At the inaugural session of the Kantipur Economic Summit, he stressed that Nepal should pay more attention to information technology and tourism, stating that the agricultural sector's rhetoric was not realistic.
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Although Nepal has long considered itself an agricultural country, the World Bank's Country Director David Sislen has said that now the country needs to focus on digital services and information technology for its economic progress.
In the opening session of the Kantipur Economic Summit, he said that the agricultural-centric narrative is not realistic and emphasized that Nepal should pay more attention to information technology and tourism. Nepal exported information technology services worth about $800 million to $1 billion last year alone, Sislen said.
He believes that cooperation between both the public and private sectors is necessary for the development of the digital sector. He mentioned that the government's goal of digitizing public services is positive and that the obligation to wait for long periods to obtain services such as driver's licenses should end.
He said that Nepal needs immediate policy reforms to make the digital economy safe and manageable. 'Nepal needs to immediately enact a data security act and a cyber security policy,' he said, 'Nepal's weather is better than other digital hubs. Kathmandu is more livable than other such hubs for the next 25 years. This could make Kathmandu a major hub for digital innovation and foreign investment.’ He said that Nepal should focus on the service sector to achieve its 7 percent economic growth target.
Sislen mentioned that it is now necessary to improve the quality of basic education to channel the energy of local digital entrepreneurs in the right direction and prepare the workforce of the future. ‘Before talking about high-level technologies like cybersecurity or AI, the foundation of basic education must be strong,’ he said. ‘Still, 70 percent of the population does not have equal access to quality education. The quality of education in community schools is critical.’
Regarding the overall economy, Sislen said that Nepal should be given top priority as it is still on the ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). ‘The level of foreign direct investment in Nepal is among the lowest in the world,’ he said. ‘Investors are allowed to repatriate profits and investment will not increase unless the tax system is reformed.’
With the statistics of 2,000 youth going abroad for employment every day, Sislen pointed out that job creation is the biggest challenge for Nepal. ‘I have been here for 21 months, so far 1.2 million Nepalis have left the country in search of work,’ he said. ‘By the end of my 4 or 5 years in Nepal, people equal to the population of Kathmandu will have left the country. This is a matter of concern.’
According to Sislen, time is running out for Nepal’s hydropower sector as water resources will not always be the same. He said that three major projects such as Upper Arun, Dudhkoshi and Budhi Gandaki require an investment of $8/9 billion and the government alone cannot raise it, so a partnership with the private sector (PPP) is essential for this. Sislen also said that there is a need to change the mindset in Nepal that considers the private sector and profit as bad.
