Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada has said that financial sector reform in Nepal is essentially the banking sector reform. Nepal had started the said reform programme in 2004 with financial and technical assistance from the World Bank and British Development Agency DFID. Among the main objectives of the programme were to improve the financial standings of the two major state owned banks, Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) and Nepal Bank Limited (NBL). The programme also looked at enhancing the institutional and supervisory capacities of the central bank.
Both the banks had foreigners as Chief Executives as well as part of the management teams while NRB too had foreign consultants in various positions. Speaking at a discussion programme organised by Nepal Economic Association to discuss ‘Financial Sector Reform Programme: Lessons Learnt and The Way Forward’ Dr Khatiwada observed, “Reform does not mean employing consultants, it is rather an exercise in building institutional capacities.â€
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The Chief Executive Officer of Lumbini Bank, Shovan Dev Pant made a paper presentation highlighting the private sector perspective. Pant appreciated the private sector’s contribution towards the development of Nepal’s financial sector. Speaking on the occasion, Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal refused to accept that the financial sector reform has derailed. “However, it is progressing at a very slow pace,†he said. Citing the example of several major banks collapsing at the start of the global recession, Khanal remarked that banking has an intense domino effect when compared to other sectors.
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Among the other speakers at the programme, former NRB Governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai opined that the loan defaulters are the major reason for impeding reforms. Dipendra Bahadur Kshetri, also a former NRB Governor, argued that home-grown experts are competent enough to manage Nepali banks and suggested that the reform programme must be carried forward under their leadership. Â
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Lomus Pharmaceuticals and Nepali Paper Products won the National Excellence Award under medium and small industry category respectively while Hulas Wire Industries received National Class Certificate Award. For Service Excellence Award, Direction Nepal was the winner under medium scale industry category while Quest Entertainment won it under the small scale industry category. Likewise, Butwal Power Company and Nepal Pharmaceuticals Lab bagged the award under the large scale industry category.
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Kumari Bank and Quest Pharmaceuticals were awarded People’s Development Certificate under People’s Excellence Award.
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FNCCI Excellence Award was instituted in 2001. Earlier, Surya Tobacco (2001), Standard Chartered Bank Nepal (2003) and Surya Nepal (2005) had won the prestigious award.
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Fifteen companies vied for this year’s awards sponsored by Nimbus Agri Business Enterprise.
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The awards are given in three categories: National Excellence, Service Excellence and People Excellence. These three categories are further divided among large, medium and small industry categories. According to FNCCI President Kush Kumar Joshi, the awards recognise overall excellence. Customer service, employees’ development and satisfaction are among the parameters taken into consideration for the awards.
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Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Khanal praised the awards selection process as scientific and expressed hope that the participant companies take the feedback from the evaluation process seriously and improve their quality.
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FNCCI President Joshi said, “The excellence awards are not merely recognition of the past achievements but they also provide a framework to improve performance in the future.†He hoped that the Excellence Awards will be able to create a benchmark for existing businesses and industries in Nepal. He explained that the award is created in the best fit model for Nepal after examining similar awards in the US, Japan and India.
