Private sector makes plea for a common economic agenda

Entrepreneurs have urged the government to create a secure environment with improved law and order situation, ensure regular power supply and easy access to finance at low interest rates so that industries can flourish.
During the 44th annual general meeting (AGM) of the umbrella organisation of the Nepali private sector on Friday, they appealed to create an environment in which politics does not interfere with business.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal while inaugurating the AGM committed to improving the overall situation including security in the country.
Kush Kumar Joshi, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said a common minimum economic agenda should be prepared, and that should act as the guiding principle for any government that comes to power till the Constitution is prepared and promulgated.
The umbrella organisation of the Nepali private sector earlier in the afternoon organised a discussion on Nepali Economy Under the Shadow of Politics.
The leaders of the major political parties — Nepali Congress (NC), UCPN-Maoists, CPN-UML — though admitted that the economy is in a bad shape and needed foreign investment, they could not commit to creating an investment-friendly environment.
"Business without politics is the need of the hour," said former finance minister (NC) Mahesh Acharya. "Economy should be strong, if a nation wants to be independent," he said.
Former finance minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai (UCPN-Maoists) said that a modern industrial structure is needed for economic development of the country. "Institutional reform is the need of the hour," he said. The land ownership pattern should be changed and "the government should own the land that could be leased to the entrepreneurs or those who till the land".
Bharat Mohan Adhikari, former finance minister and CPN-UML stalwart expressed serious concerns over growing trade deficit. "The rising import and declining exports is making the country more paralysed," he said. Despite being an agricultural economy, Nepal has to heavily depend on India for vegetables and meat products. "The country has all the symptoms of a failed state," the CPN-UML stalwart said. Ironically, the present government is led by his own party and even Finance Minister Surendra Pandey is also from his party. "The economy is in contraction," he said.
Moderator of the interaction Prof Bishwhambher Pyakurel said that the huge purchase of Indian Currency in the recent months is historic. "It exposes the fact that the imports are rising and Nepali industries are in sorry state," he said. "It calls for an immediate action."
The industrialists repeated their concerns and requested the parties to implement the economic agenda that promised during the election campaign.