“It is a great honor for us to have an opportunity to host this event in the capital city of The Netherlands. We realise that without the support and cooperation of NCCs and ICCs we will not be able to organise it successfully,” NRN-NCC, the Netherlands, said in a statement.

The ERM is a common platform of all European NCCs and aims to strengthen the collaboration among them for their unity among the NRNs and sustainability of NRN’s engagements.

Source: Nepalnlews.com

The capital market regulator has sought amendment in regulation to revise provisions regarding experience of fund managers and supervisors and the registration fee in addition to introducing a clause that will allow Non Resident Nepalis (NRNs) to invest in Nepali capital market through mutual funds.

“We have already sent a proposal for the amendment to the Finance Ministry for its approval,” said director of Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) Niraj Giri. “We had received complaints about the number of years of experience

required for executives of fund managing companies and that of fund supervisors and that had posed

a hindrance for the setting up of mutual funds, so

Sebon has proposed for

the amendment,” Giri informed.

According to the existing regulation, fund supervisors need to have a minimum experience of 15 years in the relevant field and the chief executive of the fund manager needs to have 10 years of relevant work experience.

Mutual Fund Regulation 2067 finally came into operation in September 2010 after a long homework spanning more than a couple of years. Setting up of mutual funds requires

a fund sponsor that promotes and establishes the fund, and a fund manager is appointed to prepare, operate and manage the schemes and handle

investments. The undertakings of the fund manager are looked after by fund supervisors who ensure

that the fund is being properly managed.

In Nepal, mostly commercial banks have applied as fund sponsors and their merchant banking entities as fund managers. Siddhartha Bank has already received the license to start a fund under its newly formed merchant banking arm –– Siddhartha Capital. The bank that was granted license in August 2011 is yet to launch its scheme. “Moreover, the amendment will allow investment companies of NRNs to establish a mutual fund and channel their investment in Nepal through the fund,” pointed out Giri. The amendment is seeking to permit investment companies belonging to NRNs to hold a stake of up to 49 per cent as fund sponsors.

Mutual funds have been recognised as the best medium to channelise NRN investment in the capital market by the committee formed to prepare guidelines to facilitate NRN investment. The government had opened capital market investment for NRNs in the budget of last fiscal year.

However, due to practical complications regarding the entry and exit of foreign retail capital, the matter had remained in theory only. NRNs can appoint licensed portfolio managers to undertake investments on their behalf.

However, there are difficulties regarding the exit mechanism for the returns and funds that NRNs have invested. The committee had recommended investment through a company for NRNs instead of by an individual due to the simpler provision for repatriation of returns for companies.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety said the panel, which will report its findings in around two months, was formed to seek a way to allow non-resident Nepalis and others living abroad to participate in national

elections.

Uprety said the team is also going to draft necessary legal changes.

“Recommendations from the study will help develop and effectively implement the proposed setup. The team will dwell on financial constraints to allow voting from abroad,” said Upreti. The commissioner said people living abroad can have a ‘significant impact’ on any electoral process.

According to findings of the 2011 census,1.92 per cent of Nepalis are living abroad.

The seven-member team comprises Jiba Lamichhane, president of Non- Resident Nepali Association; Rajan Khanal, joint secretary at the Finance Ministry; Bhola Siwakoti, joint secretary at the Home Ministry; Arjun Bahadur Thapa, joint secretary at the Foreign Ministry; Raju Man Singh Malla, joint secretary at the Ministry of Law and Justice; and Sharadha Prasad Trital, joint secretary at the EC.

Updated voters’ list

KATHMANDU: The Election Commission started publishing an updated voters’ list nationwide, except in Banke district, from Sunday. The list will help rectify the errors, check repetition and omission of names, said acting CEC Uprety. The commission said the public should report such errors within 14 days. The respective VDC or ward is to publish the list as per its convenience.

source: Himalayan Times

At a discussion programme organised by the NRN amid the presence of newly appointed ambassadors of South Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Australia, Denmark, European Union and Rusia this morning, they urged the ambassadors to play the role of guardian of all Nepalis in foreign countries.

Members of the NRN National Coordination Council said there should be friendly relations and coordination between ambassadors and NRN.

The NRN has expanded its organisation in more than 20 countries of the world.

NRN Patron Bhim Udas said the Nepali ambassadors in other countries should not go back to work to make the good image of Nepali in foreign land and also pledged that they would not budge from their responsibility to work for the greater good of motherland.

Source: The Himalayan Times

“In the next 10 years, demand for proper housing units will increase so this is the right time to start investing in preparing better human resource to bridge the gap between buyers and sellers,” said chairman of Brihat Investments and coordinator of Urban Development Forum of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries Om Rajbhandary.

Rajbhandary has been campaigning for the introduction of professional and trained manpower in the brokerage business. “It will create a new profession and since transactions will be done through registered channels, the nation will not be cheated of revenues and consumers too will be saved from being conned by brokers,” he pointed out.

The six-day course was designed by Brihat Investments in affiliation with Thai Real Estate Business School (TREBS). The session speakers included real estate expert from TREBS Bangkok Dr Sopon Pornchokchai, Om Rajbhandary, professional architects, engineers, lawyers, bankers, insurers, valuators, habitat specialists and technical consultants.

The course, which officially ended on March 16, had a total of nine participants. They were educated about the fundamentals of real estate market scenario of Nepal, product selling, and legal formalities in real estate among others.

The fiscal year’s budget had announced that a provision will be introduced to settle real estate transactions through registered PAN account holding brokers to better manage transactions.

The budget had announced to permit foreigners and NRNs to purchase housing units in Nepal. Though, the policy has been introduced, the government has yet to prepare regulations and directives to implement the rule.

“Once the framework for the execution starts, the sector will need certified and educated agents to undertake transactions without hurting either buyers or sellers,” said Rajbhandary.

The government needs to develop a curriculum and take an annual examination to certify real estate agents to ensure professionalism in the real estate sector, he added.

Source: The Himalayan Times

During an interaction organised by Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) here today, exporters on the other hand asked the NRNs to help promote Nepali products in the international market.

During the programme, president of NCC Suresh Kumar Basnet assured exporters about taking important steps to introduce the barcode for Nepali exports. A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation that shows data about the object to which it is attached.

According to the participants, as the country does not have its own barcode, Nepali products in the international market are dispatched with the Indian barcode due to which buyers in the international market assume the products to be imported from India.

“We are also going to start the identification process of a number of products in the five development regions,” he said, adding that the country needs to identify items that can be exported and which have a comparative advantage. Identification will begin from mid-March.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Source: Himalayan Times

At a program organized to hand over ambulance to Nepal Red Cross Society, Darwang sub-branch under the Cultural Goodwill Program, Lamichhane further said, ´NRN is eager to invest in the hydropower having enormous potentials of development of ddddthe country but the income we generated abroad should be secured´.

The program was organized by West Myagdi and MONA UK.

The country´s social-economic transformation could be contributed enough if more than 3 million Nepalis residing in over 60 countries were provided with opportunity and environment for investment, he stressed.

The Investment Year announced by the Nepal government could turn to be a success if favorable investment-friendly environment was made, Lamichhane added. RSS

Review Nepal

Also speaking on the program.Nepali Congress Youth leader Gagan Thapa said that Political parties should have will power on the issue of providing dual citizenship to the NRN’s. Leader of Nepal Sadhbhvan Party Laxman Lal Karna argued that granting dual citizenship would be in the country’s interest. The founder chairman of NRN-A Upendra Yadav said that there should be unambiguous provision in the new constitution regarding the dual citizenship.

Source: Image Channel

Source: The Himalayan Times

See also: Sanima Bank Website