The event that seeks to address issues concerning regional labor migration governance including foreign employment management will witness the participation of senior government officials, ministers, migration experts/organizations and various stakeholders from 12 countries.

The Colombo Process, a regional consultative process focuses on the management of overseas employment and contractual labor for Asian countries.

The list of countries under Colombo Process include host country Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indian and Indonesia.

These Asian countries provide close to 30 percent of the world’s estimated 150 million labor migrants.

Addressing the inaugural program on the occasion, Nepal Labor, Employment and Social Security Minister Gokarna Bista emphasized on the ‘safe labor migration promotion’ because it is a key aspect to both host and source nation.

“Our longstanding agenda to promote safe migration is finally receiving increased attention globally. Migration is increasingly considered as an important vehicle for development of both the host and sending countries. In this context, ensuring human rights of well-being of migrant workers has become a shared reality,” Bista said.

The Colombo Process Senior Officials Meeting’s fifth edition will also discuss implementation of the upcoming Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) prepared by these countries with significant inputs to the draft.

The member states recommendations to GCM focus on five broad themes:

• Remittances
• Recognition of skills and qualifications
• International Labor Market Analysis
• Fostering Ethical Recruitment
• Pre-departure orientation and empowerment

“We believe that formal adoption of the GCM in December is going to add importance to regional consultative processes like the Colombo Process. They will play a key role in implementing GCM objectives and actions underlying the global framework,” said Dr. Nenette Motus, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Director, IOM Asia and the Pacific and IOM Delegation Head in Kathmandu.

The final GCM draft will be submitted to UN in Marrakesh, Morocco in December 2018.

Meanwhile, Senior Official’s meeting will prepare a progress report for the 6^th Ministerial Consultation (November 16, 2018)on other thematic areas agreed upon by member states including:

• Consular support
• Health of migrant workers
• Operationalization of migration related SDG goals
• Promotion of women migrant workers equality

The 12-member minister-level meeting will also endorse the Kathmandu Declaration on Labor Migration.

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“We will soon establish a health center in Kathmandu, which we believe will be of tremendous help to Nepali migrant workers,” said Yousuf Bin Mohammed Al-Hail, Qatar Ambassador to Nepal.

Al-Hail added that the health center will ease migrants’ burden of undergoing health-checkups in Nepal and Qatar. Moreover, the existing process increases the financial burden on workers who reach Qatar but are sent back home on medical grounds.

“At present, workers who fail the health check-up in Qatar, have to return home even though they had passed the health check-up in Nepal,” he said.

The Qatar Ambassador said that the Qatar Government has roped in Singapore-based Biomet Smart Identity Solutions for setting up the bio-metric center and providing visa-related services.

Currently, a four-member Qatari Government delegation is in Kathmandu to hold talks with the Nepali side for revision of the existing Nepal-Qatar labor agreement.

Qatar Visa Support Service Department Director Major Abdullah Khalisa Al-Mohanadi informed that the delegation already spoke to Nepal Labor, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) Minister Gokarna Bista regarding easing the process of opening a visa center in Kathmandu.

Besides Major Al-Mohanadi, Advisor to Qatar Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs Ministry Mohammad Al-Meer, Ministry of Interior ‘Visa Section Officer’ Captain Nasser Al-Khalah, and Ministry of Interior ‘Legal Adviser’ Yahya Albayati among others were present in the meeting.

However, MoLESS said that it is was not aware that the Qatar Government is planning to setup a visa and bio-metric health center in Kathmandu.

“We have not formally received any notice from Qatari government to establish a visa center in Kathmandu,” said Narayan Regmi, MoLESS Spokesperson.

Likewise, Biomet Smart Identity Solutions said it has not yet started any legal procedures for the setup of both the facilities.

“The Qatari embassy in Kathmandu will look into that issue,” informed Suhail Shaikh, business head of the Singaporean company.

Hopefully if all goes well, this will be significant move in easing the visa process for Nepali migrants to Qatar.

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Here in this story, we will take a look at some of the important updates that speak the rise of start-up and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) trends in Nepal:

Tourism Udhyami Seed Camp 2018: Developing Next Generation Tourism Entrepreneurs

Tapping on the tourism potential of emerging Nepal tourism entrepreneurs, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said it will present an opportunity for these young enthusiasts to boost their business and attract investments.

NTB has come up with an initiative Tourism Udhyami Seed Camp that will be held in Pokhara between October 30 – November 04, 2018.

The tourism body will hold an application drive and shortlist 20 finalists based on the criteria of the event, along with uniqueness and feasibility of the proposed idea.

Benefits for the Participants
Participant teams will be provided with authentic mentorship and guidance from entrepreneurs & experts. Furthermore, they will have access to entrepreneurial communities that will assist them in developing, refining and validating their idea with the objective of bringing the model to life.

After the camp, participants have to conduct rigorous research, work on their business model for a month and make an investment pitch for the Demo Day, which will be held in Kathmandu. The presentation will have to be done in front of public/private sector operators and investors.

The event is being organized in joint collaboration of Udhyami Innovations Pvt Ltd and NTB.

41st PATA Travel Mart 2018

Nepal’s participation at the 41^st PATA Travel Mart 2018 drew attention to the contribution of Nepali start-up companies who came up with a unique promotion theme for one of Asia’s biggest event.

10 companies including Community Homestay Network, Shangri-La Hotel & Resort, Nepal Holiday Makers Tours & Travels, Himalayan Holidays Trekking put up an interesting stall called ‘Nepal Pavilion’ at the tourism expo held between September 12-14, 2018.

The stall reflected Nepal’s topography with its pagoda look and assets of Nepali culture and lifestyle. It was designed for the promotion of Nepal Tourism Campaign – ‘Visit Nepal 2020’.

Youth Crucial to Tourism Industry Development:
PATA Nepal Chapter General Secretary Bhibuti Chand Thakur who received the Next Gen. Engagement Award thanked the young Nepali tourism professionals for their continued efforts and dedication in carrying PATA’s mission of ‘sustainable tourism development’.

He stressed on the need for the engagement of Nepali Youth in this development process.

The award acknowledges great dedication and contribution in engaging the NexGen to promote the tourism industry among young tourism professionals.

Overall, the two-day program created a lot of opportunities for the youth in the form of PATA Youth Symposium, Travolution Asia Forum 2018 and World Tourism Forum Lucerne’s Start-Up Innovation Camp 2018.

Antarprerna Hosts Creative Business Cup

In another interesting update calling the attention of all Nepali startups, Nepali investment company Antarprerna has announced the Creative Business Cup (CBC), a platform that would showcase startups’ creativity.

Speaking at the program, Co-Founder and CEO of Antarprerna, Niraj Khanal revealed that a national challenge event will be held in the first week of September. The categories for CBC 2018 will include architecture & design, advertising, film, photography & video fashion and gastronomy.

The CBC Nepal winner will be entitled to pitch their business ideas in Copenhagen amidst 100 countries’ national winners.

Sharing their thoughts, Antarprerna Chairperson and Brihat Group Executive Chairman Om Rajbhandary stressed on the need for building an international network for Nepali companies, which will provide a global platform for learning and competing.

Nepal Engineer’s Association President Hare Ram Shrestha acknowledged and praised the role of Antarprerna in conducting such events which provide a great avenue for young engineering entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs from other sectors to explore their creativity.

In his announcement, Khanal also informed that the company recently became the CBC’s national partner, a global initiative for entrepreneurship and innovation.

As part of the Global Entrepreneurs Network, CBC conducts a global start-up event annually which brings together startups, investors, mentors and industry experts.

Nepal Start-up Meet: Phase – I

Taking the start-up trend to newer heights, the Nepal Entrepreneurs Society organized the first installment of ‘Nepal Start-up Meet’ on June 22, 2018.

The program is a network of start-ups, policymakers, business houses, diplomatic agencies, IGOs and NGOs, where entrepreneurs starting their venture can share ideas about their business and look for potential investors.

The event witnessed a gathering of 23 start-ups including Metro Tarkari, Champak Namuna, Sunbridge Nepal, Mobile in Nepal, Laurekho Khabar, Easy Abroad, AgriCorp, Nepali Dhobi and Vending Machine Nepal, who shared their ideas and made their business pitch amidst the gathering.

In his address to the start-up fraternity, the President of Ganesh Man Singh Academy Nabindra Raj Joshi said that the private sector has an important role in the country’s development and pitched for policy-level support for the same.

He also motivated Nepali youth by urging them to not only come up with ideas but also materialize them into successful businesses.

In his speech, Raj Joshi drew attention to how the government policies had failed to put the youth on the fore-front and assured that his team would persuade the government to develop a start-up policy.

In an interesting update for students, the Nepali Congress leader said that they were holding discussions with universities in Nepal to create programs on entrepreneurship.

The event was an initiative taken by the Ganesh Man Singh Academy.

MIT Steps In for Nepali Start-ups

Towards encouraging the country’s rising start-up and entrepreneurship culture, the world’s renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of USA has recently launched the MIT Global Startup Labs (GSL) in Nepal.

As a joint initiative of MIT, Kathmandu University (KU) and NCell, the new program was launched at a special program in Kathmandu amidst the presence of international and national collaborators, Nepali government officials and academia.

MIT GSL-Nepal is going to be a two-phase intensive 7-week innovation boot camp (June 15-August 2, 2018) including a special course on mobile technology & entrepreneurship with a total of 35 KU students and other young alumni.

As a student-to-student lab led by four MIT instructors, the boot camp will help Nepali participants develop their own startup projects, right from the stage of ideation to final execution.

#MITGSLNepal will end with the Demo Day highlighting the teams’ project prototypes.

MIT Faculty Co-Director for GSL Professor Saman Amarasinghe, Senior Director of Nepal Telecommunications Authority Ananda Raj Khanal, Managing Director of Ncell Suren J Amarasekera, Registrar of KU Professor Dr Bhola Thapa, Cultural Affairs Officer of the US Embassy to Nepal Grace Caroll and Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Nepal Swarna Perera were among the key delegates present at the launch event.

J Amarasekera: We are delighted to partner with MIT and KU to bring the MIT GSL program to Nepal. This is in line with our vision to help nurture ‘technopreneurship’ spirit among young talent through innovation.

Prof. Amarasinghe: With Ncell’s generous support, I am excited that MIT is able to bring the GSL program to Kathmandu University for the first time. We hope some of the participants will be able to use this experience to revolutionize the Nepali digital ecosystem and even make a global impact.

The GSL program is part of MIT’s initiative to empower youth technology entrepreneurs globally and drive the start-up ecosystem in emerging economies. The program has so far covered 25 countries in last 18 years including South Asian nations such as India and Sri Lanka. Now, Nepal joins the list.

NSU Tech Fest 2018 For New Talents

In a move promoting new talent and their innovative ideas, the Nepal Students Union (NSU) hosted a special program on June 9, 2018, encouraging many Nepali students to showcase their innovative ideas to investors.

#NSUTechFest2018 is a day-long event that brought together many upcoming engineers from 30 different colleges.

“Students have different kinds of creativity, but they have difficulty finding a platform to showcase them. This kind of event is aimed at showcasing their talents and helping them find investors willing to finance their innovative ideas,” says Melli Shah, Coordinator of the event.

The program witnessed the participation of professionals from a wide range of engineering departments such as civil, architecture, rural development IT & Computer Science, and electrical branches.

More than 40 stalls that provided information on technology integration across various sectors such as agriculture, food, health, tourism, electricity and infrastructure development were also set up at the event.

Also Read: Women Entrepreneurship Expo 2075

Startup Exhibition & Expo Nepal 2018

In a move encouraging start-ups, Nepal’s resource organization committed to entrepreneurship Industrial Enterprise Development Institute (IEDI) and a private firm called Antarprerana jointly organised a one-day event in Kathmandu on June 04, 2018.

The #StartupExhibition&ExpoNepal was aimed at promoting Nepali start-ups and linking them with the big ventures while showcasing their respective products.

“We organised the expo to allow start-ups to gain real market experience,” says Niraj Khanal, CEO of Antarprerana.

The expo featured a total of 42 start-ups belonging to different sectors such as Information Technology (IT), construction, tourism, agriculture, food, health, hotel and handicrafts.

Speaking about the response to the event, Khanal said, “The kind of participation seen at the event shows that youths have interest in multiple sectors,” adding that they are planning a bigger expo in the future.

The expo has really drawn a good response as many start-ups and other participants, who participated in the event, said that was a great opportunity for them to showcase their business and plan further expansion.

Overall, participants opine that “start-ups need exposure and this type of platform provides immense opportunities to meet with investors and customers.” 

“We got an opportunity to meet with different types of people through the expo. It is definitely going to help us expand our business,” says Sabi Singh, CEO of Online Aausadhi, one of the first-of-its-kind medical start-ups of Nepal that provides medicines through online services.

Start-ups for Sustainable Development: A Glance At Success Stories

Ashish Dangal, coordinator of Smart Tech, a start-up that started 10 years back and now an IT service provider to government and private sectors, shares about bridging gaps between academia and profession.

“To fulfill the gap between study and profession, the company provides training to civil engineering students. They learn practical methods with us so that they can handle any problems that arise at work,” says Ashish.

Speaking on IT adoption across government departments, he adds, “Initially, it was difficult to convince them on how traditional working style can be changed particularly among government officials. Now, we are getting good feedback.”

Another start-up called ‘Ek Yatri’ intends to support the country’s tourism department.

Developed by Sunim Acharya, Manish Parajuli and Rabin Raj Gautam of Kathmandu Engineering College developed an app called ‘Ek Yatri’ to promote country’s tourism. The firm plans to launch the app soon and deliver its support for the Government of Nepal’s ‘Visit Nepal Campaign’ in 2020. “Idea is the key for a start-up and it has to be saleable in the market,” says Acharya.

There is another start-up that speaks about innovative eco-friendly solutions to address electricity concerns across the country by producing more electricity at a lower investment. “Nepal’s electricity sector is in need of innovative ideas. Proper government and private sector funding is necessary to boost start-ups,” says Roshan Bhatta, a civil engineer student.

Swad Gazzabko, a food start-up that started four years ago with a group of four people at New Baneshwor, has seen a good rise in business and is now well-known in Nepal for online food delivery to meetings and seminars, offices, institutions, parties and catering services.

Supporting Start-up and SME Businesses

Immediately days after the successful event that promoted start-up culture in Nepal, here is another announcement for the country’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

In a move supporting small-scale businesses, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, proposed USD 15 million financial assistance to Nepal’s commercial bank Global IME Bank Ltd towards supporting Nepali SMEs.

This fund comes as a support to the Nepali bank as part of its lender’s program to support SMEs.

“This project is part of a concerted effort by IFC in the Nepalese financial sector to enable local banks to access long-term USD resources,” read a disclosure statement pertaining to the proposal.

Through this fund, the bank plans to prioritize funding to SMEs under agriculture, tourism, micro-finance and small & cottage industries, supporting them in both daily business operations and capital expenditure.

Ranked fifth among the top commercial banks of Nepal, IME Bank has been covering a wide variety of other Nepali SMEs such as IT, energy, automobiles, banking & insurance, infrastructure and logistics with wider presence across the nation.

IFC has proposed another USD 15 million investment in another local commercial bank adding to its support to the Nepali SME sector.

Collateral-free Loans:
Giving wings to Nepal youth’s self-employment and entrepreneurship dreams, the Nepal Government has decided to offer financial aid in the form of collateral-free loans.

Nepal Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista said that the government is coming up with the initiative for Nepal youth who want to start their own business ventures and invest in other enterprises in the country.

Bista who inaugurated the “Yunus Social Business Challenge-2018” organized by King’s College, Kathmandu on August 27, 2018, informed, “The government aims to promote entrepreneurship among the youths and will invest around Rs 500,000- Rs 1 million each on thousands of youths without seeking collateral from them.”

About Yunus Social Business Challenge-2018:
Yunus Social Business competition is a 3-yeard old entrepreneurship development campaign created for passionate Nepali student entrepreneurs from colleges and other institutions.

55 applicants registered to the competition which will run for 15 weeks and include workshops and mentorship programs on related topics.

Medium-scale Entrepreneurs Key for Economy

Adding to the rising start-up and SME trend in Nepal in recent times, here comes another statement highlighting the role of small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in strengthening the overall economy.

Speaking at the 15th anniversary of the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises of Nepal, former Prime Minister and Nepal Communist Party (CPN) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said small and medium-scale entrepreneurs form the base for Nepal’s economic development.

They are also key to promoting large-scale entrepreneurs, added Dahal.

Highlighting the need for getting benefited from the development of neighboring nations, he called on the federation and all the related stakeholders to join the government in its mission for the nation’s progress.

The federation is moving ahead with the slogan of ‘one home: one entrepreneurship’, said the Federation Chair Babu Kaji Maharjan.

In line with the ongoing support, let’s hope that more domestic push is driven by large, medium and small-scale industries, entrepreneurs and SMEs, along with timely foreign investment and global support, supported by efficient governmental policies will create more business opportunities for the country contributing to the overall economy and country’s employment sector!

The post Start-up, SME Business Trend Take-off in Nepal appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

In a new development that emerged, the government has drafted a law to govern sustenance allowance for its unemployed citizens in accordance with its constitutional statute of employment for every citizens.

What does the draft law do?
The draft titled ‘Right to Employment Bill’ was submitted at the Parliament on August 21, 2018. The law directs the government to provide employment to every Nepali for at least 100 days of work, annually. If the government fails to do so, it has to provide a ‘sustenance allowance’ equal to half the salary that is fixed for the 100-day period.

• The bill mandates Employment Service Centres (ESC) in every federal unit to keep a track of all employed and unemployed citizens. The draft law states that,“Citizens getting such support must work as directed by the respective ESC”
• The Central Directive Committee led by the Nepal Ministry for Labor, Employment and Social Security should ensure that this process is being practiced
• The law stipulates that the three tiers of government perform the following roles for creating jobs:
  • Provide information on employment opportunities
  • Conduct skill-based training
  • Provide Concessional Loans and
  • Promote Entrepreneurship

The bill that received approval from the Nepal Cabinet is now awaiting the Federal Parliament’s nod.

Additional Provisions:
Other than this, the law restricts employers from laying off employees, unless they have committed unlawful activity.

A person who is unjustly unenrolled from the organization can plead with the respective local government. If during the course of the investigation, the employee is found with ‘no fault’ then the government can fine the employer and have him/her reinstated.

If both the parties are not satisfied with the ruling of the local government, then they can appeal to the Labor Court.

The existing law determines the basic monthly salary given by the government as Rs 13,450. Once the law is passed, the basic monthly salary will be increased to Rs 22, 416.

Nepal Foreign Employment Promotion Board to be Renamed:
In another recent development, the Nepal Government has decided to change the name of the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB) in a bid to ‘promote employment opportunities inside the country’.

The new name will read as Foreign Employment Management Board (FEMB) and will give the initial impetus for the government’s goal of creating employment opportunities inside the country.

Speaking at the meeting of the parliamentary committee Gokarna Bista, Minister, Nepal Labor, Employment and Social Security said, “Utilizing the human resources and their skills for nation building is our main priority. We certainly don’t encourage our youths to go on foreign employment. The board name suggested it promotes labor migration. Therefore, it would be changed.”

Nepal HoR Approves Proposal on Deliberations for Right to Employment Bill
In a new development following Nepal’s Right to Employment Bill, the House of Representatives (HoR) approved the Ministry’s proposal for seeking deliberations on the bill.

Ministry Plans for Creation of Employment:
Creating hope for the job scenario in Nepal, Nepal Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista said that the government has arranged for the provision to ensure employment to capable and qualified young Nepalis.

However, lawmakers emphasize the following:

• Creation of opportunities in Nepal
• Creation of environment to attract youth to good opportunities
• Increasing investment in industries, especially the energy sector among others, to create jobs

In response to lawmakers questions, Bista said that the government envisions creating jobs in Nepal itself and that the goal of providing job opportunities in the country can be achieved in a few years.

Adding further, he says that stringent measures will be taken for monitoring foreigners working in Nepal without labor permits. Foreign employment will also be made stringent to be more effective.

Bista also reveals that the government plans to set up Employment Service Centres (ESC) at the local level.

Similarly, the government will also compensate unemployment in event of failure to provide employment.

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