KATHMANDU, Sept 20: Country’s entrepreneurs and economists have said that the government and political parties should now focus on infrastructure development.
Infrastructure development work was on the back burner because of instability, unfavorable laws, and unenthusiastic people over the past years. “We are hopeful that it will change now,” Khadga Bahadur Bisht, president of Independent Power Producers’ Association (IPPAN), told Republica.
Promulgation of constitution sends a positive message to investors both at home and abroad. “Now they might be interested to inject investment in Nepal,” Economist Madan Kumar Dahal said.
Economic experts, however, say constitution is only a step ahead towards the economic transformation.
“Promulgation of constitution alone does not address all the problems that infrastructure development sector have seen over the years,” he said, adding, “The government should update related laws and provide needful supports to the project developers.”
Lack of infrastructure is termed a major bottleneck in country’s economic development. It is because of lack of necessary infrastructure that country’s competitiveness in services and products is eroding.
As more than a quarter of development budget remains unspent every year, the private sector is hopeful that the government will do the needful for increasing public expenditure. They say government spending will act as a stimulant for private sector to increase investment as well as create demand in the market.
Private sector also hopes the government will endorse about two dozen laws related to economic sector at the earliest to give momentum to economic activities across the country.
Source: Republica.com
