Build Trade Centres

Exhibition centres are vital for the promotion of trade, innovation, business networking and tourism. International business needs to boost global networking and brand visibility through face-to-face interactions, thereby building trust and securing strategic partnerships. Well-equipped exhibition and convention centres support trade growth and attract high-value visitors through Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism. In Nepal, however, the absence of modern venues has become a major obstacle. The country relies almost entirely on a single, government-owned exhibition hall, Bhrikuti Mandap, which is old, poorly maintained, and unable to meet the growing demands of businesses or international events. This gap limits opportunities for enterprises and restricts the potential of MICE tourism, which could generate significant revenue. Thus, the country urgently needs state-of-the-art exhibition and convention centres. 

The ability of business competence is compromised, and the benefit to the country from the MICE tourism sector cannot be acquired if there are no proper exhibition centres. A hosting venue is supposed to be an open place where any given business, small or big, is supposed to meet the market.  Industry experts have been pointing out the issues at the Bhrikuti Mandap. The issues include a dearth of parking spaces, leakage of water during monsoons, outdated electric cables, fewer toilets, and poor waste management. This shabby condition is likely to damage materials, disrupt events and reduce the credibility of exhibitions. Due to these limitations, organisers are forced to host events at expensive five-star hotels that cannot even host large conventions. As a result, small and medium enterprises are priced out. This dents the purpose of exhibitions, which are meant to provide equal exposure and networking opportunities. This is an issue that directly affects the running of the business. As stated by the Nepal Chamber of Commerce, the quality of the event venues is one of the aspects that restricts access to the international market and even the export sector.

Our neighbouring nations have invested significantly in technology-driven venues to showcase their products.  The need for a new convention centre has been proposed and even planned, but no visible progress has been made. It could be argued that investing in new exhibition centres would be too expensive for a country with limited resources. Others would suggest that since hotels already provide exhibition centres, there would be no need to invest public funds. Another concern would be that these projects might fail to utilise the spaces throughout the year. While raising these issues, the long-term advantages that are derived from MICE tourism are often undermined. 

Public-private partnerships offer a practical solution. The government can provide land on lease while the private sector can invest in the construction and management of professional venues. Relying on Bhrikuti Mandap will not be feasible anymore. Nepal will lag even further without contemporary convention centres in comparison to its neighbouring countries, where palatial exhibition and demonstration zones attract the business from far and wide. The policy makers and authorities should consider investment in exhibition venues as it has a positive yet long-standing impact on the production, trade and employment generation. This requires formulation of a clear policy and public-private collaboration. No doubt, building proper venues is a necessary step for inclusive business growth, stronger tourism and a better global image.