2020 A YEAR IN REVIEW
INTRODUCTION Nepal Economic Forum (NEF) is a premier private sector-led economic policy and research organization that seeks to redefine the economic development discourse in Nepal. Established in 2009 as a not-for-profit organization under the beed (www.beed.global) umbrella, NEF is a thought center that strives to positively transform Nepal’s economic and development policies by strengthening the Nepali economy through various activities to promote an efficient and inclusive private sector. NEF’s mission is to engage in research, analysis and information dissemination to ultimately shape national agendas through partnerships. NEF stands out in being able to make significant strides in terms of bringing the private sector perspective as well as engaging with both, public and private sectors in the development discourse. NEF has been featured in the list of Top Think Tanks in Southeast Asia and the Pacific in the Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports 2016 through 2019.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020 BUSINESS POLICY RESEARH CENTER (BPRC) BPRC consolidates NEF’s activities into a hub that takes a holistic approach to the issues; generates dialogue between the public and private sectors on economic development concerns, and acts as a platform for information dissemination. To bridge the gap in credible research and leverage beed’s engagement with the private sector, BPRC has been working to generate awareness and promote public discourse on key issues of the Nepali economy. NEF generated the following products under BPRC in the year 2020:
NEFPORT
- a quarterly economic analysis publication
NEFPORT 40
NEFPORT 41
Circular Economy Special
COVID-19 Special
NEFPORT 42
NEFPORT 43
Road to Recovery Special
(To be published)
NEFTAKE
- periodic blogs that cover wide range of issues
NEF published 90 neftakes throughout the year 2020. Under these, COVID-19 targeted blogs were also initiated such as Expert Speak (where NEF talked to experts from different fields and published 27 neftakes) and International Best Practices (where references and learnings from international practices that could be applied in Nepal were highlighted in the form of 7 neftakes).
NEFTAKE Expert Speak
NEFTAKE International Best Practices
NEW INITIATIVES TAKEN IN 2020 This year, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and months of subsequent lockdowns, the economy has been brought down to shambles. Because of the restrictions in physical meetings, neftalks, a regular platform hosted by NEF for policy discourse under various themes, could not be conducted. However, despite the crippling situation, organizationally, NEF has continued to strive forward through reinvention and has persistently worked to provide various information and updates of the economic state of the nation through daily and weekly updates reports, blogs and other means through its various social media platforms. Some of the new initiatives taken throughout the year 2020 has been highlighted below:
COVID-19 DAILY UPDATES NEF published 78 COVID-19 Daily Updates, starting from 27 March 2020 to 11 June 2020.
COVID-19 MONTHLY REPORTS NEF published two COVID-19 Monthly Reports.
VOICES FROM THE GROUND NEF published 25 Voices from the Ground updates.
WEEKLY ECONOMIC UPDATES NEF has published 31 Weekly Economic Updates, and is still ongoing.
DID YOU KNOW (DYK) SERIES NEF has published 37 Did You Know updates, and is still ongoing.
COMPLETED PROJECTS OF 2020 THE WORLD OF PRIVATE SCHOOL CARTELS This study was the first of many that NEF concluded in 2020. It was undertaken as a continuation to a study that NEF had undertaken titled “Understanding the Cartel Economy” in 2015. The study was carried out with an aim to identify cartel behavior among schools and sought to answer the question ‘how schools behave collusively to manipulate the fee structure and its economic impact on parents?’ by focusing on the pricing mechanism of various private schools (grades 1 to 10) in the Kathmandu valley. Furthermore, it also explored how certain interest groups control the education sector.
RAPID ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND LOCKDOWN ON GANDAKI PROVINCE NEF carried out a rapid assessment of impacts of COVID-19 on Gandaki Province’s Economy
in
short,
medium
and
long-term,
and
provided
evidence-based
recommendations to the provincial government for reviving the economy through effective regulatory and financial stimulus programs. The rapid study was jointly carried out with the Task Force formed to carry out the study and provided valuable inputs in the overall effect study that was carried out by the Provincial Planning Commission. The study delved into assessing impacts of COVID-19 on the Gross Domestic Product of the Province due to COVID-19 and in the different sectors such as
revenue
collection, remittance received by the Province, effects on the livelihood of the citizens of the Province and the effects on the policies and programs, and the budget management in the provincial budget for the FY 2020/21. As a part of the study, NEF also carried out virtual consultations with various stakeholders from Gandaki Province to understand the ground challenges and issues. NEF also developed and suggested a robust recommendatory framework for the Province’s government to tackle the current crisis and aid into their upcoming plan and programs including Fiscal Budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2020/21.
LEGISLATION, FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION IN FEDERAL NEPAL In the course of overhauling the legislation in Nepal ever since its declaration as a federal democratic republic in 2008 and the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015, several business-related legislations have been tabled for amendment. Some of the legislations were outdated and needed immediate changes, nonetheless, due to political transition, it had remained unchanged for a long gap affecting businesses and the overall economy. While the formulation, enactment, and implementation of some of such legislations were swift, some legislations faced numerous barriers leading to a state of uncertainty for businesses. Hence, this study aimed at decoding the legislation formulation process of Nepal under the federal structure; track the status of business-related legislation presented at the legislatures, and analyze the factors that hinder the formulation and implementation of legislation in Nepal with case studies.
MUNICIPAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT, AND DEVELOPING RECOVERY PLAN NEF, in partnership with Organization Development Center (ODC) and Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), carried out a comprehensive study to understand the municipal level social and economic impact of COVID-19 in 12 municipalities (local governments) across five provinces of Nepal. Under this study, NEF conducted a Private Sector Landscape Assessment in the 12 municipalities and developed economic recovery plans for the same, along with recommendations and action plans to assist municipalities for rapid implementations for socio-economic recovery.
ONGOING PROJECTS CARTEL STUDY ON BANKING Cartel Study on Banking is an ongoing project NEF is carrying out. The study aims to analyze weaknesses in the banking sector of Nepal through the point of view of competition or the lack thereof. More specifically, this study is concentrated towards studying the existence of cartel behavior in the banking sector and how such behavior influences the banking system of the nation. The study would endeavor to identify collusive behavior in its various forms that is prevalent in the banking sector and the impact of it. Additionally, the study aims to also identify through desk research and consultations with relevant stakeholders the rationale behind colluding and forming and/or being part of associations. Understanding the rationale behind collusion would give a wholesome view and an opportunity to understand the collusive behavior from the perspective of bankers and non-bankers which would enable the study to make a more balanced assessment. The report is targeted to be ready by the end of January 2021 and would be disseminated accordingly through NEF’s platform.
BORDER TOWN STUDY Border town study is the latest assignment that NEF recently concluded and disseminated the report through various platforms. The study aimed to determine the distinguishing political, economic and social characteristics of bordering towns on the southern frontier with India and the northern border with China. Particularly, the study focused on the border towns of Birgunj and Bhadrapur in the South and Rasuwagadhi and Kodari in the North. Owing to the current pandemic and the health risk of travelling to border regions, the study was carried out only through secondary research analysing previous studies, news
reports,
trade
data
and
anecdotal
information
relevant
to
the
Nevertheless, it was identified that each border town has its own identifying
context.
characteristics and has a story to tell over its rise and fall. What was once a thriving border municipality would turn into a sleepy town due to a development of a national highway not so far away or how a natural disaster could be a loss for one border town but a gain for the other with a slight political push was also known through the study. Furthermore, it also came to light that political developments could have lasting social and economic impact on the region while the impact of a natural disaster cannot be undermined as it also has a long lasting impact on political, economic and social wellbeing of the border towns.
ENABLING A POLITICAL ECONOMY DISCOURSE FOR MULTI-MODAL CONNECTIVITY IN THE BBIN SUB-REGION The BBIN sub region is home to approximately 1.56 billion people with a combined GDP USD 2.5 trillion. The sub region is also considered one of the least integrated regions with intra-regional trade amounting to just 6% of the trade within the region. Sub-optimal connectivity between the BBIN countries is highlighted as a key driver for low volume of trade in the sub region. In order to increase trade and connectivity, the BBIN countries entered into an agreement ‘BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement’ for seamless movement of cargo and passengers to increase trade and connectivity in the sub region. In regards to this, NEF, in collaboration with CUTS International India, is conducting this study with an aim to address the implementation challenges of the BBIN MVA focused on identification of gaps in infrastructure policy and regulations that may create problems to multi modal connectivity in the sub region. The focus of the study is also to identify possible livelihood generation opportunities that can be gained through development of regional/sub-regional/bilateral value chains and their facilitation through multi modal connectivity.
NEF FELLOWSHIP The NEF Fellowship is a one year program which allows talented young graduates to contribute towards research and analysis for the various products and assignments being conducted in NEF. With the NEF Fellows committed to the organization for a full year, they have been instrumental in boosting NEF’s content creation for its digital as well as physical information dissemination platforms such as research papers, blogs, publications, events, etc.
2020 NEF FELLOWS Ishan Bista Nasala Maharjan Shraddha Ghimire Sambriddhi Acharya Sugam Nanda Bajracharya Tanushree Agarwal
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