Kathmandu, March 8

Two candidates, Kishore Pradhan and Shekhar Golchha, are preparing to contest for the post of senior vice president at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) — the largest umbrella organisation representing the private sector in the country — in the upcoming FNCCI annual general meeting (AGM) on April 10.

While current FNCCI Vice President Pradhan has already announced his candidacy, another Vice President Golchha said that he would announce his candidacy soon.

Officials are vying for the post of senior vice president, vice presidents and other executive positions and members in the executive committee of FNCCI as the special general assembly of FNCCI in October last year endorsed the amended charter of the institution with a provision that states that the senior vice president will automatically become the president of the organisation.

It is said that the panel of Pradhan is backed by industrialists like Pramod Shrestha, Anjan Shrestha, Shankar Pandey, Anup Malla, Chandra Dhakal and Saurabh Jyoti.

“I believe I have a strong team to lead FNCCI and strengthen Nepal’s private sector,” said Pradhan. Pradhan’s panel has also decided to pick Pramod Shrestha to vie for vice president (district and municipal chambers). However, Pradhan’s panel has not picked names for vice president (associate and commodities).

“We are almost to the end of finalising all names and will soon disclose them,” Pradhan added.

Similarly, Golchha has said that he would announce his candidacy after his panel finalises all office bearers for the election. The Golchha panel is supposedly supported by traders and industrialists like Dinesh Shrestha, Umesh Lal Shrestha and Gyanendra Lal Pradhan, among others. While sources said that Golchha’s panel has picked Dinesh Shrestha for vice president (district and municipal chambers) and Umesh Lal Shrestha for vice president (commodities), vice president (associate) has not been finalised.

Golchha said that he deserves the post of senior vice president as he has closely seen and experienced problems of private sector during his 10-year tenure at FNCCI which needs to be addressed properly. Similarly, he also said that he represents a reputed and large business conglomerate which is notably contributing to country’s economy.

“Being in business in Nepal since long, I have collected good experience in business and problems facing industries in the country,” Golchha said, adding that he would give his best to resolve all problems of private sector by leading FNCCI in the future.