President Bidya Devi Bhandari has said that the private business community has an important role to play for development and prosperity in the country. The government has adopted a policy of encouraging the active participation of the private sector to accelerate the pace of development. There are projects that are being implemented under the public-private partnership model. Collaboration brings into fruition what could not be achieved in isolation. There is growing realisation that the government cannot achieve the goal of prosperity without the participation of the business communities. In this regard the remarks made by the President at a function organised by Nepal Chamber of Commerce to honour its past presidents the other day highlights the essential role the business sector has been playing for economic growth, employment generation, boosting trade and promoting entrepreneurship. In addition, this sector cannot be ignored when it comes to promoting investments in industry, tourism, agriculture, banking, hydropower and others.

Ultimately, increased investment in those sectors helps to bring economic growth and self-reliance on key sectors such as food and energy. Production surge is vital for attaining self-sufficiency as well as promoting export. For this, the private sector can make an important contribution. Results can be still better if the private sector joins hands with the government. For instance, if the government provides stimulus packages to the business community to boost production of exportable items, it can ultimately help narrow the trade deficit. Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has added a fillip to this point when he said at the function that the government needs to forge partnership with the private sector to speed up the campaign to achieve the goal of Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali. This can be done by listening to the grievances of the private sector and addressing their genuine problems.

As Nepal is going to graduate to the status of a developing nation by 2026, the private sector has to play a greater role for accelerating the pace of development and bringing prosperity to one and all. This is a goal that must be met to liberate the Nepali populace from the clutches of chronic poverty and backwardness. Nepal has languished in a deplorable state of backwardness for a long time. In the past, access to wealth and education was the privilege of few while the largest chunk of people was compelled to live in poverty. Now the time has changed where it has been prioritised that every citizen has a right to come out of poverty and enjoy the fruit of development and prosperity. People, who fought and laid down their lives in democratic movements, had aspired to not only the change of political system but had also cherished the dream of attaining development and prosperity.

The people’s movement II has brought epoch making changes and empowered the people in such a way that had never happened in the country’s history. It became a federal democratic republic and adopted national restructuring on the principle of decentralisation and devolution of power. After the completion of the historic elections in three-tier governments - the federal, provincial and local - the local grassroots levels have got unprecedented access to economic resources and decision making power to design and implement development projects. This accelerated the pace of development which has built confidence for the nation to upgrade itself to a developing country from the current status of the least developed country status. However, development is not something that can be achieved by the government efforts alone. The private sector also has its important stake in the process of overall development.