Kathmandu hosts young entrepreneurs regional summit

Kathmandu is hosting ‘Young Entrepreneurs’ Summit-South Asia (YES-SA) 2013.

The South Asian young entrepreneurs are expected to share experience and network ideas for three days starting today.

With the theme ‘Bridging Opportunities’, the regional summit focuses on promoting cross-border learning, networking and strengthening economic and cultural ties among young entrepreneurs and young politicians in the one of the most impoverished region of the world.

Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudel, addressing the inaugural session, called on the region's youth to concentrate on empowering trade and exploit the huge business potential that the region offers.

“The countries in the region face common challenges like illiteracy and unemployment,” he said, adding that the youth will share their ideas and find solutions to the problems faced by their countries.. “The government has been working on policy reforms focusing on foreign direct investment (FDI), public private partnership and promoting entrepreneurship.”

The performance of South Asia – the house to one fifth of the world’s population –  compared to other regions is still poor despite huge potential, the participants said, on the occasion.

“The region that has one third of the world’s poor needs to fight poverty and unemployment jointly, also for the better future,” they said, adding that South Asia – one of the least integrated regions – needs to change political mindset for regional development.

But corruption, political ideologies and bad governance have spoilt the business environment and  entrepreneurship in the region, said immediate past president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) Padma Jyoti. “It’s high time to closely look consumer rights, tax, labour management, environment protection and corruption control for entrepreneurship development in the region,” he added.

“Young entrepreneurs are the ‘agent of change’ and they should act together,” said Norway’s ambassador to Nepal Alf Arne Ramslien, on the occasion.

South Asian Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum president Saurav Jyoti, on the occasion, informed that the next conference of young entrepreneurs will be held in Pakistan in 2014. “Such meetings would help network young entrepreneurs, share experience and learn,” he added.

The participating nearly 400 South Asian young entrepreneurs will share knowledge on entrepreneurial eco-system, global economy, investment potentials in Nepal, cross-border learning and political economy.

Likewise, former SAARC CCI president Annisul Huq and SAARC CCI vice president Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, also addressed the session today.

The participants also visited Standard Chartered Bank Nepal, Hotel Dwarikas Kist Bank and F1 Soft International to observe the best business practices.