Budget Watch: Series 8

This will be the first budget of 'New Nepal' and it should reflect economic philosophy that will chart the path on which the nation must travel to achieve its aspirations of peace and prosperity. I believe the budget should focus on maximizing the contribution of areas in which we as a nation have core intrinsic strengths.

Ideally, development may have been linked to industrialisation or the expansion of the manufacturing sector, but in the case of Nepal being landlocked between two of the largest manufacturing nations of the world this theory does not hold true. We will never be able to compete with the economies of scale that similar industries will enjoy in India and China and if we follow this path, as in the past, we will end up manufacturing lower quality goods and selling them at a higher price to our own people. This fact has to be realised by the government and reflected in the budget.

We cannot expect to achieve an 'economic revolution' by treading old paths. The underlying common denominator for the development of all core areas has to be maximum distribution of gain and benefit to a large base of the population.

A focused and coordinated effort is required to look into each of the five core areas: Tourism, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Service Sector, and Human Resources Development. This determination needs to be highlighted and clearly extrapolated in the budget so that there is no doubt about the government's clarity in the importance it places on these core areas.If an economic revolution is to occur to change the economic map of Nepal over the next 10 years, just as the political map has changed over the last 10 years, then it is essential that we change the way we formulate and implement economic policy and the start of this process will be the first budget that the first government of New Nepal presents.

The five pillars for our New Nepal's economy should be:

1. Tourism

· Hotels

· Lodges

· Restaurants

· Trekking & Mountaineering

· Adventure sports & Value added activities

· Associated supply chain industries

2. Agriculture

· Enhancing productivity through land reform

· Cooperative farming

· Greater value added production

· Herbs and jungle product development

3. Infrastructure

· Hydro Power

· Road connectivity

· Irrigation· Cement

4. Service Sector

· Financial

· Healthcare

· Education

· BPO/Outsourcing

· Information Technology

5. Human resource Development

· Vocational Education

· Skilled manpower development for domestic productivity and export

· Converting our population from a liability to an asset

Anil Shah,

Chief executive Officer,

nabil bank Ltd