. The government would initially invest Rs. 100 million for a Venture Capital Fund. Priority will be given to computers, parts and software produced in the country. Foreign currency earning IT related software and services exporting companies/firms will be treated as export-oriented industries. An Information Technology Development Fund will be set up. An additional service charge of 0.5 per cent will be levied in addition to customs duty on software export for the Information Technology Fund and Nepalese working abroad would be encouraged to invest on technology transfer and market promotion. If the IT Policy is strictly implemented, a
National Information Technology Council will be Meanwhile, it is learnt from the Ministry of Science and Technology that formulation of a cyber law is in the process. NBL targets credit investment of Rs. 32.49 billion Nepal Bank Limited, the oldest bank of the country, has made a target of credit investment of Rs. 32.49 billion for the current year. According to provisional data made public last week, the bank collected deposit of Rs. 35.578 billion during the last fiscal year. The credit and investment of the bank were Rs. 21.75 billion and Rs. 5.46 billion respectively. The bank is 64 years now. Adidas in Kathmandu World-famous sports shoe manufacturing company Adidas opened its official show-room at Putalisadak, Kathmandu last week. Famous marathon runner Baikuntha Bahadur Manandhar inaugurated the show room, which aims at selling Adidas products at affordable price. Committee formed His Majesty’s Government has formed a 13-member high-level Study and Recommendation Committee to study the pros and cons of applying a service charge on hotel and restaurant bills. The committee, headed by National Planning Commission Vice-chairman Prithvi Raj Ligal will submit the report with recommendations within three months. Luna starts production Nepal’s first chemical fertiliser industry, Luna Nepal Chemicals Fertilisers Pvt. Ltd., has started commercial production of chemical fertilisers. The factory with a capital of Rs. 240 million has a target of producing 66,000 to 72,000 metric tons of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium mixed fertiliser annually. Japanese grant The Japanese government has provided a grant of about Rs. 370 million to improve the storage capacity of iodised salt to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders in the country. Gorkha Brewery receives award Gorkha Brewery, producer of Karlsberg and Tuberg, has received the "Karlsberg Golden Awards 2000" for excellency in its products. Mohan Gopal Khetan, chairman of the company, received the award at Karlsberg Group’s headquarters in Denmark recently. UML opposes govt’s decision Nepal Communist Party (UML), in a press release, has opposed the government’s decision to award the management contract of Nepal Bank Ltd. and Rastriya Banijya Bank to outsiders. The UML has charged that the government did nothing to look for alternatives to solve the problems of the banks. A. Paints bags ISO 9002 certificate Asian Paints Nepal has received the certificate of Nepal Standard Certificate 2000 and ISO 9002 certificate. |
