Peace without economic development not sustainable

Peace cannot be sustainable without economic development, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said while inaugurating the two-day 'National Symposium on Public-Private Partnership (3P) 2008' here today.
"Nepal not only needs peace but also economic development to sustain that peace," he said adding that the PPP model was a fast track route and the best alternative to development of Nepal.
Coupled with the cooperative movement it can bring about change, he opined. He, however, admitted it was a tricky task to link the cooperative movement with PPP. Prachanda said PPP was required to build big projects. "Local people can themselves build small and medium size development projects," he added.
Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) president Kush Kumar Joshi urged the government to have conceptual clarity about the PPP model. "Clarity in concept will help strengthen trust and take ownership to new levels," he added. He also stressed on strong relationship between private and public sectors for rapid economic development.
Speaking on the occasion, UNDP resident representative Robert Piper said only the PPP model could help the government implement its fiscal plan.
Minister for Local Development Ram Chandra Jha said national capitalists can be encouraged for the economic development. "The government is working for reforming all the laws and acts, which are creating hurdles in utilising the PPP to its fullest.
With the slogan, 'Foundation of Economic Development through Public-Private Partnership', the two-day national symposium has been jointly organised by FNCCI, Ministry of Local Development and UNDP to promote private sector investment for economic development.
Participants will brainstorm on the issue and various aspects of public-private partnership. The symposium will mainly focus on the possibilities of public and private partnership in six areas of interest that includes tourism, local development, education, health, agriculture and infrastructure development.After the inaugural session, experts held discussions on tourism development through PPP.
Tourism in Nepal has a grand history but now it's time to modernise those traditions, they said adding that however, with time expectations of tourists arriving in Nepal has been increasing by the day.Senior tourism entrepreneur Karna Shakya said, "Tourism is a dynamic industry. Therefore, people engaged in it should update themselves to keep abreast of changing times." He added, "Now there is the need for health tourism, educational tourism, agro tourism, adventure tourism and sports tourism," he said.
Citing examples set by the US in educational tourism, Shakya said, "In the US, there are 40,000 Chinese students who have gone there for further education. We too should also focus on different aspects of tourism. Tourism isn't confined merely to just the arrival of tourists in Nepal, it's also about how to earn more by providing them opportunities for spending more here."
According to Shakya, if the country is able to organise sports tourism of international standards, a number of multinational companies would be willing to provide courtesy facilities and this would be possible only through PPP.
Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation (MTCA) Hisila Yami said that along with paragliding, hot air ballooning and bungee jumping there is the facility of skydiving now in Nepal. She added, "Privatisation and industrialisation is what we are mainly focussing. Tourism is a vibrant industry though the government has given it third-most priority. Yet, through PPP we can spur the tourism industry far ahead in no time at all. Still, we need the support of the government, private sector and workers.
Secretary to the MTCA Leela Mani Poudyal said, "Tourism and civil aviation are key areas of Nepal's economy. Tourism infrastructure is government business and the services are mostly private sector business. Civil aviation infrastructure is public sector business till today."
Poudyal added that in the civil aviation infrastructure the government ought to provide a capital subsidy in the form of a lump sum grant or land or other resources to the private sector so that it could develop infrastructure, create services and operate for a given number of periods. He pointed out that, conversely, the government also could invest certain sum of money and let the private sector own majority shares, manage and run the business, just like airport terminals.
According to Poudyal, implementing the PPP model of management in Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is a priority issue and the ministry is making steady progress in this regard.