KATHMANDU, Nov 30:
Nepali private sector has started lobbying with top most leaders of the political parties, which are preparing to form the next government soon, for creating investment friendly environment in the country.
With the success of the Constituent Assembly (CA) election, business people are hopeful that that the country will now head toward economic prosperity.
Unlike in the past elections, most of the political parties had given high priority to economic agendas in their election manifestos to attract the private sector.
Top office-bearers of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) — the representative organization of private sector — separately met Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala and CPN (UML) Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal on Friday.
At the meetings, the FNCCI leadership told Koirala and Khanal that the upcoming government should give top priority to different economic issues for creating employment opportunities in the country and bringing down trade deficit.
Nepal has been facing trade deficit of Rs 1.43 billion per day given the weak supply capacity and soaring imports.
Reminding the leaders of the commitments that they made in their election manifestos, the business leaders said the new government should focus on electricity generation to take the nation the position of exporting hydropower, construction of international airports in Bara and Pokhara as well as regional airports in Pokhara, Bhairahawa and the far western region. They also asked the leaders to expedite construction of Mid-Hills Highway to increase economic activities in the hilly region.
Suraj Vaidya, FNCCI president, said the Nepali private sector was hopeful that the political parties will be able to draft a new constitution within a year. He said new promulgation of new constitution will make political situation stable and attract more investment.
In the meeting, both the leaders expressed their commitments to work with private sector for effective implementation of economic agendas pledged by them in their respective election manifestos.
Vaidya also suggested that parties appoint competent persons to lead the crucial ministries such as finance, energy, tourism, industry, commerce and supplies, physical infrastructure and transport, and labor and employment so that implementation of key economic programs becomes easier.
On the occasion, Koirala acknowledged that private sector is the engine of growth and added that Nepali Congress was always ready to join hands with business people to uphold the country´s economic interests.
Likewise, Khanal said political parties would focus entirely on economic agendas once the constitution drafting process is complete.
Source : Republica
