KATHMANDU: Nepal Risk Review 2022, a report on Nepal’s business risk assessment has been released as a joint effort of Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) and MitKat Advisory, a geopolitical risk consultancy firm.

The report was launched during a session themed ‘Nepal as a Business Destination – Risk and Reward’ in the presence of experts from business communities, diplomatic missions, journalists and policymakers.

The Chairman at MitKat Advisory, Lt. Gen. Sudhir Sharma, during his keynote address, highlighted the geostrategic importance and goodwill of Nepal and further went on to stress the need for transforming such goodwill of Nepal into Business and investments.

Speaking before the session, Deputy Chief of Mission at Nepal Embassy,  Ram Prasad Subedi urged international business communities to invest in Nepal.

“Nepal has the lowest corporate tax in South Asia, and ranks above average in the region, particularly in terms of setting business, getting construction permits, credits, electricity, paying taxes or enforcing the contracts,” he said.

The panel moderated by Sushil Pradhan featured illuminating deliberations from the representatives of the corporate world, academia, and policy influencers.

As the first panelist of the session, Amb. Dr. Shambhu Ram Simkhada, Former Diplomat and Professor at Tribhuvan University, steered the necessity of transforming the political environment for improving Business Investment and advocated the need for a “clean and green economy” for a sustainable, healthy and happy society.

A note of caution was drawn in by Amb. Ranjit Rae, Former Indian Ambassador to Nepal regarding the geopolitical challenges to Nepal when it comes to the investment environment.

“Nepal tends to underestimates it own achievement. Nepal has achieved in last seven or eight decades, what has taken other states hundreds of years in terms of political transformation and inclusive democracy. A lot has been achieved internally but unfortunately there is huge contestation externally. However, Nepal should learn to benefit from which ever sources or projects it is able to benefit from,” he said.

Similarly, joining the list of esteemed panelists, Shekhar Golcha, the President of FNCCI underscored the resiliency of the Nepalese economy and the irritants in Nepal’s business environment.

He added, “Although Nepal is an extremely resilient economy, one of the key challenges in Nepalese economy is that we remain a very high cost economy in terms of logistics, labor and energy’.

Taking his turn, Karan Chaudary, the Executive Director of CG Holdings, meanwhile drew the attention to managing business risks in Nepal.

Expanding further Chaudhary shared his experience in risk management and prescribed the need for increased involvement of young minds with risk taking appetite in Nepal’s Business sector.

Likewise, Managing Director and CEO of Unilever Nepal Ltd, Amlan Mukherjee, shed the light on the tremendous consumer confidence in Nepal and the higher prospects of Nepal being able to mitigate the economy ravaged by COVID-19.

Shedding the light on the future of Hydropower Investment in Nepal, Mohan Das Manandhar, the Executive Director, Niti Foundation, remarked on the sheer necessity of structured transmission and distribution of hydroelectricity in Nepal.

Reflecting on the theme of the session, Chief Finance Officer at Standard Chartered Bank, Nepal, Vidhya Kumar, accentuated in detail, the efforts of Nepal Rastra Bank in terms of Ease of Doing Business and reforming the productive sector.

Referring to the various data, Kumar informed the attendees about the exponential growth taking place in Nepal’s digital economy and concluded by firmly ensuring the commitment of Standard Chartered Bank in attracting FDI in Nepal.

The final panelist, Harkirat Singh Bedi, Business Head for Nepal and Myanmar, Dabur, focused on Dabur’s opportunities and challenges while operating in Nepal.

Bedi, also reflected on the logistics side of business operation and further discussed the reasons for high cost of Business in Nepal.

According to Research Director of NIICE, Dr. Pramod Jaiswal, the objective of the Nepal Risk Review-2022 is to introduce Nepal as a favorite destination for investment as Nepal’s growing young population and rising middle-class makes it an interesting destination to explore new markets and opportunities for new and better businesses and services and explore the risks associated with them.

He emphasized that the report would be useful for investors who look for new potential markets and the government who need to address the problems faced by the investors.