Entrepreneurship In Nepal
EntrepreneurshipAuthor Laxman Pandey Publish date : 3rd October 2020
World’s Context
Entrepreneurship has become one of the major backbone of economic growth and development in each and every country in the present modern world. It is the process of creating something new or different with added values by devoting the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying risks, and receiving the resulting rewards. It is important to understand that Entrepreneurs are made and anyone can become an Entrepreneur. It has become a popular practice abroad i.e. in developed countries. According to the 2007 GEM study, 9.6% of Americans are actively engaged in starting a business or are the owner/manager of a business that is less than three years old. The USA is the most entrepreneurial economy in the world, according to the 2014 Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI). Likewise in Europe small and medium enterprises are the backbone of its economy. They represent 99% of all businesses in European Union. African nations are also diversifying traditional sources of income by entrepreneurship which is seen as one of the most sustainable
tools for creating jobs in Africa.
Asian Context
The trend of entrepreneurship in the Asian countries is also increasing rapidly especially in the South Asian countries including China and India. By the rapid development of infrastructure in those countries with the high GDP growth the investment flow is also being increasing accordingly. Asian countries are building thriving startups ecosystems. many governments have established goals for entrepreneurial development, and high-levels of academic achievement and university education are signs that Asia’s startup boom has yet to see its peak. This is all clear evidence of Asian startup-renaissance.
Nepalese Background
Nepal, a small landlocked country between china and India sharing its northern border with china and rest part with India which are the emerging world economy countries, also bears huge potential for entrepreneurship. But due to the poor governance by the government the entrepreneurship is not being widely explored yet. Due to Low employment opportunities inside the country as per the qualification, capabilities and competencies, unsupportive business environment and lack of adequate funds to conduct business force young generation to migrate abroad. Nepal is getting a huge amount in the form of remittance from foreign job market, it is obviously a positive aspect. But it adversely affects Nepalese economic environment in the long run. Many more things are yet to be explored from every corner of the countries which can give high returns. These days entrepreneurial practice is increasing heavily and the youth’s participation in this is also more. Graduates youth are utilizing their skills and knowledge in the respective field. Using the information technology and latest tools and equipment youths are doing their own venture effectively. They are promoting local products and exploring them and creating the new market by identifying the problems and providing the solution to those problems. As an agricultural country, the attraction of youths in agriculture is increasing and they are doing well in this sector.
As a result Nepal has become self dependent on chicken and also in many other agricultural products. Poultry, animal husbandry, fish farming, bee keeping, vegetable farming and many more are being explored widely. Other service industries and tourism industries are also being explored. And in recent days online business is growing very fast. Although the corona pandemic hits most of the sectors, the online business gets fostered during this period.
Government’s Action and investment
One of the major issues in entrepreneurship is lack of funding. Government is also subsidizing
by providing free funds and loans on low interest rates and conducting many more programs to
motivate youths in entrepreneurship. Recently One Village One Product(OVOP) movement has
started to energise local entrepreneurs. For female entrepreneurs there is a special discount
offer on loans and subsidy programs. New laws are being introduced like academic certificates
as collateral for loans up to 20 lakhs, skillful training programs for the women’s, and so on.
Various venture investing companies are established to support entrepreneurs and explore their
ideas in recent days which is solving the fundamental problem problem while starting a venture.
In the recent crisis created by covid-19 government has ordered an extension of the time to pay
loan installment for the banks which is supportive for the newly started venture who haven’t
even started their operation properly. The year 2020 was decided as a tourism year to bring
more tourists throughout the world before the pandemic which was a best step to uplift the
tourism industry which ultimately benefits local entrepreneurs who are connected with this
industry. Likewise various other steps regarding promotional activities for entrepreneurship from
the government side are taken.
Challenges
However, Nepal, a developing country, is a fertile land for entrepreneurship as most of the
resources are yet to be explored and various steps from the government side are undertaken,
entrepreneurs are facing various challenges to run their businesses. Although the government is
taking a lot of actions but real entrepreneurs are not being benefited with it because of poor
governance, nepotism & high corruption level the formulated laws are not being implemented
properly and only few groups are benefitted. . Due to political instability and regular protest
programs against the government’s steps the investors are also feeling insecure to make
investment in such an uncertain business environment. Due to high taxation policy recently
adopted by the government newcomers and the existing business are also in problem. Poor
infrastructural & technological development is also one of the obstacles for entrepreneurship
development. Different associations are also interfering in the new steps taken by the
entrepreneurs. For example, recently some youths of chitwan were managing to provide fresh
vegetables from farmers to customers but they stopped doing this because of the threat coming
from the brokers of the vegetable association. Such things also demotivate the newcomers in
the market.
Conclusion
There is always a presence of both opportunities and threats in the market. It is the job of
entrepreneurs to identify the opportunity in between uncertainty. No one can be a successful
entrepreneur if s/he can’t overcome the challenges with opportunities. Yes, there are lots of
challenges for entrepreneurs in Nepal but we can see many examples who have been
successful in the same field and same environment.. It is only entrepreneurship which has
changed the world business scenario. So appropriate support from the government side is a
must to improve the nation’s economy through entrepreneurship.
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