Kathmandu, December 7

As the second phase of the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections concluded in a peaceful manner today the private sector of the country is upbeat that the country will move forward towards economic development as the decade-long political transition has finally ended with these elections as per the provision of the new constitution.

Three layers of polls — local, provincial and parliament — were critical for the execution of the constitution. The elections have been concluded before the deadline of January 21 and there will be people’s representatives with a new political mandate in each layer of administration.

Hari Bhakta Sharma, president of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), opines that the country should utilise the next decade as the golden period for development.

“The country lagged behind in the last two decades due to multiple hassles and the political environment was also unfavourable to set long-term vision and execute it,” he said.

“All the political parties and state actors have realised that we were left far behind in the last two decades when other peer economies made dramatic progress in this period,” Sharma stated.

Private sector leaders have said that the country now needs to double its efforts to achieve the development goals. “The new leadership of the government should come up with a long-term vision to transform the country,” said Sharma of CNI. He emphasised that the new leadership should give top priority to regulatory changes and to build required infrastructure for industrial development.

Sharma also stressed that the new government that will be formed should give priority to developing public infrastructure, make optimum use of information, communication and technology (ICT), and improve governance so as to attract foreign and domestic investment to take forward the economy.

As every political party has presented their vision of socio-economic development of the country through their manifestos, both the ruling and opposition parties have to play a constructive role to implement their announcements. “Economic agenda has been given high priority in the manifestos of the political parties and they should do their best to implement that,” said Shekhar Golchha, senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“Whichever party forms the government, it should be more visionary for development and private sector growth which are key for taking forward the country towards a higher growth trajectory,” he stated.

Golchha further said that the political parties do not have many differences in their economic agenda and any party that forms the government will have to drive the country ahead to achieve the economic agenda.

The private sector believes that economic agenda will be in the centre of politics because people are aspiring for rapid progress and the election manifesto of the political parties have also made a commitment to deliver

on that front.