(L-R) Mr. Radesh Pant, Dr. Sandip Shah, Dr. Swarnim Wagle, Mr. Pradeep Shrestha, Mr Birendra Bahadur Deuja and moderator Shristi Mishra.Key professionals from the public and private sector agreed that a stable political environment would be optimal for increased efficiency in Nepal at the “Building Trust in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)” conference held at the Russian Culture Centre, Kamal Pokhari this Wednesday.
Organised by Global Shapers Hub of Kathmandu, the discussion panel was helmed by influential stakeholders in both the public and private sectors.
Birendra Bahadur Deuja, Executive Chairperson at the Institute of Local Governance studies and Chairperson of Nepal Council of Arbitration stressed that “without a stable government there will be no success in PPP”.
Dr Sandip Shah, Country Director for Nepal, Statkraft Norway echoed Mr Deuja’s sentiments, citing the example of how the hydroelectric power project has a smaller market in Nepal as compared to India.
“The electricity act is constantly changing because political instability leads to policy instability,” he said.
However, CEO of the Investment Board of Nepal, Radesh Pant, called for private sectors to step up instead. He said: ‘The government is fulfilling its obligations, now private sectors should fulfill theirs. There has to be a transparent framework,” he said.
Others panelists chose to adopt a positive outlook in order to increase chances of cooperation between the public and private sector.
Hon. Dr. Swarnum Wagle, member of the National Planning Commission of Nepal said that understanding each other’s (public and private sector) rules, and being open to experiment is essential for Nepal’s overall development.
Dr Wagle will be representing Nepal at the Shaping Davos LIVE event on 19 January in Davos, Switzerland.
Still, there was faith that Nepal has potential to become a more efficient country.
Pradeep Shrestha, MD of Panchakanya Group said: ‘Nepal is a landlocked country but not mindlocked.’
Anjana Rajbhandary
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