KATHMANDU: Economic Digest, a daily morning email digest, is basically a relatable summation of important business news from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.
Modi urges US investors to invest in India in address at USIBC Summit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon the US industries to take advantage of the recent reforms in India by investing in sectors as diverse as space and healthcare.
Addressing the India Ideas Summit hosted by the US-India Business Council via video conferencing, Modi said that now is the best time to invest in India.
He cited sectors such as agriculture, aviation, insurance and finance, defence and space, among others, which offer long-term sustainable returns and scale.
“When the markets are open, when the opportunity is high and the options are many, can optimism be far behind! You can see the optimism when India rises in key business ratings. Particularly the Ease of Doing Business ratings of the World Bank,” he said.
He enticed the US industry by saying that special incentives are being provided to the investors. On the FDI front, the Prime Minister revealed that India attracted $20 billion in foreign capital during April-July despite the COVID pandemic.
“Every year, we are reaching record highs in FDI. Each year is significantly higher than the earlier one. FDI inflows in India in 2019-20 were 74 billion dollars. This is an increase of 20 percent from the year before that,” he said.
Japan extends grant for School Sector Development Program
Japan has extended grant assistance of up to Rs 335 million to the Government of Nepal for implementing the School Sector Development Program (SSDP).
Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Saigo Masamichi and Sishir Kumar Dhungana, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance signed notes to this effect.
Another set of grant agreements for implementing the program were signed by Asakuma Yumiko, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal, and Shreekrishna Nepal, Joint Secretary, the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, a statement issued by the Embassy of Japan has said.
It said that education is an investment in human capital and the foundation of a nation’s sustainable social and economic development adding that the vision of SSDP is to contribute to the development of self-sustainable, competitive, innovative and value oriented citizens for the socio-economic transformation of the nation.
Tea manufacturers, local government at odds
Tea manufacturers at the Suryodaya municipality in Ilam have accused an official monitoring team of attacking on their image and reputation.
Disputes in tea business is almost an ever-present issue here. The argument began between farmers and industries a few months ago is yet to be settled.
The team comprising mayor Ran Bahadur Rai, deputy mayor Durga Devi Bhattarai, municipality’s tea section secretariat coordinator Devendra Sharma and Tea and Coffee Board representative visited tea industries for what it said to know about the state of implementation of criteria introduced two years ago by the local government.
The team has been accused of posting a status on social site, claiming that industries failed to meet the minimum criteria following the monitoring.
The industries have expressed reservations over this move, terming it as an attack on their prestige and reputation.
The local government has fixed the price of green tea leaves at Rs 40 per kg. The Suryodaya Tea Production Association in a press statement accused the team of creating unusual atmosphere among industries, workers and farmers during the monitoring. The local government has been accused of inappropriate behavior during the monitoring.
Tootle, Pathao resume services
With the four-month-long lockdown coming to an end, Tootle and Pathao are resumed their services from yesterday.
Tootle and Pathao were forced to shut down their services after the Nepal government imposed lockdown in the country since March 24.
Tootle has been providing services for the last three years while the Pathao for the last one and a half years. They have gained popularity in a short period of time in the capital, becoming a reliable alternative means of public transport.
Tootle’s Executive Director Kshitij Bhatta said Tootle is resuming its services from today and added that the driver will be equipped with essential safety measures.
(Compiled and prepared by Nitish Lal Shrestha)
Nepal Economic Digest is a daily morning email digest, basically relatable summations of the most important business news, happenings from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.
Comment