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Fri, March 29, 2024

1st conference on establishing business incubation centre organised

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KATHMANDU: Nepal's first conference on establishing business incubation centre was organised on Monday. The conference was held in close coordination and collaboration between the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MOICS), Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI): Startup and Innovation Committee, PUM Netherlands, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Antarprerana. The half-a-day conference intended to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nepal, through exploration of opportunities and collaborative efforts among various key actors working on the incubation programmes and ecosystem where all the partners committed to startup manifesto. The conference held at Hotel Himalaya, Kupondole, also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between PUM Netherlands and FNCCI: Startup and Innovation Committee largely being based on the manifesto presented at the conference. The whole idea of developing the conference was derived considering Nepal as a young country with 40% of the total population representing youth, which has not been able to harness its potential and opportunity due to various limitations and circumstances. This has ultimately led to over 1,600 youths migrating daily in search of employment and educational opportunities to other countries. This demonstrates the existing inefficiency and the insufficiency of business harnessing opportunities in Nepal. This indicates the nascent nature of limited business incubation centres which is due to lower knowledge and networking opportunities among the youths to explore and create opportunities here in Nepal. Keeping this context in the hindsight, dignitaries from all the organisers committed to working towards strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nepal. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu (Chief Guest) committed to providing support to every actor working towards innovative entrepreneurship in Nepal by easing the policies associated with this. [caption id="attachment_26636" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Various stakeholders attend 'Nepal's 1st Conference on Establishing Business Incubators 2022' organised by Antarprerna in association with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), PUM Netherlands and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, on Monday, July 25, 2022.[/caption] Joint Secretary Narayan Prasad Duwadi, exemplified the status of government initiation towards promoting entrepreneurship through programmes like MEDPA, Startup Challenge Fund, Prime Minister Employment Programme. He also emphasized the Startup Policy by the Government of Nepal that facilitates strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nepal. Representing Private Sectors, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha highlighted the importance of infrastructure to promote incubator and the need to portray business opportunities in Nepal with greater emphasis on production. FNCCI has also been promoting SMEs and Startups through the campaign 50 businesses 50 mentors to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystem. Similarly, Cees Schoenmakers, Senior Expert from PUM Netherlands committed to supporting Nepal’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through the expertise held by PUM on incubator. He further emphasized the collaborative model of academia, industry and government for its collaborative effort. Nanda Kishor Agrawal, Programme Manager, ICIMOD, emphasized the need to develop more green, resilient and inclusive enterprises to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystem. Chairperson of Antarprerana, Om Rajbhandary, made a commitment to developing investors, incubators and international linkages with greater passion to support entrepreneurial growth in future. With the successful completion of this conference, a pledge sheet was signed by the participants largely considering the personal commitment and the future collaboration required for the upcoming initiatives on establishing business incubation centres in Nepal. This conference has opened new doors for greater avenues for developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the days to come. READ ALSO:
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