Showing posts with label FDI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FDI. Show all posts

Sunday, January 16, 2022

दुई तिहाइ सैनिक, प्रहरी, र कर्मचारी को घर वापसी नै संघीयता हो

संघीयता भनेको सस्तो व्यवस्था हो। एकात्मक व्यवस्था भन्दा निकै कम खर्च मा सरकारी सेवा जनता को मा पुर्याउनु संघीयता हो। दुई तिहाइ सैनिक, प्रहरी, र कर्मचारी को घर वापसी नै संघीयता हो। तर त्यो भनेको दशौं हजार मानिस को जनजीविका समाप्त गरेर रुवावासी गर्ने भनेको होइन। हुन त तीन करोड़ को कल्याण गर्न एक दुई लाख मानिस की जागीर चट गर्नु नराम्रो निर्णय होइन। तर मैले सुझाएको बाटो मा ती दुई लाख मानिस ले एक वर्ष तलबी विदा पाउने र त्यस दौरान अथवा त्यस पछि निजी क्षेत्र मा त्यसको दोब्बर बढ़ी तलब भएको काम पाउने भनेको हो। 




मलाई लाग्छ दुई तिहाइ त के ९०% को नै जागीर चट गरे फरक नपर्ला। 




Tuesday, April 02, 2019

Nepal Investment Summit 2019



When it comes to Nepali entrepreneurs, looks like Binod Chaudhary is in a league of his own.

Saturday, November 07, 2015

आत्म निर्भरता भनेको उल्लु कुरा हो

Trade Not Aid -------- गरीब देश हरुले धनी देश हरुलाई भन्दै आएका छन, हामीलाई फॉरेन ऐड पर्दैन, बरु हाम्रा सामान आयात गरिदेउ। हुन पनि अहिले दुनिया भरि नै remittance ले चमत्कार गरेको समय छ। Remittance को अगाडि Foreign Aid भनेको सुर्य को अगाडि दीपक।

नेपाल लाई अगाडि बढ्नु छ भने सकेसम्म धेरै देश हरु सँग व्यापार गर्ने सोँच्नु पर्छ। भारत सँग व्यापार बंद गरेर चीन सँग बरु व्यापार गर्ने सोंच ले चीन लाई हँसाउँछ। यत्रो सानो देश छ। दुनिया हल्लाएको देश चीन। अमेरिका सँग व्यापारिक प्रतिस्प्रधा गर्ने देश चीन। नेपाल को व्यापारिक volume नै कति छ र! Plus, it has to make economic sense. उत्तर को बाटो विकट छ। त्यसै कारण चीन बाट आउने अधिकांश सामान कोलकाता र वीरगंज को बाटो नै आउँछ। समुन्द्र को बाटो सस्तो हो।

नेपाल बाट मान्छे काम गर्न विदेश जान्छन्। त्यसरी बाहिर जानु अगाडि नै शिक्षित भएर, सीप सिकेर गए बढ़ी कमाउँछ। अनि पछि देश मैं व्यवसाय गर्ने वातावरण बनेछ भने फर्केर पनि आउँछ। जब अमेरिका लाई २००८ को मंदी ले हिरकार्यो, थुप्रै चिनिया चीन फर्के, थुप्रै भारतीय भारत फर्के। चीन र भारत मैं बढ़ी कमाई हुने देखे।

मलेशिया कतार गएर महिना को १०-२० हजार कमाउने नेपाली ले नेपाल मा ८-१२ हजार कमाउने उपाय पाए नेपाल नै फर्किन्छ होला।

भारत सँग को व्यापार बंद गरेर त्यो व्यापार चीन लाई दिएर चीन लाई हँसाउने होइन कि भारत सँग व्यापार पनि बढाउने र चीन सँग को व्यापार पनि बढाउने। तरिका त्यो हो। चीन को पूँजी तानेर नेपालमा जलविद्युत विकास गर्ने अनि त्यो बिजली भारत लाई बेचने। भारत खुद तेल र ग्यास बाट बिजुली तर्फ जान चाहन्छ।










Thursday, September 03, 2015

खोला र सुरक्षा बाहेक केही नदिने

जल विद्युत को कुरा। खोला र सुरक्षा बाहेक केही नदिने गर्नु सर्वोत्तम होला। पैसा त १००% तिमी हाल भन्ने विदेशी लाई। हामी सुरक्षा को भने गारंटी लिन्छौं भन्ने। हाम्रो सशस्त्र लाई त बामे ले shoot at sight order दिएर राखेको छ। भन्ने।

त्यो चाहिँ नभन्ने। विदेशी भागाभाग हुन्छ। विदेशी मधेसी होइन सशस्त्र को कैंप घेरदिने। 

खोला र सुरक्षा मात्र दिने गर्दा एउटा १००० मेगावाट को बन्यो ह रे। अनि नेपाल ले कति पाउने? ५०% त होइन होला। २५% हो कि? १५% हो कि? २०% घटि त के होला र? तिम्रो कंक्रीट र टरबाइन ले बिजुली आएको होइन पानी ले हो बिजुली आएको भन्ने। Hard bargaining गर्ने। 

पहिलो वर्ष २०% पाउने, १० वर्ष पछि त्यो २५% हुने, १५ वर्ष पछि ५०% हुने, अनि २५ वर्ष पछि १००% नेपाल को हुने। त्यस्तै केही होला। त्यो बिजुली आफुले खपत गर्ने जति गर्ने बाँकी केपी बाजे को युपी बिहार लाई बेचने। सउदी अरब ले पनि भारत लाई टैंकर का टैंकर तेल बेचेको छ। 



Bhutan hoping for happiness with hydropower
By the middle of 2014, the stately yellow, black and white Great Hornbills that live in the forest along the Dagachhu – a river in Bhutan’s Himalayan foothills – should get some peace after four years of drilling, blasting and construction around their rural haunts. ...... Some countries have oil and gas. Others have fertile plains on which to grow wheat or rice.

Bhutan has mountains and rivers – lots of them – and has staked its future on hydroelectricity.

....... Dagachhu, a 126MW plant partly financed by the Asian Development Bank, is only the latest of a series of projects that are turning this previously isolated Buddhist kingdom into a modern hydropower nation. ....... Bhutan is famous for its philosophy of emphasising “gross national happiness” (GNH) over gross domestic product (GDP). The $240m project has some peculiar features suited to the country’s attempts to open its economy while seeking to preserve a largely pristine mountain environment........It is the first Bhutanese hydro project in which the private sector – in this case India’s Tata Power, with 26 per cent of the equity – has a direct stake.......... it is the world’s first example of cross-border use of the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism: although the power plant is in clean and green Bhutan, it is permitted to earn carbon credits because the electricity is exported to India and will reduce emissions there by some 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year....... Dagachhu, however, is part of a much broader drive by the Bhutanese royal family and the two governments elected since the introduction of full democracy in 2008 to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty........Bhutanese ministers admit the target will slip, but

the country’s declared aim is to increase hydropower capacity to 10,000MW by 2020, most of it for export to its electricity-hungry neighbour India.

...... So far only 1,500MW, about 6 per cent of the country’s total potential, has been completed, and in winter when rivers are low Bhutan is still an electricity importer. Even at this low level, hydropower is Bhutan’s biggest export and accounts for one-fifth of GDP.......

Hydropower is the backbone of Bhutan,” says Tinley Dorji, Dagachhu chief executive.

.....Tshering Tobgay, the prime minister, is determined to make the most of Bhutan’s growing output of clean electricity. In the capital Thimphu, for example, he wants to use cheap hydropower to create an electric vehicle “hotspot” that would be an example to the rest of the world and attract investments in green vehicle technologies...... Yet relying on hydropower is not without risks, including environmental ones. Lam Dorji, finance secretary, says that climate change and reduced winter snowfall is already affecting the flow of Bhutan’s glacier-fed rivers (rain-fed Dagachhu is not one of them). “These are really hard facts that we are beginning to realise – that there’s a possibility that some day in the future it [the water flow] would be reduced to an extent that we may not be able to make use of it.” ....... Bhutan’s “run of the river” hydro projects are less invasive than the alternative of big dams and reservoirs. .....

perhaps the biggest risk for Bhutan is a “resource curse” of the type that affects countries dependent on the export of a single commodity and stunts other parts of their economies....... Bhutan plans to diversify farm production from its staples of rice, potatoes, corn and apples into hazelnuts, coffee and organic vegetables – but will certainly rely heavily on hydroelectricity exports to a single market, India, for decades to come. It is now struggling to pay for the imports of labour and equipment for the ambitious projects backed by India, some of them 10 times as large as Dagachhu. ...... Mr Tobgay, who has set his sights on maintaining annual economic growth of 10 per cent a year ...... “Hydropower is a gift, a boon. It’s not a curse,” he says in an interview. “Right now our economy is so weak and so small that all I can say is

‘Thank heavens for hydropower’.”


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

मध्य पहाड़ी राजमार्ग का लागि चाहिने रु. ४० अर्ब



बजेटको आलोचना र समर्थनमा बाबुरामका १४ टिप्पणी
...... अहिले भूकम्प–प्रभावित क्षेत्रको लाइफलाइन मध्य–पहाडी लोकमार्ग (‘पुष्पलाल लोकमार्ग’ भन्न अर्थमन्त्री किन लजाउनुभएको होला ?) को निर्माण पूरा हुन रु. ४० अर्ब लाग्छ, तर बजेट रु. २ अर्ब भन्दा कम छुट्याइएको छ। के हामी यसनिम्ति अर्को बीस वर्ष पर्खन सक्छौं ? कोशी, गण्डकी र कर्णालीका उत्तर–दक्षिण लोकमार्ग पूरा गर्न करिव रु ४५ अर्ब चाहिन्छ, तर बजेट विनियोजन करिव रु. ८८ करोड गरिएको छ। के यसनिम्ति हामी अर्को ५० वर्ष पर्खन सक्छौं ? बेनीघाटबाट लार्के हुँदै तिब्बत जोड्ने ९५ किमी सडक पूरा गर्न रु. ५ अर्ब लाग्छ, तर बजेटमा रु. ५ करोड जति राखिएको छ। के हामी यसनिम्ति अर्को १०० वर्ष पर्खन सक्छौं ?
दुई-तीन बड़ा राम्रा उपाय छन

  • सकेसम्म चाडो एउटा इमानदार संविधान ल्याएर राजनीतिक संक्रमण समाप्त गरी, प्रत्यक्ष निर्वाचित प्रधान मंत्री को व्यवस्था गरी, राजनीतिक स्थिरता को वातावरण बनाएर, basic law and order बलियो बनाएर एउटा FDI friendly policy framework तयार पार्ने र भकाभक १००% विदेशी लगानी हुने कमसेकम १०,००० मेगावाट को एउटा परियोजना को काम शुरू गरिहाल्ने। तीन वर्ष मा पुरा होला। चौथो वर्षमा नेपाल सरकार ले पाउने पैसा ले यो मध्य पहाड़ी राजमार्ग बनाउन चाहिने पैसा (भन्दा निकै बढ़ी) पहिलो वर्ष मा नै प्राप्त हुन्छ। 
  • BOOT: Build Own Operate Transfer.  यो पनि राजनीतिक स्थिरता बिना संभव हुँदैन। तर यो बाटो गए toll road बन्छ। विदेशी पुंजी ले सड़क बन्छ। 
  • Foreign Aid. छ कोही भनेर हात पसारे भो। त्यस का लागि पनि राजनीतिक संक्रमण वाला देश भनेर बिच्किने हुन्छन्। 

संघीय नेपालमा बजेट बाँडफाँड को फोर्मुला: एक प्रस्ताव


  • केन्द्र सरकार सँग ४०%
  • प्रदेश सरकार सँग जनसंख्या समानुपातिक ३०%
  • जिल्ला सरकार सँग जनसंख्या समानुपातिक १०%
  • स्थानीय सरकार (गाउँ/नगर/महानगर) सँग जनसंख्या समानुपातिक २०% 
गाउँ लाई ५ लाख या ५० लाख भन्नु भन्दा प्रतिशत तोक्ने। जनसंख्या समानुपातिक हुनु त लोकतन्त्र को दस्तुर हो। 

यो फोर्मुला मा जाने र हाइड्रो सेक्टर मा विदेशी लगानी का लागि पारदर्शी र द्रुत गतिको policy framework तयार पार्ने अनि भकाभक FDI भित्राउन थाल्ने। १० वर्ष मा देश कहाँ बाट कहाँ पुग्छ। २० वर्ष मा कतार बन्छ। रोटी सेक्ने। भएको एउटा रोटी का लागि झगड़ा गर्न सबै समय न खर्चिने। 


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Diwali Party: My Prepared Remarks



सर्वप्रथम त सबै जनालाई तिहार को दिपावली को मंगलमय शुभकामना
डिल्ली भट्ट, अन्जन श्रेष्ठ र म परमेन्द्र भगत को तर्फ बाट
घर घरमा लक्ष्मीको वास होस्, आफ्नो घर देश छोडेर डलर को खेती गर्न निस्केका हामी सबैलाई आ आफ्नो लक्ष्य प्राप्त होस्

एक हप्ता अगाडी एका विहान हामी तीन जना डिल्ली भट्ट, अन्जन श्रेष्ठ र म अन्जनजीको गाडीमा चढेर शनिवार Rockaway Beach पुग्यौं, sunrise अथवा सुर्योदय हेर्नाले शक्ति प्राप्त हुन्छ भन्ने कुरा वेदमा भनिएको छ भनेर अन्जन जीले भन्नुभो। मलाई त हो जस्तो लाग्यो। मुड फ्रेश।

मेरो सांस्कृतिक पृष्ठभूमि मिथिला हो। मिथिलामा हिन्दुले पनि मुस्लिमले पनि छठ मनाउछन्। छठमा सुर्यास्त को र सुर्योदय को पुजा हुने हो। दिवाली को छैंठौं दिन छठ हो। सबैलाई छठको पनि शुभकामना।

यो दिवाली पार्टीको एउटा theme छ। त्यो theme हो नेपालमा आर्थिक क्रान्ति का लागि न्यु यर्क को नेपाली समुदाय को रोल, न्यु यर्क को नेपाली समुदायको आर्थिक क्रान्ति का लागि High Tech Entrepreneurship को रोल। त्यो High Tech Entrepreneurship मा न्यु यर्क नेपाली समुदाय का आम नेपालीले खेल्न सक्ने रोल।

नेपालमा आर्थिक क्रान्ति भनेको के? मेरो परिभाषामा नेपालमा आर्थिक क्रान्ति भनेको double digit growth rates year in year out for 30 years हो। यानि कि नेपालको अर्थतन्त्र वार्षिक १०% अथवा त्योभन्दा बढी का दरले वृद्धि हुनुपर्यो ३० वर्षकालागि। आगामी ३० वर्ष त्यति गर्न सक्ने प्रधान मन्त्री पास, नत्र भने फेल।

त्यसमा न्यु यर्क का नेपालीको मात्र होइन, सारा प्रवासी नेपालीको ठुलो र निर्णायक रोल छ। त्यो भनेको एक पटकको नेपाली, सधैंको नेपाली नै हो। राजनीतिक अधिकार बिनाको नागरिकता पनि नागरिकता हुन्छ कहीं! राजनीतिक अधिकार बिनाको नागरिकता त पन्चायती नागरिकता हो। प्रवासी नेपालीलाई पुर्ण नागरिकता नदिने हो भने नेपालको आर्थिक क्रान्ति disturb हुन्छ। द्वैध नागरिकता (dual citizenship) भनेको brain gain गर्ने सर्वोत्तम तरिका हो।

दुनियाको राजधानी न्यु यर्क। प्रवासमा न्यु यर्क को special स्थान छ। न्यु यर्क का नेपाली न तात्तिदा सम्म काठमानडुमा NRN movement लाई seriously लिइएन। तर न्यु यर्क का नेपाली ले आफुले आफुलाई नचिनेको अवस्था पनि छ। हनुमान नजागेको अवस्था छ। मस्को मा ३० जना नेपाली millionaire छन् भन्ने सुन्छु। न्यु यर्क मा त्यसो भए कमसेकम ५० जना नेपाली millionaire हुनुपर्ने। किन छैनन्? हामीले सोध्नुपर्ने प्रश्न हो यो।

High Tech Entrepreneurship को कुरा यस्तो छ। Receptionist को काम जहाँ पनि उस्तै उस्तै हो। तर Google मा स्थापना काल देखि काम गर्ने receptionist जब Google IPO भयो, त्यो receptionist रातारात millionaire भयो। सबै कम्पनी Google र Facebook होइनन। ती category A कम्पनी भए। तर category B कम्पनी पनि हुन्छन। बिलियन डलर सम्मको मार्केट value सम्म पुग्ने। Category C कम्पनी हुन्छन, 100 मिलियन मार्केट value सम्म पुग्ने। Category D कम्पनी हुन्छन, 10 मिलियन मार्केट value सम्म पुग्ने। Category E कम्पनी हुन्छन, एक मिलियन मार्केट value सम्म पुग्ने। मेरो tech team ले एउटा client कालागि बनाएको एउटा app December मा त्यो client ले मिलियन डलर मा बेच्यो।

मेरो team अहिले एउटा Augmented Reality Mobile Game मा काम गर्दैछ। यो हाम्रो अन्तरिक प्रोजेक्ट हो। आफैलाई गरेको, कुनै client का लागि होइन। We think we are in a strong position to end up a Category B company in a five year time frame. We are raising some seed money right now at a million dollar valuation. We are projecting 5,000 dollars invested in our company right now should become a million dollars in five years. But sometimes tech startups fail. Then what? I made it risk free for some of my friends who came in. I said, should the company fail, I will have 12 months to give your 5K back to you. But should it succeed, and your 5K does end up being a million dollars, I get 5% of that growth, I get 50K, you get 950K. Some of my friends took it.

यदि यो investment opportunity तपाईं लाई आकर्षक लाग्छ भने गफ गरौँ। मेरो सम्पर्क नम्बर हो 917 512 5445 र मेरो इमेल हो paramendra@gmail.com Tech startup गर्न खोजेको म एक्लो होइन। अन्जनजीको पनि एउटा दुइटा idea छ। Tech startup गर्न चाहने अरु पनि कोही हुनुहुन्छ भने हामीले तपाईं का लागि सक्दो गर्छौं, सम्पर्क गर्नोस्।

यस सन्दर्भमा मैले डिल्ली जीलाई एउटा कहानी सुनाएँ। When Oracle bought PeopleSoft a few years back for a few billion, Larry Ellison paid his lawyers $100 million in legal fees.

न्यु यर्क जस्तो ठाउँमा millionaire बन्न नसक्नेले नेपालको आर्थिक क्रान्तिमा ठुलो योगदान पुर्याउन सक्छ जस्तो मलाई लाग्दैन। तर यहाँ सफल entrepreneur बन्न सक्नेले नेपालमा FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) लाने बाटाहरु खुल्छन।

फेरि पनि सबै जनालाई तिहार को दिपावली को छठ को मंगलमय शुभकामना

(To be delivered at the Dilli Bhatta Law Firm, 18 East 41st Street, Suite 1105, New York, NY 10017, October 23, 2014, Thursday evening)

Friday, October 04, 2013

The For Profit Sector

Mother Teresa of Calcutta (26.8.1919-5.9.1997)...
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (26.8.1919-5.9.1997); at a pro-life meeting in 1986 in Bonn, Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(published in Vishwa Sandesh)

The For Profit Sector
By Paramendra Bhagat (www.paramendra.com)

More than 80% of the people in America work for private companies. That is how they put food on the table. Another 15% or so work for the government. This economy requires 5% of the people to stay unemployed if it is to have a robust labor market. As in, a 100% employment rate is highly undesirable. That is why governments deem it worth it to issue out unemployment benefits: keeps the labor market fluid. The non profit sector steps in for those who don’t receive unemployment benefits or welfare checks. And then there are the uncared for untouched by the private, public and non profit sectors. Those seek Mother Teresa. Sadly, that still leaves a segment of the population that is truly uncared for, especially so in the global context.

In poor countries the private sector might be weak, the public sector might be relatively too dominant and getting in the way, the non profit sector might be overly strained or barely existent. But even there most people work private sector jobs to put food on the table for their families. That includes the informal sector in countries like India. The informal sector of the Indian economy comprised of businesses that don’t hold licenses and don’t pay taxes is rather large. And then there is the mafia that also largely revolves around money making. In some countries of Latin America the drug mafia is so large it functions as a parallel government. The Mumbai origin Dawood Ibrahim is listed as one of the 40 richest people in the world.

In the scheme of things I think the royal throne goes to the entrepreneurs in their multitudes. Entrepreneurs are not rich, greedy people lording over the hapless. They are people who create wealth and jobs. They pay taxes with which governments invest in people’s education, health and infrastructure. Entrepreneurs literally create wealth out of thin air. Bill Gates’ 50 billion dollars is not money he stole from someone. Those 50 billion dollars simply did not exist before he came along. And good thing he is putting that money to good use through his foundation. He has been fighting poverty like he were some kind of a Maoist.

The corporation is one of the greatest inventions ever. And entrepreneurship makes sense for people in all income brackets. I am a huge fan of micro lending. Everyone deserves access to not only education and health but also credit.

Abraham Lincoln did what no entrepreneur could have: he ended slavery. And someone like Gandhi is both Lincoln and Mother Teresa. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh ran his enterprise like a non profit. There is no denying the role of the leaders of various sectors. But as a country like Nepal moves towards a decided economic focus, I think appreciation for entrepreneurship will have to take deep root in the culture.

A country like Nepal that has numerous communist parties and it looks like most of the major non communist parties also call themselves socialist, I think interesting concoctions can be imagined. You can have companies that are partly owned by the government, you can have companies that are majority owned by the government. But for the most part it is best if the government stays out.

A left leaning country runs the danger of wanting to kill the hen that lays the golden egg. Nehru was key to India’s independence, but he also gave the country his gift of socialism, which was well meaning, and perhaps made Cold War sense to him, but that has also meant the legacy of too much red tape and misallocated resources with India ending up with the much derided “Hindu rate of growth” for decades.

Unleashing the entrepreneurship potential of the new generation in Nepal is partly a policy challenge. Some warning signs are the mindless, xenophobic rhetoric against Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that seems to have a permanent place among a segment of the Nepali political spectrum. The choice is clear. You can bring in foreign capital, or you can send away your workers to Dubai and Malaysia to labor in uncertain circumstances. After Baburam Bhattarai signed BIPPA, a pro FDI agreement, his own Deputy Prime Minister stood up against it to score cheap, misguided political points. I was perplexed. Hostility to FDI is a sure recipe to a perpetuation of poverty in Nepal. Is poverty what Nepali nationalism all about? As in, to lose poverty is to lose the essence of what Nepal is all about? Beats me.

China never tires of pointing out how much more FDI it attracts year after year as compared to India. FDI is not only a good thing, it is something any sensible country competes for. That includes the rich economies.

I would hope that the Maoists would learn to respect entrepreneurs the way they have worked hard to accept other political parties. Their pro poor origins would be best reflected in the resources they should be able to marshal for education, health and infrastructure. Get the literacy rate up dramatically, up the vaccination rates. Train tens of thousands of health care workers and send them out to the villages, Mao style. But do not kill the hen that lays the golden egg. Let entrepreneurs run full speed.
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