LETTERS: Canadian investment

Canada has elected a new government to office and it is the time for exploring and expanding new economic opportunities with the new active government in Nepal. Being a landlocked nation, Nepal needs to open up direct foreign investments, overseas trade and commerce and establish stronger bilateral relations with the western democracies, including Canada. Nepal’s market is of interest for Canadian agriculture and natural resource products, in the areas of infrastructure development, energy supplies, development of telecommunications, promoting tourism and laying strong foundation for education and research. Nepal’s market has been so far ignored by Canadian investors which can provide boost to both economies. The current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Nepali counterpart PM Oli must work towards establishing bilateral relationships and strengthening socio-economic ties. The Nepali diaspora in Canada can play an important role in bridging the connection between the two nations and start a new chapter of peace, democracy and economic developments. Nepal can invite the Canadian investors in hydropower and tourism sectors as both have tremendous potential for growth. There is a huge opportunity of investment in hydropower sector because Nepal has signed a Power Trading Agreement with India which can buy the energy produced in Nepal. The Canadian investors can also be attracted to explore petroleum and natural gas in Nepal where a number of areas have been identified with potential for fossil fuel.

Saikat Kumar Basu, Canada

Education

Due to the brutal economic blockade imposed by India against Nepal, which has also led to shortage of petroleum products, bleeding the country dry at the moment, education has also been hampered very badly. Students are also the ones who are not being able to gain the deserving education peacefully and without any hurdle. It’s a well-known fact that students should be given their right to education because they need it the most. The educational institutions have not been able to run classes due to the shortage of fuel. The government must provide enough fuel to the educational institutional so that they can run classes without any obstruction. As the students are the future pillars of the nation they should not be deprived of their right to education. Now the government of Nepal must work with India with solidarity and determination in order to solve such a serious problem before it becomes too late.

The educational institutions have just opened after a long holiday of Dashain and Tihar festivals. But it is uncertain whether they will continue to run the classes as usual. As the School Leaving Certificate examination is just a few months away from now the government should leave no stones unturned to make sure that all the schools across the country are run. It is also the responsibility of the agitating parties to make sure that the children can go to schools without fear.

Pratik Shrestha, Kathmandu