‘We have been Able to Address the Problems Faced by Nepali Traders’

 

Viraj Rai is the Line Manager of TLPL Shipping & Logistics Pvt Ltd.

 

The company is a member of Transworld Group that has interests in wide ranging areas from shipping, ship owning, ship management, agency business and forwarding to logistics and supply chain management. To ease the export/ import business into Nepal, the company is expanding its business in Nepal by offering Thru B/L service thereby transforming the ICD of Birgunj either into a truly functional hinterland dry port of loading to ICD or into a Dry Port. Rai was in Kathmandu to participate in a trade meet organized by Nepal Foreign Trade Association. In an interview with New Business Age, Rai has emphasized on the need of transport facilities for the importers operating international trade in Nepal. Excerpts:

 

  Could you please highlight the reason for your visit?

The reason for visiting Nepal this time has been to organize the trade meet, a long-term demand of the Nepal trade. So, we are promoting it through BL service, whereby importers in Nepal can greatly scan by availing our single window point-to-point total logistic solution. It will facilitate picking up the cargo from the port of origin or from the factory of the supplier and move it up to ICD Birgunj and issue them one single multimodal document BL for their entire service. As a result, they end up saving huge amount of cost. In normal convention system right now, they pay for detentions or delays from Kolkata port right up to ICD Birgunj. Moreover, we take care of that by providing that service and giving delivery to them in Birgunj and any delay in between is not a cost for them as we cover that risk in our service.

The whole purpose of our visit was to promote our services especially in Kathmandu. We have started this service more than a year ago. Earlier, it was introduced in Birgunj under the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, and we wanted to fine tune and improve it further. Therefore, we have been learning, fine-tuning, and improving ourselves during this period. We have felt in recent times that we are ready to take this to the next level. That is why we felt the need to organize this trade meet and address the entire trade in Kathmandu

 

 

What types of problems are the Nepalis importers facing while bringing goods from different ports through ICD Birgunj?

Since Nepal is a landlocked country, it is wholly dependent on nearby Kolkata ports. There are many problems put forward by Nepali importers while bringing goods from different ports. To begin with, they do not have control over the shipment period or the time and the container in sea. However, once it reaches the land, there is still uncertainty because there may be some delays at the Kolkata port in loading the container or delays in the train itself. Throughout this entire process, they have to depend on outside agencies for information flow and updates. Currently, they have to depend on shipping land to know the status when the container would reach Kolkata. They need to depend on the forwarder or the CHA to know when the container would be cleared at Kolkata port. Then they need to know when it would be loaded on wreck after which they need to follow up to know when the ship will reach Birgunj. In our service, we do away with all this. We give a single window solution and all the information flow is provided locally here at Birgunj. Therefore, this is a big solution to one of the biggest problems that Nepali trade is facing.

At the same time, because we are covering TLPL up to Birgunj, we have seen most of them paying huge amount of detention cost in the current conventional system. Due to this, crores of rupees is being paid to Indian shipping agents for the time taken for the containers to come from Kolkata and to go back which is normally much beyond the free time given by shipping lines. So, in our case, we cover that risk by providing service up to Birgunj so that there is further cost saving to the trade. These are two of the major problems being faced by the Nepali traders and we have been able to address it. At our level, we cannot address other problems that have been faced by the traders. It has to be done in accordance with India- Nepal treaties. However, the problems that we are addressing are within our control as it is based around shipping and land logistics.

 

What were the queries from the importers during the trade meet?

At the end of it, everybody is looking at the bottom line. Therefore, they look at ways to reduce the cost. The feedback we received from the audience is that sometimes the Kolkata port is congested. The next concern was how fast the container can be loaded for Birgunj. In the present scenario, it is not possible to give a guaranteed time. Then there is addressing of issues on a larger scale from government-to-government through transit treaty or rail service agreement between the two nations.
 

  How are you going to address the problems faced by the importers and exporters?

  One is the timely flow of information. There are also times when the traders find our rates little high so they give their business to the traditional forwarders. However, they are still in touch with us to try to get information that possibly they are not getting as accurately from their existing forwarders. Therefore, we do get calls regularly from importers in Nepal asking us to cross check on information. In the present scenario, they probably want to verify the information they are getting. In our service, the information flow will come from us directly and given to them in Nepal. They do not need to call at Kolkata as the entire single window solution will be given here in Nepal itself.

The second one is the cost element that we see on an average. There is a huge amount of detention cost being paid because of delays between Kolkata and Birgunj and empty containers going back. In our service, the container is going to be allowed up to Birgunj after which we plan to give three days free time for local importers at Birgunj and five days for importers from Kathmandu and Pokhara. According to me, these are ample time frames for the importers to empty containers and send them back to Birgunj. Once they return the containers to Birgunj, their responsibility ends there. They have no detentions to worry about because it’s us who cover that cost element. This is a two-fold benefit and we will see how we can add further value to this entire service. Along the line, we would also look for cutting down on costs that are within our control.

 

What are the weaknesses of Nepali exporters/importers while using your services?

Many traders import from China. There seems to be a miscommunication between the importer and supplier. Therefore, when we approach the supplier, we find it has not been properly informed that we are the nominated carriers. We see this mistake on flow of information to the suppliers a number of times. The other mistake is about error in documentation. There are times when the information provided to us is not accurate and we have to give back the documents to the importers. In addition, sometimes the documents sent for clearing the container at Kolkata are incomplete. These are small mistakes but they definitely lead to delays and increase the cost. Luckily, we have the provision in Indian customs to clear the cargo through copies of the documents so that it saves time while couriering the originals. With time, the number of mistakes has lowered as our customers are more aware now. With the new customers, we have to possibly educate them beforehand and see how they can avoid these mistakes.

In your opinion, how can Nepali traders become more competitive?

There is certainly a disadvantage being a landlocked country where you are dependent on ports. However, by utilizing our services, the traders would get advantage of cost which will make them competitive. In addition, if they focus on error free documentation and timely information flow, it will lead towards reduction of mistakes and eventually provide cost competitiveness to them. In today’s world when everything is online, I am sure that they can utilize the tools being offered by technology to bring down costs. We have seen in the past how Nepal has played its role in the export of garments and carpets. Therefore, there is an advantage of labor and craftsmanship somewhere along the line. If the traders can change their set mindset and accept the new technological services provided by us, it will definitely be beneficial for them.

The Nepali traders complain that they do not get information of their goods after they load it at the port to be sent to Nepal. What is your take on it?

Most of the customers who had the problem of not getting timely information are not particularly going by the system of traditional movement right now. This is where they have answered their own problem. We have assured them timely information and movement of the containers provided they give us the chance. Our service is the solution to their existing problems.

 

They also say that your service is a bit expensive and takes more time in comparison to other modes of transportations to Nepal. What do you say?

We have not seen any importers who have not paid detentions. In fact, most of them are paying it. They need to look at their cost and compare it. When we prepare quotations, most of the customers ask for cost breakup till Kolkata. This is not possible for us as we offer complete package solution. At the end of the day, we say that give us a chance to serve you. Our existing customers believed in us and subscriber to our idea. Moreover, those who started with us have stuck to us so far. We can always negotiate and come to an agreeable rate. Nevertheless, I can assure that in the long run, the cost benefit to the Nepali traders would be far more than what they think right now.

 

‘A Restaurant is a Personality Driven Business’

Hari Karki is the owner of GURU, a Hong Kong based Indian Restaurant as well as a Spanish eatery.
 

He started his career as a trainee in Hotel Soaltee Oberoi in 1993. Besides Food & Beverage business, he is involved with Universal Music Company. Karki, permanent resident of Hong Kong is also involved in a website business associated with Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC). The project is funded by HKJC and is worth 15 million Hong Kong dollars. In an interview with New Business Age, Karki divulged his plans for business expansion in Kathmandu in the near future. Excerpts:

 

 

Would you like to kindly share some experiences regarding early days in your career?

I started my hotel career as a trainee in Soaltee Oberoi in 1993 that lasted for nine months. Although the training was very basic, it was helpful for building the foundation of my career. After that, I joined Hotel Himalaya, which was a very important decision for my career. It provided me a strong base and I received support from many good colleagues there. That is where I learned the value of decision-making procedures.

 
How was your experience working in the Food and Beverage industry abroad?

While working at Hotel Himalaya, I thought about pursuing higher studies. So, I went to Bahrain for management studies and afterwards, worked for a year there. Thereafter, I went to Hong Kong for holidays. That is how I landed in Hong Kong. In the meanwhile, I resigned from the Bahrain hotel I was working at. In Hong Kong, I started working at Curry Pot Restaurant as one of my friends was working there already. They were looking for manager at that time. The moment I landed there, I realized the tremendous potential that the restaurant had. I started working and within a few months, I brought about many changes within the restaurant. We were able to open three outlets of the restaurant soon. We also created a brand “Curry in a Hurry” fast food chain in Hong Kong. Later, I was given 25 per cent equity and there were 145 employees working under me.

One important aspect of this industry is to make customers feel that we care for them and at the same time, not ready to compromise with high standards. You need to improvise on the quality of food, service, and everything else. Hong Kong is a very competitive city and there are unique ideas and people everywhere. You need to compete with them in order to capture the market.

 

Are you involved in any other business currently apart from Food and Beverages business?

Besides Food and Beverage business, I am involved with Universal Music Company. We are involved in website business associated with Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC). The project is funded by HKJC and is a 10 million Hong Kong dollar project with additional five million for marketing. This makes the project worth a total of Rs 15 million Hong Kong dollars. The reason for setting this website is for lottery, horse racing, football gambling etc. Since HKJC cannot directly promote gambling, they create lifestyle websites called as Fasttrack.hk to encourage youths towards such activities. It is the Asian perspective of entertainment and we promote it as an essence of lifestyle. We update our subscribers with new information regarding fashion, music, politics etc.

 Currently, I am planning to expand the Food and Beverage business. I am also working on a Brazilian concept outlet. I think this is a good idea as Brazil is hosting the 2014 Football World Cup. At that time, the craze for Brazil will be higher therefore, we are working on that aspect. I am also looking forward to invest in Kathmandu so I am trying to find right partners here to start unique ventures.

 

What are the new trends, besides food, to run restaurants successfully in today‘s age?

I think the new trend is the people who run such businesses. Besides food, interior plays a vital role and adds soul to restaurants. It is a personality driven business. It could be the personality of the manager, waiters, or the restaurant itself. If you could put the soul of your staffs to provide service to your customers, they matter more than the expensive furniture, wines, or any other aspect of the restaurants.

Therefore, gone are the days when the hotel employees treated the customers with mere words. These days, there is a new trend in Hong Kong where the customers and the employees of restaurants or hotels treat each other as friends.

 
Would you like to explain about the potential cutleries that are to be used in restaurants?

Everybody wants to be updated these days. When anything comes to your table, it is very essential to work on details. You want to use contemporary utensils to catch up with the changing desires of the customers. Having said so, I would like to add that the look of the equipments and the cutleries should match with the theme of the restaurant. If you are running a modern restaurant, you cannot afford to place old cutleries there. Therefore, you need to update accordingly.

 

What are the areas that Nepali hoteliers should improve upon?

I came here a couple of years ago. The sad thing is that when I went to the same place, I found that the menu had not changed. The good part was that the people working there were the same. However, it was clear that they were not being able to keep pace with the trend. The question is not only about wanting to upgrade but whether the entrepreneurs are actually doing it in practice. However, at the end of the day, it’s the customers who decide about the change.

Customers visit the restaurants and hotels to feel the difference. However, if they get the same boring treatment through the services of hotels and restaurants, they would not enjoy it. Therefore, in this particular business, the first thing is to upgrade our services in a similar manner we upgrade our life itself.

 

It is said that the services of the five star hotels here in Nepal is equivalent to the services of three star hotels abroad. What is your comment on this comparison?

Well, I do not think that the comparison is fair. The categorization of hotels or restaurants depends on the kind of service you provide to your customers. For instance, there are many ways of providing service to your customers. Serving is an art in itself which sets you apart from others. It is an important aspect that every restaurants and hotels should understand while providing services to their clients.

 

What improvements should the service provider bring to achieve perfection in services provided to the clients?

  I think, to begin with, the trainer should get the proper training themselves. Then only, they will be able to train their staffs accordingly. When you do not update yourself, you will not come to know about new trends in the business. These days, customers seldom complain about your service. They simply stop coming to your place. If your customers complain about your services, you must take it positively and think of these customers as your well-wishers. People do not have the time to point out your weaknesses all the time so it is your responsibility to upgrade your service in accordance with the present time. Tell us something about your restaurant and the investment figures involved.

The theme of my restaurant is simple and it is unique that in a very short period of time, the restaurant has created a brand of its own. There has been a breakthrough in Indian cuisine and you can find good reviews and comments about my restaurants on my website. It has been almost three-and-a-half years now. The investment in the restaurant is 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars while the annual turnover is around 4.2 million Hong Kong dollars. With an area of 1500 square feet, the seating capacity of the restaurant is 175 people.

When you travel around the world, you can see many Indian restaurants, however, there are very few Nepali restaurants abroad. Is it because we lack varieties to offer in terms of our cuisine?   

I do not agree with this observation of yours. In my opinion, you have to study the market before you start any business. For instance, if you target only Indian customers at Indian restaurants, you will fail. You have to think holistically. In Hong Kong also, Nepalis have great scope everywhere as the people of Hong Kong have tremendous respect for Nepalis. I also serve some Nepali delicacies at my restaurants. We have enough scope to serve Nepali delicacies to the customers in Hong Kong.  
 

How are Nepali businesspersons doing in Hong Kong?

The involvement of Nepalis in Food and Beverage business is remarkable. They have left even the westerners behind, in this respect. Let me give you one example. Few months ago, two young Nepali men opened two new outlets called Escape and China Bar with an investment of 16 million Hong Kong dollars. They are doing fabulous business In terms of other businesses, Nepalis are involved in import/export, construction, travel agency etc. I must say they are doing well for themselves in Hong Kong.

 

Are you associated with the NRN Association? Are there any NRN businesspersons who are doing business here?

I am a member of the association, however, I am not actively involved in it. As an idea, it is good. However, I do not see where they are heading. It all depends on who is leading the association. There are many NRNs doing business here. Some are involved in banking, travel agencies, trading, and others. I think that everyone has to work on their strong aspect, start from scratch and then dream big. If I have to start a business here, I will have to learn the basics about the market. That is the reason why I am looking forward to appropriate partners here in Nepal. I would need at least six months to study the market locally.

 

 

‘We See a Huge Yet-to-be-Tapped Market for BUSY in Nepal’

 

Pankaj Kumar Roy is Business Development Manager at Busy Accounting Software, one of the popular accounting and inventory management software for MSMEs in India. 
 

The company has currently over half-a-million users in over 20 countries. BUSY 12 is the software that the company has introduced lately. Roy visited Kathmandu recently for the expansion of his software business in Nepal. In an interview with New Business Age, he talked about the importance of accounting software in Nepal’s business sector. Excerpts:

 

What is the purpose of your visit to Nepal this time?

This time, we came here for the promotion of our new software BUSY 12. We are providing technical support to busy users as well as providing training to channel partners on BUSY 12 – our latest version for BUSY range of accounting software.

What are the major features of your software products?

BUSY is an accounting and inventory management software. The salient features of BUSY are: Financial Accounting, Inventory Management, Statutory Reports, Invoicing, Production, Bill of Material, Multi- Location management, checks and controls, MIS and many more.

 

Please tell us something about your software BUSY 12. Who are the target groups for this product?

BUSY 12 is an accounting and inventory software with a host of new features and enhanced functionalities including sales/purchase quotation, customizable reports, data access through SMS/e-mail, auto back-up of data and provision for voucher audit etc. It’s an ERP for SMEs which allows businesses to manage their accounting, inventory, invoicing, and statutory requirements. It also offers a feature that would help the user in securing their data against theft and misuse, thus maintaining a better control mechanism. It also enables users in preparing sales or purchase quotation. All businesses which require software to manage their business are our target customers. Hence, all SMEs and in fact the corporate houses also, can benefit from BUSY 12.

 

How are you promoting your business in Nepal?

We sell our software through the channel partners in Nepal. Currently, we have three channel partners in Kathmandu and multiple resellers working for these channel partners. As an organization, we put big emphasis on customer satisfaction so we plan regular visits to our customers to resolve their issues. We regularly participate in leading exhibitions in Nepal and organize seminars and workshops also. Moreover, we take regular feedback from our partners and customers to incorporate features specific to businesses requirements in Nepal.

 

What are your plans to attract more number of people using your services?

As I mentioned earlier, customer satisfaction is our motto. We believe in a theory that ‘one happy customer refers you to ten more,’ so we are striving hard to make our customer feel happiest which we believe will boost our business. We have plans to organize meetings, workshops and seminars regularly to train and educate people on BUSY. Moreover, we would be participating in leading exhibitions and advertising in leading newspapers too.

 

How can Nepali Industries benefit from your products?

We have so many excellent features in BUSY which simplify the businesses of Nepali SMEs. For example, we provide Nepal VAT reports, Nepali date, computerised billing, checks and controls, multi-branch management etc including other features which have been beneficial for Nepali businesses.

  What is your assessment of the market demand for your software?

We see a huge yet-to-be-tapped market for BUSY in Nepal. Our software caters to almost every industry – retailers, traders, distributors, discreet manufacturers and corporate entities. However, most of the businesses here are either not using any software or are using out-dated software to manage their accounting and inventory needs. Therefore, we feel that we are in the right position to capture a big market share in the next two to five years.

 

 

 

‘We Help Nepali Counterparts to meet IT Product Needs’

 

Alexander Oddoz-Mazet is the Director – Asia Pacific Region of Microsoft Operations Pte Ltd.

 

  Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and business realize their full potential. Through its regional office in Bangladesh, it has been marketing and promoting Microsoft products and solutions in territories of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Microsoft has been present in Nepal since 2007. Oddoz-Mazet was in Kathmandu to attend a business event titled “Maximizing Business Productivity – Leveraging Microsoft Technologies”. In an interview with New Business Age, he talked about Microsoft’s business productivity solutions among other issue. Excerpts:

 

With business productivity being high on most organizations’ priority list, what does Microsoft offer in specific to the Nepal market?

We are developing a new scenario that helps people to work together as a team and as an organization. Communication is one of the key scenarios so people need to do it more effectively while collaboration is also one of the scenarios that we need to work at more effectively. At Microsoft, we now have a few technological solutions that can help to achieve that. One of them is Unified Communications which is a way to reduce complexity by putting people at the centre of the communications experience. The goal is to integrate all of the ways we contact each other in a single environment using a single identity and presence. It provides businesses in Nepal with the power to choose how they provision services whether on their own premises, as cloud services, or in a hybrid fashion.

How significant is Unified Communications from Microsoft’s perspective?

It is very important indeed. With Unified Communications, we bring instant messaging, web, email, calendar, SMS etc together into one platform which makes it very easy for information technology (IT) divisions at organizations to manage a lot of things and make them very cost effective. It is a one-stop solution to everything. For themes, it has one-user interface that enables organizations to perform all types of communication. It has made it easy to drive a new way for all activities, to use different tools. With the Unified Solution powered by Microsoft, the users are free from the hassle of using different access, passwords and methods to use it. We provide a new communication solution not only to connect internally but also to the outside world.

Please share the key capabilities of these solutions that you have mentioned in your presentation In not only Nepal, but also in countries around South East Asia like Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, we found that people create word document, PowerPoint presentations, picture, videos and store them in their personal computers (PCs). This is not a very effective option. If we want to work as a team and want to access those documents, it is not possible if they are stored in the individual PCs only. With SharePoint, you build an internet site within your company where only the employees of your company and trusted partners can have access to the information. SharePoint is one of the fastest growing products in business because people realise that they need to share the documents and work together as a team. Therefore, having the documents in a central location, which is easily searchable and accessible to people, can work effectively. We see the government officials and businesspersons using SharePoint to a large extent.

Sometimes, it takes a while for a new technology to develop inside an organization. However, when the professionals inside an organization get along with the technology over time, they can adopt it to manage overall technology on their own. The fundamental capability of the software is to make people more productive. It makes a country more competitive in the world market. In Nepal, most of the talent goes outside the country in search of better opportunities. Our technology, adopted by organizations, can keep the intelligent people within the country which, in turn, helps the economy. There are lot of functionalities but at the core, Microsoft software is helping economies prosper and become more competitive at the world stage. With the integrated value of SharePoint, Link, Exchange, and Office into one platform, it makes the employees and teams to use the software more effectively.  

What can companies do to understand Microsoft and business productivity solutions better?

One of the challenges we see is the people cannot properly understand what business productivity solutions can do for their business. In order to facilitate their understanding, we can show some works on PowerPoint presentation to them and also perform a demo if required. However, the best way to understand any product is to experience it. The analogy that I present many times to make my point is that you do not buy a car looking at its website. You take a decision by doing a test drive.

Our partners have invested in a facility called “Customer Emersion Experience” in which we bring business people and IT professionals together. Once they enter our facility, we place laptops in front of them and make them test drive Microsoft Productivity business solutions for the next two-three hours. This is the best way to make people understand the value of our platform. We then drive a communication between the IT professionals and business people on ways to enable software in an organization and the value that the business can get. The other way is that we are talking with some of the companies to deploy our technology on a small scale, to begin with. However, the cost effective way is to utilize our “Customer Emersion Experience” scheme.

 
What makes you believe you are better than the competition?

  We have a lot of competitors in the market and needless to say, all of them have very niche products. For Microsoft Unified Communications, we compete with people who deal with voice mail system, web conferencing solution and telephonic solution. The way we think about it is to have an integrated approach with the platform. The other is to deliver all those services that are being delivered by independent vendors. We provide ways for a company not to have many relationships with vendors. It’s because we provide vendor consolidations to them.

How can business houses in Nepal benefit from this technology?

Our software will help the user nations to save money on telecommunication. Nepal is a country with a lot of remote areas where people are seeking access to information. Unified communications can help them to deliver more value to the employees, customers, public servants and the citizens of the country. Many government agencies around the world are adopting this technology for better connection with citizens who need access to information. The software called SharePoint enables sharing of information and documents with people internally and the outside world.

We help the IT departments in Nepal to provide one platform that can address all the different productivity needs. Therefore, it reduces their cost of having multiple vendor relationship and different solutions from different vendors. In addition, the IT department can have expertise around a single platform. Whereas, on the business side, people’s familiarity with applications like Word,