Nepal: Prime Minister Balendra Shah takes charge of the economic front, first major meeting with private sector after 100 days

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Balendra Shah held formal talks with representatives of the private sector for the first time, 100 days after assuming the leadership of the Nepal government.

After the formation of the government, till now he had had limited interactions with stakeholders from the private sector, political parties and the diplomatic community, but now preparations have been made to start the process of regular dialogue and consultation.

Before this, Prime Minister Shah met ambassadors of different countries twice. On Tuesday, he met Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the next day on Wednesday, he held a meeting with leading businessmen of Nepal’s private sector. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, discussions have also been scheduled with construction businessmen on Thursday.

This meeting between the Prime Minister and the private sector was coordinated by MP Vidushi Rana. He said that in accordance with the government’s policy of giving priority to economic prosperity and the wishes of the Prime Minister, representatives of major private sector organizations were invited.

Rana said, “The two major agendas of the Prime Minister are good governance and economic prosperity. Important steps have been taken towards establishing good governance in the first 100 days.

Investigations, arrests and action have been taken against those involved in corruption and irregularities. Now the main focus of the government is economic prosperity and its biggest engine is the private sector.”

He said that this is only the beginning and in the coming days the Prime Minister will continuously meet representatives of different sectors. These will include representatives from construction, hotel and tourism, information technology, manufacturing and other sectors.

Initially the meeting was scheduled for only half an hour, but due to the keen interest of the Prime Minister, it lasted for almost two hours.

According to Rana, the Prime Minister listened carefully to the businessmen, asked many questions and urged them to present not only the problems but also their practical solutions.

Prime Minister Shah has also directed to set up an informal committee of representatives from his secretariat and the private sector to regularize dialogue with the private sector.

This committee will meet at least once a month and give information about the problems of the private sector, their solutions and progress to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister’s Secretariat said that now the government is starting regular dialogue with the diplomatic community as well as individuals and institutions from different regions of the country.

In this sequence, a meeting will be held with construction businessmen on Thursday, in which expediting development projects and implementation of economic reform plans will be discussed.

President of Nepal Construction Traders Federation, Nicholas Pandey said that he is very excited to get the opportunity to present his problems directly to the Prime Minister. Anjan Shrestha, President of Nepal Industry Commerce Federation, said that in Wednesday’s meeting the problems of the private sector, the current state of the economy and measures for improvement were openly discussed.

According to him, the Prime Minister made it clear that the government wants to put the private sector at the “driving seat” of the economy and for this is committed to solving all its major problems.

It is noteworthy that before making the budget, Prime Minister Shah had also held meetings with the MPs of the House of Representatives and later with the Chief Ministers of all the states.

After that, the series of stalled group meetings has now started once again. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, in Wednesday’s meeting, detailed discussions were held on various issues related to industry, trade, investment environment and economic reforms.