Kathmandu, August 30:

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda will inaugurate the three-day long CNI Economic Summit-2008 here on Sunday.

The summit will have extensive brainstorming sessions on double-digit growth. Nepal needs Rs 400 billion annual investment. At present, the quantum of annual investment is Rs 176 billion.

“Capital generation is the key,” said Dr Shanker Sharma, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC). “Focus on high value crops like tea and coffee, maximum harnessing and generation of electricity, emphasis on exports and capital generation are vital to growth,” he said.

“Constraints in irrigation should be overcome to increase agricultural output so that it leads to robust growth,” said Sharma, who will one of those presenting a paper at the summit.

Various working papers on key issues like rapid economic growth and associated issues, trends, constraints and impediments in select sectors like labour relations and economic vision in the new Constitution will be discussed during the economic summit.

President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Constituent Assembly (CA) member Binod Chaudhary said it should be a national campaign. “Growth is not possible unless everyone’s involved,” he said adding that after political settlement the economic revolution was required.

The objective is to bring economic agenda to centre-stage. The new government has been promising that it will bring a radical change in the lives of people, Chaudhary pointed out and added, “However, sans economic revolution there will be no change in the lives of people.”

The three-day long CNI Economic Summit-2008 with the theme of ‘Rs 12,000 per month income for every Nepali — a national commitment’ will be attended by a plethora of intelligentsia, members of the CA including sectoral and functional experts and professionals, members of civil society and also representatives of the private sector.