Nepal Business

Nepal, land of Mount Everest and mystical monastries, has long been a tourist attraction. This week we will dicuss Nepal as a business location.
Land of Mount Everest, birth place of Buddha--Nepal has long been a prime tourist destination, rather than a business hub. Trade with neighbors, India and China, and other partners (namely USA and European Union) is import based with large deficits.
With India and China positioning themselves as technology and manufacturing hubs for the world, Nepal has realized that relying solely on tourism and agriculture to support the economy is not a good strategy. The nation has developed long and short-term plans to develop its manufacturing, IT and education sector so that it can benefit from the emerging knowledge-based economy.
Unfortunately for Nepal, the on-going political and security crises have not helped its quest for economic development. One of the poorest nations in the world, Nepal relied heavily on foreign aid and development loans to run the country. The present crisis has forced many business closures, cancelled foreign investments and overall eroded the confidence of the business community. So why are we talking about business opportunities in Nepal?
According to the CIA fact book, Nepal has GDP growth rate of 2.50 %(2005 est.), which is better compared to Somalia, Morocco, Maldives. There are a total of 175,000( 2005 est.) Internet users in Nepal, compared to 5,000 in Tajikistan and 19,000 in Maldives. GDP of the nation is $1,500 (2005 est) which is better compared to $600 in Somalia and $1,200 in Kenya. Nepal has lot of potential, in spite of all the troubles facing the nation.
Information technology, including software development, call centers and training, education and fashion are some of the emerging attractive investment opportunities in Nepal.