BIZ BRIEFS

MBL turns 10

KATHMANDU: Machhapuchre Bank Ltd (MBL) on Saturday celebrated its 10th year of establishment. The bank started its operation from its first regional office at Pokhara. It has 31 branch offices and 35 ATM counters with 365 days banking facility. It is also planning to start Card Switching System along with Visa debit card distribution for its customers. The bank has a total paid-up capital of Rs 1.47 billion and has total deposit of Rs 16.13 billion, credit flow of Rs 14.38 billion and total investment of Rs 2.16 billion. It registered total operating profit of Rs 125 million, read a bank release. — HNS

Cooperative farming

NEPALGUNJ: Cooperative animal farming has been launched to raise the incomes of Dalit, Janajati and poor families in five VDCs of Banke district. According to the district livestock services office, cooperative pig farming has been launched in Khuna, Jati, Radhapur and Naubasta VDCs and cooperative poultry farming has been launched for Dalit women in Phattepur VDC. In the first phase, 700 people from 125 families are involved in the scheme. In the second phase, they will be involved in more income generating programs. — RSS

Top spending tourists

BEIJING: International tourists

in China spent more than $4.6 billion in 2008 on their Visa-branded payment cards across all merchant segments, up seven per cent over 2007, according to Visa’s Tourism Outlook China report. The report indicates that despite global economic uncertainty, opportunities still exist for the Chinese tourism economy in 2010 and beyond. “The Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games

have put a spotlight on China and its broad appeal and have also contributed to vast infrastructure developments that will support China’s tourism economy for years to come.” said Li Sheng, general manager of Visa China. — Agencies