KATHMANDU, June 11: The Government of Nepal has come up with a budget to encourage young entrepreneurs in the coming fiscal year, however, the entrepreneurs concerned say that the programs face challenges in their implementation.
Although the government announces various programs for young entrepreneurs and startups every year, the complaint is that the programs are limited to just policies and lack implementation.
Raj Karan Shrestha, president of Nepal Young Entrepreneurs Forum, Lalitpur, said that the budget for the coming fiscal year is very youth entrepreneur-friendly. Chairman Shrestha said that a program has been brought to provide loans to the graduates by pledging certificates and to provide entrepreneurial training to new entrepreneurs from CTEVT.
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He said that there was no problem in introducing policies but in their implementation. NYEF Lalitpur President Shrestha said that the government should make the youth self-employed entrepreneurs by increasing the capacity of the existing industries. He said that the government has not been able to formulate proper policies for the implementation of the programs.
Similarly, young entrepreneur Manish Thapa said that the government has been bringing a youth-friendly budget since 2014/15 but it has not been implemented by formulating structured working procedures.
Thapa said that the government has not been able to implement its program to provide unauthorized loans of up to Rs 2.5 million. He said it is a challenge to become a young entrepreneur as there is a need for investment at the same time the bank does not provide loans without collateral.
Likewise women entrepreneur Nikita Raj Bhandari said that the government’s plans to introduce new incentives and programs for new startup business in next year's budget has given encouragement to young entrepreneurs. She demanded that the government reduce the investment limit by making arrangements to bring more foreign investment in startup businesses.
Similarly, Bhandari said that the government should make arrangements for capacity building and skill-based training of women and youth who want to become entrepreneurs. She stressed the need for bringing entrepreneurship in the school curriculum by bringing change from the teaching-learning process.
