“Not an End Point, but a Catalyst”: NEF 2025 Sets Vision for the Future

Madan Lamsal, Chairman and CEO of New Business Age, delivered a rousing closing address at the Nepal Entrepreneurship Forum (NEF) 2025, summarising the two-day event’s key takeaways and urging participants to act on the insights shared.

Highlighting the forum’s central themes, Lamsal said, “Social innovation anchors entrepreneurship,” and reminded participants that “Sustainability is core, not side agenda.” Stressing the importance of collective effort, he noted, “no entrepreneur succeeds alone—ecosystems thrive on collaboration.”

Lamsal pointed out that mindset plays a vital role in entrepreneurship. “Belief precedes expertise,” he said, and added, “belief drives innovation—skills matter, but mindset leads.”

He called for entrepreneurs to focus on meaningful change: “Entrepreneurship must solve real problems—not just create products.” Lamsal urged startups to embed sustainability at the foundation of their ventures, not as an afterthought. “Sustainability should be built into the business model, not added later,” he said.

Reflecting on the forum, Lamsal remarked, “We have shared rich conversations, bold ideas, and the collective commitment to reimagine entrepreneurship in Nepal and around the world.” He called the forum a platform for “shared visioning,” where entrepreneurship was viewed as sustainable, inclusive, and transformational.

He said that NEF 2025 stood not just as a conference but as “a movement,” with a clear purpose: “To create a spirit of NEF 2025 for a new horizon—let it be a catalyst and not an end point.”

Lamsal closed his remarks by quoting Nobel Laureate Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus: “A charity dollar has only one life; a social business dollar can be invested over and over again.” He urged everyone to “choose to invest—in ideas, in people, and in change.”

Organised by King’s College and its research wing CERAD, in collaboration with New Business Age, the two-day conference brought together academics, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and other stakeholders to chart the future of sustainable entrepreneurship in the region.