As a kid, I always thought when I grow up, Nepal will be developed. I thought that with time, development takes place but it seems like most of the world has developed and somehow our beloved country has remained behind. Somebody, somewhere has failed in their task to develop Nepal.
Now, as a business graduate and a thoughtful citizen of Nepal, I have come to the conclusion that time is not going to develop Nepal. We could be in the same situation that we are in if not worse in the next ten years if the youth of Nepal does not take matters into their own hands. A planned and strategic course of action has to be taken to develop Nepal.
So, What is it going to take to develop Nepal?
Before I spell out the golden words, I want you understand why we have a stagnant growth structure? What is actually holding us back? Is it because people don’t care whether their country develops or not? Or has it been government’s fault all along?
The easy answer is people don’t care, they just want to go to middle-east countries to earn minimal money, the government is corrupt and useless, the youth has no motivation to work for their country but the moment we give up the rant and think logically and research, we will find out answers pretty easily. Therefore, as I researched deep into the industries, the non-profit organizations and the laws, I have found that people do care.
Did you know that in a population of about 29 Million people Nepal has more than 50,000 NGOs. Now, if that’s not a caring population that wants to lift the society from the embedded doom of social backwardness, I don’t know what is. So, don’t you ever tell me that my people don’t care enough!
However, industrialization and entrepreneurship are the main pillars of development for a country like ours. We cannot rely on donations and foreign trade forever. The spark of entrepreneurial influence among youth is increasing day by day even so the reach of entrepreneurial knowledge and acumen is not as widespread as it should be to develop Nepal. The entrepreneurial wave started around 2014 however, it’s full potential is yet to be realized.
To get to that level, the availability of entrepreneurship education has to be massive. Our current education system cannot produce entrepreneurs and changemakers.
Nepal has immense opportunities in terms of starting a business and enough resources- physical, financial as well as human, to sustain and grow them. All we need to do is to empower our youth with the right knowledge and help them realize the potential that they have carried all along to fuel the development of Nepal.
Agriculture is the major sector which will help in the economic as well as social development in the country. Agriculture startups should be promoted and empowered heavily in Nepal as they can solve most of our problems like poverty, unemployment and even trade deficit. The prospects of agriculture startups in Nepal is exorbitant. Sectors such as logistics, manufacturing and tourism have high potential to generate employment. The government as well as corporate houses should help the budding entrepreneurs trying to cause a change, it will play a tremendous role to develop Nepal..
My heart aches to see our Nepali brothers and sisters working minimum pay jobs that too staying away from family and friends with no life or job security. We among ourselves have the power to create jobs in Nepal and improve the living standard of people at a large scale. Entrepreneurship will not only create jobs and improve the way we live, it will also cut our imports, create a balance of wealth among people, empower women, provide education, improve healthcare, reduce brain-drain, and make sure that our country is no longer dependent on aids, imports and donations and that we create our own wealth. The need of Social Entrepreneurship is the highest for the Development of Nepal.
The support required from the Government of Nepal is inevitable. The donation mentality must be left behind by the government and we should give a chance to our young entrepreneurs who are trying to create our own wealth, least they can do is to make a conducive environment to work in. We need to up our rank from the Ease of Doing Business Index from the 94th position because we can do better!
The policies need to be more entrepreneurship friendly, loans should be made easily available, a number of changes are required in the current system, however, this should not stop the budding entrepreneurs from getting having a vision, becoming an entrepreneur and developing their nation. Together, we can flourish entrepreneurship in Nepal.
Read our blog on 3 things Nepal cannot develop without. Read more of our Blogs here.