Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, April 13:

The three day long business incubation managers’ training organised by the Incubator Initiative in Nepal (IIN), a project under IT Professional Forum (ITPF), concluded here today.

At the concluding programme, Prof Dr Suresh Raj Sharma, vice-chancellor of Kathmandu University, pointed out the need to be vigilant in order to grab tremendous business opportunities that are easily available. “With rapid globalisation, more and more opportunities are emerging, which we can tap by becoming unique and innovative,” he added.

Prof Sharma said that business incubation centres would be helpful at generating employment and the development of small and micro enterprises. “The government needs to address the issue of business incubation at the policy level,” he said.

Prof Sharma also gave away certificates to participants on the occasion. Altogether 23 trainees from various government offices, educational institutions and private sector took part in the training.

According to Suresh Kumar Regmi, president of ITPF, the training was first of its kind in Nepal, aiming to generate awareness among prospective incubator operators on management, public policy process and infrastructure development of business incubation in Nepal.

“Though business incubation is not a new idea, it could play a vital role to alleviate poverty and revamp economy that is facing crisis in Nepal with adequate application of SMEs,” he said, “It is an innovative concept that helps job seekers to become job creators.” Regmi said that business incubation temporarily supports, protects and strengthens new businesses when they are nascent.

According to Regmi, the IIN project aims at planning business incubation services in Nepal. Its objective is to promote business innovation and private sector development. It aims to integrate information communication technology (ICT) into enterprise development process.

Dr Kim Houghton, chief trainer and director of Strategic Economic Solutions, an Australia-based economic think-tank, said that business incubation helps businesses to grow and sustain themselves in the long-run. He pointed out the need that Nepali economy should effectively transform itself from informal level to the formal level. “The Nepali economy has been stagnant. There is a growth trap as small business has not been able to grow at a large scale,” he added. Nepal should carry out a study on how many business companies need support so that they could achieve growth at the desired level.

Funded by infoDev of the World Bank, the IIN is studying the feasibility of business incubation in Nepal.