Nepal is on the verge of take off as it embraces new ideas and creates
an environment conducive to the expansion of its economy and business.
There is an urgent need to “redefine Nepal”, particularly its economic
boundaries. Stating this Mr. Sujeev Shakya, author of “Unleashing
Nepal: Past, Present and Future of the Economy”, said Nepal needs to
look at economic boundaries rather than political boundaries as it
seeks to unleash its full potential.
Speaking at the Milton E. Bender Jr. Auditorium at AIT, Mr. Shakya
remarked that “very little has been written about the economy from a
Nepali perspective”. He traced the development of economy of Nepal
identifying the first 240 years of the formation of Nepal as the first
phase of development. “Between 1960-1990, Nepal’s GDP grew at an
average of merely 1.5 per cent per annum from USD 0.6 billion to USD
3.6 billion. During the same time Singapore’s GDP grew from USD 0.6
billion to USD 36 billion and that of Thailand from USD 2.76 billion to
USD 85 billion”, Mr. Shakya said. He added that the dissatisfaction was
to reach their culmination in a widespread popular agitation in 1990,
following which King Birendra agreed to step down and allow for the
establishment of a constitutional monarchy and multiparty democratic
system.
The book, which is yet to be released charts the people’s movement
from 1990 onwards stating that subsequent to 1990, Nepali citizenry saw
hope and believed in the ability of the democratic process to lead the
nation towards economic prosperity. However by the mid 1990s, this hope
was replaced by skepticism and doubt, which by the turn of the century
had turned into despair and apathy.
The author calls for a serious need to “redefine economic borders” of
Nepal as opposed to the political borders. The book draws a parallel
between US-Canada to state that Nepal is positioned like Canada.
Considering the population of Indian states like Uttar Pradesh (166
million), Uttarakhand (9 million), West Bengal (80 million), and North
Eastern states of India (40 million), Nepal shares an economic boundary
with 300 million people, a population as large as that of the United
States. “This is not counting the domestic population of Nepal as the
fortieth most populous nation in the world”, he added.
The talk on the book was the first in the series of many talks which
precede the official launch of the book on October 12.
About Sujeev Shakya
Sujeev Shakya is a business executive with a societal conscience and
is based in Kathmandu. He is a Chartered Accountant and also holds a
Graduate Diploma in International Marketing from Boston University. He
was awarded the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship by the US Department of
State in 2002. Prior to starting Beed Management, a
management consulting and advisory firm, in October 2008, he was
President of Tara Management (earlier Soaltee Group Private Limited)
and the Bhotekoshi Power Company. He also chairs the Nepal Economic Forum, a
not-for-profit private-sector led economic policy centre. Since 2001,
under nom de plume ‘Arthabeed’, he has
written a very popular fortnightly column in Nepali Times that delivers
sharp economic analysis in a humorous and common sense voice.