November 21: Stakeholders during an interaction on Tuesday stressed the need for establishing effective business environment in Nepal. The country’s established entrepreneurs and policymakers shared such view during the ‘Econ-ity’ discussion on the theme ‘Policy Bottlenecks in Entrepreneurship’ organised by Samriddhi Foundation at Hotel Himalaya on Novemebr 20.

The discussions revolved around the intertwining role of government and policy, and business and investment, reads a statement issued by the foundation.

One of the panelists, Suman Shakya, said that all categories of businesses need to operate under a single and a generalized policy in Nepal.

“On the contrary, there is no separate standard policy for startups or innovative businesses,” he said.

In response to these policy hurdles, Om Prakash Mahato from the Ministry of Industry, highlighted that since most of the ministries, at present, are involved in drafting new or reviewing existing policies, this is the right time for entrepreneurs to quote their issues and advocate for changes in the policy regime.

The discussion also highlighted the need to create a level-playing field for all kinds of aspiring entrepreneurs. There was a general agreement that there needs to be a greater need for the private sector to collaborate and work together with the government to support and get supported.