The elections had triggered vertical split in the business community.
But immediately after getting elected President of FNCCI, Vaidya told Milan Mani Sharma and Ashok Thapa of Republica that differences that persisted during elections have ended and he will accommodate all voices and personalities in his team to drive the country´s apex business body for the next three years. [break]Excerpts:
What are the agendas of your immediate priority?
There are two major problems that need urgent action -- labor problem and power crisis. FNCCI is already in dialogue with major trade unions and has forged understandings with the leading unions. But I believe short term remedies will not address our concerns. I will try to find long term solution. Hence, I will press the government to revise existing labor law and try to seek support of trade unions for the same. Creating jobs and raising income opportunities by enhancing labor productivity are my top priorities. I will also put emphasis on raising skills of outbound Nepali workers.
As for power crisis, the government´s efforts of dealing it by declaring ´power emergency´ are correct. But the approach it has adopted is wrong. The government must provide incentives and assure returns on investment. Without this, no investors will put their money in the sector. Hence, we will strongly work with the government to get the investment friendly policy promulgated.
FNCCI elections this time exposed unprecedented level of political interference. What do you say about it?
It is true that we met political leaders from all political parties. But our meetings always centered on private sector´s agenda. As a candidate of FNCCI president, it was part of my efforts to garner their support for my agendas. We never asked for votes or their support in the elections. Hence, I refute claims that election reeled under political interference.
How will FNCCI deal with fake VAT racketeers?
We strongly back the actions that the government takes against them and all other tax evaders. These unethical practices flourished because of corruption and corruption inadvertently adds cost to business. Ending such anomalies will level playing field and foster investment-friendly climate.
The elections triggered vertical split in business community. How will you get it united again?
It is natural for contenders to form groups and garner support during elections. But I assure you the groupism and differences have ended with the elections. FNCCI cannot afford to remain divided. Challenges that it has been facing are immense and we need competent players to deal with them. I have already appealed to all contenders for their support. I will accommodate all voices and personalities in my team and FNCCI´s vision paper. As committed during our campaign, I will handover the FNCCI´s economic agenda to the government in six months and do the needful to get it adopted as the country´s vision paper.
What will be the major highlights of your vision paper?
It will clearly prioritize sectors where private sector is eager to invest. We will map out sectors of our comparative edge and manufacturing and service sector potentials of all the districts. This will help us know infrastructure, policy support already in place and identify lacking and constraints, something which we need to work on to lure investment in those areas. Currently, Nepal´s GDP centers on only a few cities. We must decentralize it. Our vision paper will lay down concrete suggestions to mobilize domestic as well as foreign investments in districts for job creation and income opportunities at the local level. It will also lay extensive focus on skills development - as it holds key for raising industrial productivity and enabling outbound workers earn more.
High inflation, industrial closure and lesser jobs have created a huge gap between what commoners expects from the private sector and what private sector is delivering. How do you plan to bridge this gap?
Ending transporters´ syndicate and corruption, which add cost to business, holds key to addressing these concerns. I will strongly lobby to end these evils. Most of the aspirations of people are of political nature, but cannot just sit down and criticize the parties for doing nothing. FNCCI will work out a clear economic agenda for the government, build confidence in the private sector and work to improve investment climate. Once these are done, the private sector will automatically start delivering what people aspire for.
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