As the House of Representatives elections on February 21 draw near, political parties are busy writing their manifestos. They are announcing that they will prioritize issues of development and change in their manifestos, from attracting voters to their parties.

At the same time, the private sector, which is making a significant contribution to job creation and economic transformation in the country, has emphasized that the manifestos of the parties should prioritize political and policy stability, an investment-friendly environment, and economic prosperity. 

Not only the leadership of the central umbrella organization of the private sector—the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce—but also experts in the economic sector have said that political parties should mainstream the economic agenda and guide the development of the country. But they have one concern—will the announcements made this time also not be implemented like in the past? Federation President Chandra Dhakal says, ‘In the election manifesto, parties must prioritize the economy and ensure an environment where the private sector can work without hindrance.’ 

Because he claims that there will be no investment in the country unless there is a smooth policy framework for the development of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, respect for the private sector, assurance of unhindered access to business, and security of property. 

‘There is no employment creation without investment. There is no improvement in income levels without employment. If income levels do not increase, human development cannot be improved as expected. Revenue must increase to make education and health accessible to all,' said Dhakal. He said that an environment where the private sector can work smoothly and a policy that is conducive to it is necessary to increase revenue. 

Dhakal said that there is a problem of obstruction in the infrastructure built by the private sector under various pretexts. 'How will employment be possible if there is no infrastructure construction and industries and factories?' He asked, 'How will the idea of ​​providing employment in the country be possible?' Dhakal stressed that the answers to these questions should be included in the manifesto. 

Chairman Dhakal also said that the federation is planning to prepare a 'common manifesto' and make it public this week to provide information on the issues that political parties should include in their manifestos regarding the economy and the private sector. 

Although political parties will make very sweet announcements in their speeches, he said that since this has not happened in practice, the federation is preparing a common manifesto and submitting it. He also said that he wants all parties to include the issues mentioned in the common manifesto in their manifestos. 

He argues that their role in job creation should not be ignored, given the reality that the government has been able to provide employment to only 3,000 to 3,500 people a year. But if the private sector shrinks, opportunity creation will shrink. 

‘Young people are forced to go abroad. They can work in private businesses abroad, but why not work in private industries and establishments in Nepal?’ Dhakal said. 

He also said that the private sector has not been able to work and policy obstacles are obstacles to prosperity. ‘If we cannot institutionalize democracy by holding elections for political stability and do not allow the private sector to work safely, we cannot succeed,’ he said. Ultimately, he says that this failure will be passed on to future generations as well. 

‘Now we have to think – do we want to hand over a failed country to future generations or a prosperous Nepal?’ he asked. Chairman Dhakal said that the private sector is of the view that the economic agenda should now be a common agenda for everyone to answer these questions. 

Along with political stability, a strong economic system is the first requirement for the country's development, said Birendra Raj Pandey, Chairman of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI). He said that even though parties bring an economic agenda in their manifestos, implementation does not get priority when they are in government. 

The Confederation emphasizes that along with political stability, a strong economic system should be given first requirement for the country's development. 'The parties should move forward with a national consensus on economic development issues and agendas for the prosperity of the entire nation, including good governance, economic development, and employment,' said Chairman Pandey.

For this, he said that the national consensus should clearly mention the long-term vision for the country's development, priority areas, and a time-bound action plan for projects and implementation. 

All political parties should prepare manifestos with the economy at the center and that it should make it clear to the common Nepali people how the country will move forward in terms of development in the coming days, said Nirvan Chaudhary, senior vice president of the Confederation. “We should be assured of how the overall economic development will move forward, taking into account the declining confidence of the private sector,” Chaudhary said. 

The Confederation has stated that there is no coordination between the commitments made in the manifestos of the parties and the work done by them when they were in government, and that the past experience of political agendas taking precedence over economic ones makes comprehensive reforms inevitable in the coming days. 

It is necessary to close the huge gap seen in the policies and programs, budgets and implementation formulated by the government, Pandey said that the priorities are changing while the economic policies and plans for the country’s economic development should continue, and the country is lagging behind economically due to the lack of ownership of policies and programs. 

Pandey said that the common people are concerned that the issues of good governance are not being implemented even though they are talked about. The Confederation emphasizes that the bodies and individuals responsible for the effective implementation of the announced economic policies and plans should be made more responsible.

The Confederation has suggested priorities for the parties in the areas of industrialization, export promotion and import substitution, domestic product promotion and market regulation, direct foreign investment, skills and employment, infrastructure development, good governance, innovation, domestic, small and medium enterprises, information technology-based industries, education and health, energy, tourism, agriculture, forests and environment. 

Since there is no alternative to economic prosperity, all political parties should make it a priority and formulate their manifestos, said Nepal Chamber of Commerce President Kamlesh Kumar Agrawal. He said that the upcoming manifesto should pay attention to these issues as many movements in Nepal, including Gen-G, have demanded good governance, corruption prevention and job creation. 

‘Political parties should make maximum use of natural resources,’ Agrawal said, ‘Our most important asset is 57 percent of the youth workforce. They had to create job opportunities in the country. The ups and downs seen in the global economy do not determine when and where Nepalis will lose their jobs.' Therefore, Agrawal argues that political parties should ensure the stability of economic policy and investment environment along with politics in the upcoming elections. 

Bhuvan Dahal, a financial expert and former banker, said that political parties should make a commitment in their manifesto that they will appoint only someone who understands the economy as the finance minister in the upcoming elections. 'In the past, UML made Bishnu Poudel, Congress made Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, and Maoists made Krishna Bahadur Mahara the finance minister. By appointing someone who does not understand the economy as the finance minister, UML, Congress and Maoists have despised the citizens,' he said. 'Now, no party should repeat such a mistake. Because the citizens are not looking for a finance minister like them. People with deep knowledge of the economy like Ram Sharan Mahat, Mahesh Acharya, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Dr. People like Yubaraj Khatiwada and Surendra Pandey are the ones the people of the country are looking for as finance ministers.' 

He said that since the economy cannot gain momentum when a finance minister is appointed for the purpose of collecting donations for the party, political parties should express a commitment in their manifesto to appoint only those who understand the economy as finance ministers.

'When a party is appointed finance minister to collect donations, economic development cannot be achieved by such a person. This is a basic matter,' Dahal said, 'because after becoming a good finance minister, good people are appointed as governors, vice-chairmen of the Planning Commission, Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal, Insurance Authority and other regulatory bodies.' 

Dahal claims that due to the lack of suitable people at the helm of regulatory bodies, citizens are being cheated by issuing IPOs at premiums. 

He commented that no one has paid attention to stopping such distortions. 'A regulator is needed to protect the people, not a structure that cheats. It is essential to establish a trend of appointing the right person to the right position based on qualifications, experience and capabilities. For this, it would be appropriate to create a structure for high-level appointments in the Public Service Commission,' Dahal said, 'The government should not do business but should act as a facilitator and regulatory body for the private sector.'

Dahal said that two out of three government banks have not even been able to purchase new software. 'But despite knowing that the core banking system cannot run with the current software, banks have not been able to purchase it due to procedural complications due to fear of the CIAA and others,' he said, 'Butwal yarn factory is closed. Reliance Spinning Mills is making money. Nepal Airlines is in a critical situation, Buddha Air is making money. Himal Cement is closed, Maruti Cement is making money. These examples also show that the government should not do business, but should act as a facilitator and regulatory body.'