Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Paudel said on Friday that there were ample opportunities in the country’s hydropower, tourism, agricultural and service sectors and called on the youths to seek career opportunities within the country.
Paudel made the remark during his address to a programme organised by the Rupandehi Chapter of Nepalese Young Entrepreneurs’ Forum.
The appeal comes amid a surge in the exodus of Nepali youths for job and education opportunities, primarily due scarcity of decent opportunities at home.
According to the International Labour Organization’s estimate, around 400,000 youths enter the labour market every year in Nepal. But, a majority of them leave for foreign employment, primarily due to lack of employment opportunities at home.
A central bank’s report in December 2019 says that one of Nepal's major exports is labour, and most rural households now rely on at least one member's earnings from employment away from home.
Between fiscal years 2008/09 and 2021/22, more than 4.7 million new labour approvals were issued to Nepalis wanting to work abroad, according to the Nepal Labour Migration Report 2022.
Despite having nearly 62% of the population aged between 15 and 59 years, experts worry the increasing exodus of youth could bar the country from fully utilising its demographic dividend.
Though remittance has helped Nepal in the reduction of poverty and it has been a major source for the country’s foreign exchange reserves, they have warned that Nepal needs to end its dependency on remittance at the earliest.
It deprives the country of its youth needed for making socio-economic progress, they say.
Though the number of Nepalis going for overseas jobs slightly declined in the last fiscal year, the remittance inflow increased by 16.5% to Rs 1,445.32 billion during the period.
Citing the positive economic indicators, Paudel claimed that a 30% rise in revenue collection would balance the economy, but the reduction in overall internal production and demand have exerted pressure on the entire economy.
“Industrial production on average is just around 40% [of their capacity],” Paudel said.
Nepal’s foreign exchange reserves increased by 32.6% to Rs 2,041.10 billion in a year from Rs 1539.36 billion in mid-July 2023.
Economist Jagdish Chandra Pokharel had recently told NBA that the domestic sector was yet to be vibrant.
“Most of the industries, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have been operating at less than 40% of their capacities,” said Pokharel, also the former vice-chairman at the National Planning Commission. “Though the economic activities seem to have increased slightly in recent months, most of the shutters continue to remain closed in the market.”
The upcoming festival season is expected to boost the economic activities as people tend to spend more during the festivities.
The latest census report also showed that nearly 2.1 million Nepalis were living outside Nepal.
Similarly, the amount spent by Nepalis for abroad studies surged by 24.6% in the last fiscal year.
The students spent around Rs 125.13 billion in foreign studies in FY 2023/24, compared to around Rs 100.42 billion in FY 2022/23 and around Rs 67.7 billion in 2021/22, according to the Nepal Rastra Bank.
During Friday’s programme, Paudel also pledged to involve the private sector in the decision-making process, adding that the government was ready to listen to the problems of the business community and to explore solutions through dialogues.
(With inputs from RSS)
