Four young men – Sajag Shrestha, Rajesh Sharma, Sanjay C K and Kailash
Gyawali – dreamt of cashing on advertising on mobile phones. As the mobile
penetration rate has been increasing in the country, they thought of linking
advertisements to the mobile and making people watch ads directly while
receiving their call.
They got a platform to realise their dream when F1 Soft saw potential
in their idea and supported them. Their
innovation CashOnAd became popular in the market with highest downloads from
the Google store in a short span of time. The application that helps people
en-cash their incoming calls by watching ads on their mobile has taken the
market by storm – it’s a new concept!
However, not all the young entrepreneurs are as lucky and many
struggle to be given the opportunity to realize their potential. Their dream projects die an immature death
due to lack of institutional and legal support. In the country where cheap
duplicate products flood the market, it's more difficult to be original and
innovative.
The Nepali private sector claims that despite the obstacles and lack
of opportunities where innovation is encouraged, however few in numbers, there
is a breeding group of young and innovative ideas waiting to break ice.
"Depending on the type of sector one is engaged in, the private sector is
innovative," claims Sr. Vice President of the Confederation of Nepalese
Industries (CNI), Hari Bhakta Sharma.
But, there are more copy cats and less innovation in the Nepal Inc.
"As the country is still in its initial phase of industrial and
economic development, there are more copy cats”, he says, adding that imitation
is a worldwide trend but it has to go beyond that and graduate to innovation
and then invention. But does Nepal encourage such environment – after all, the
mantra to remain in the market is innovation. Nepal Inc's focus on research and
development is far too less to be innovative. Likewise, lack of institutional
and legal support – that could have guaranteed intellectual property rights –
is another hurdle why Nepal may not see the likes of a Bill Gates or Steve
Jobs.
Though the country has Patent Design and Trademark Act 1965, which is
in the process of amendment and Industrial Property Act that is also being
amended soon to make it compatible with Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, they have not been able to guarantee
and protect innovation and intellectual property rights. An almost four decade
old legal mechanism definitely fails to safeguard the present needs of the
industry making it least innovative.
The private sector must take into concern that without innovation,
industry cannot survive for long. Lack of innovation not only damages a brand
or an industry but bleeds the whole economy white. A once thriving garment
industry – that used to be one of the largest foreign currency earners – is on
its death bed due to lack of innovation and legal support mechanism. Had the
garment industry been more innovative and able to diversify its products and
markets, it could have survived. Innovation needs hard work, consumes more
time, capital and knowledge also.
But it's easier to copy and make money overnight. Some
fly-by-the-night operators have contributed to this extensively. Lack of education and social awareness is
also known to encourage copy cats. The education system should be innovation
friendly unlike the current system that is more exam-oriented. "Education
and society, both, should support entrepreneurship and innovation," the
CNI vice president thinks, also suggesting the government filter approvals for
setting up industry giving impetus to those who promote the culture of innovation.
After 1990, the country embraced free market economy to ensure a
competitive market and smooth supply of quality goods and services at
affordable rates. But it failed to promote fair competition. The Nepali private
sector in this period has seen an increase in unhealthy competition, cartels
and syndicates in the name of free market.
Despite the odds, there are young and aspiring entrepreneurs at every
corner of the country. Agrees social entrepreneur Dr Bishal Dhakal, "There
is enough innovation among our young entrepreneurs but they lack institutional
and legal support," he says, adding "they require marketability of
their product."
The decade long insurgency has not helped. The private sector has
focused more on trading instead of growing sectors like information and
technology, health, education and energy that supports innovation. "There
are enough sectors, where entrepreneurs can be innovative and make money
too," social entrepreneur Anil Chitrakar opines.
"Off grid energy, health and education are some of the areas
where we see good innovations," he says, adding that these sectors have
been driven by a small handful of entrepreneurs, which needs to be multiplied.
Suggesting to look towards young start ups, he asks to feature them and support
them with enough institutional and legal mechanism. "Business schools need
to take the lead and more venture funds need to support their dreams," he
adds. "Young people will take over, it's just a matter of time,"
states Chitrakar. The country is waiting!
(Published
in Business 360 magazine February 2014 issue)
