Felt Shoes Made in Nepal
Handmade felt shoes and boots for indoor use, a very popular accessory in Danish homes, is now made in Nepal . The Glerups Np Company Pvt. Ltd Nepal, a joint venture with Glerups Dk , Denmark , was established five months ago with a capital of Rs. 2.5 million as a joint venture with two Nepali investors - Allen B Tuladhar and Prakash Shrestha. They hold 15 per cent of the shares each while Glerups Dk holds the remaining 70 per cent. At present, the company employees about 15 people.
The company has already exported about 2,000 pairs of shoes, 300 balls, 25 bags, and 25 hats to its major markets like Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway and USA where the retail prices for each product ranges between $80 and $100 per piece. Felt boots are made from 100 per cent pure wool. Scarves and garments will also feature in the expanding product line of the project, according to Thomas Glerups, Managing Director of Glerups Dk. The products are available online too.
In 1993, Nanny Glerup, Thomas’s mother, had started a very small production of felted wool products as a hobby by using the sheep’s wool from the Glerups family farm near Aars in Himmerlan. Initially, everything was done by hand. Later as the demand for the products grew, they developed machines and increased production.
Since 1995, Glerups Dk has its production facility in Romania also where it employs 20 persons.
The popularity of the Glerups products is mainly due to the insulative properties of felt, says Thomas. He describes his felt shoes as a pair of warm shoes which can be worn directly on the skin and are incredibly comfortable to wear. “Actually, they are so comfortable that many people almost develop an addiction to wear them and will refuse to wear other slippers after they have tried ours.”
Year 2007 to be "Visit Pokhara" Year
To capitalise on the improved law and order situation, Nepal is to celebrate Visit Pokhara 2007 with the aim of attracting more tourists in the country. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is giving the final touches to the events to be organised during the year, say the officials in NTB.
The campaign will also help convey the message that the situation in Nepal has really changed, making it comfortable for the tourists, he said.
This is going to be the second mega marketing campaign after Visit Nepal 98, which was a huge success. Nepal witnessed its highest tourist arrivals in 1999 when 491,000 tourists visited Nepal . NTB has been promoting the country with the slogan "Naturally Nepal: Once is not enough" to attract tourists since the beginning of the current year.
First Commodity Exchange of Nepal Starts Operation
Commodities and Metal Exchange Nepal Ltd. (COMEN), a private sector company, has started futures transactions in gold and silver from December 14. The trading floor of the exchange at Laldurbar, Kathmandu will also start futures transactions in other metals and agricultural products from early February, according to COMEN's Executive Director Dipendra Khatiwada.
Currently the company is in negotiations with various parties to set up warehouses in different parts of the country for the goods to be traded on the COMEN floor.
Established with an authorised capital of Rs. 40 million, COMEN's paid up capital at present is Rs. 10 million and it is planned to be increased to Rs. 50 million by the end of this fiscal year, says Khatiwada. Among the company's promoters are Bishwanath Sharma (who is also the Chairman of the company), Robin Kazi Palanchowke and Subodh Narayan Jha. Vijay Satyal, the other Executive Director of COMEN and Khatiwada have a five-year work experience with a brokerage firm in the commodities market in India .
Less Cases Filed in Labour Court
The employer-employee relations have been improving a lot recently, agree both employers and trade union leaders.
The claim is supported by the number of cases lodged at the Labour Court . According to the information provided by the court, there were only 17 cases lodged with it during the first four months of the current fiscal year whereas there were 43 cases lodged in the court during the same period last year. The court officers say if this trend is maintained during the rest of the year, the total number of cases lodged at the court this year is likely to be far less than last year. According to the court records, the total number of cases lodged last year was 91.
According to some analysts, it is the result of the growing trend among the employers and employees to settle labour disputes at the enterprise level itself. And Rameswor Regmi, Registrar of the Labour Court , agrees. "In the past, the trend was to rush to the court for even trivial matters, but that is no longer so," he says informing that some of the cases were withdrawn before the hearing date was fixed by the court.
However, Bishnu Rimal, Vice-President of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), says the reason for the less number of cases is not only the new trend among the employers and employees to settle the dispute among themselves. "It is also because of the impression among the workers that the speed of case settlement in the Labour Court is very slow. This impression was reinforced by the fact that the Labour Court was without a judge for a long time during the recent months."
It may be recalled that after Nirmal Dhungana was promoted and transferred to the Siraha Appellate Court in March, the Labour Court was without a judge for about seven months. Shesh Raj Siwakoti was appointed as the new judge only in mid-September.
Meanwhile, the problems created by the Maoist affiliated Trade Union have been reduced significantly though there still are some troubles in some factories. Khila Nath Dahal, president of the Democratic Confederation of Nepalese Trade Unions (DECONT), says except the problems faced by the industries affiliated to the Morang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, there have been no major labour problems after the minimum wage was revised recently. However, he also expressed doubts as to how long this situation would last because, as he alleged, businesspeople take up an anti-labour stance as soon as they see an opportunity.
Binod Bahadur Shrestha, who is heading the committee formed by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) to find ways to resolve the current labour problems, says that labourers and employers have realised that the best solutions to problems can be found only through negotiations at the organisation level itself. "If the workers and employers stop looking at each other as enemies, immediate solutions can be found for all problems. For this, the labourers have to put their professional interests before their party interests," he opines. According to Shrestha, as soon as the interim government is formed, the committee will accelerate its discussions with the trade unions to look into problems even more thoroughly.
SAIM to Start Classes from February
South Asian Institute of Management (SAIM) has announced plans to commence classes for MBA programmes in Global Business and Master in Management from February 2007 in collaboration with Kathmandu University .
Set up with the initiative of a group of Nepali intellectuals and businessmen, SAIM is an independent, private sector institution established to provide need-based management education and it will also engage in management development, research and consulting services. The institute's vision is to be a reputed learning centre recognised globally for excellence and the mission is to develop managers, leaders and entrepreneurs by keeping South Asian values in perspective. Thus, the institute has targeted students from other South Asian countries also.
The founders had planned to make SAIM a deemed university, as there was a law under consideration to adopt the deemed university concept in Nepal . However, as the law was not presented to the restored Parliament, they decided to go ahead with the institute by conducting courses in collaboration with existing universities.
According to the promoters, SAIM will start from the Shaligram Apartment Hotel at Jawalakhel and, after six months, it will shift to a building at Man Bhawan. Meanwhile, the institute is to construct its own buildings in the 40 ropanis of land that it has acquired in Lubhu on the outskirts of Lalitpur. Additional 10 ropanis of land is said to be in the process of acquisition.
The promoters of SAIM include Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani (former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs), Banwari Lal Mittal (Executive Chairman, Sri Airlines), Sushil Kumar Pant (Former Attorney General), Radhesh Pant (Managing Director, Bank of Kathmandu) and Sarit Rana (Managing Director, Shaligram Apartment Hotel). Prof. Bijay KC is the Dean of SAIM.
The promoters say they are going ahead with the plan to turn SAIM into a trust. Apart from academic courses like MBA , MA , MS, PhD, PG Diploma and Diploma, SAIM is planning to offer short-term courses as well to address the immediate needs of practicing professionals.
According to a study conducted by the institute, the demand for management education has been increasing quickly in the recent years not only in Nepal but all across South Asia . But the focus of all the management colleges and institutes opened in the region to address this growing demand has been only on the western style education. Therefore, SAIM is focusing on incorporating eastern values in the education it is planning to impart, say the SAIM promoters.
Corporate Kaleidoscope
Everest Bank Ltd has been awarded "Bank of the Year- 2006, Nepal " by The Banker, a publication of Financial Times, London . Meanwhile, EBL has revealed that ATM sharing arrangements are being finalized with Punjab National Bank (PNB) of India . According to the plan, EBL Debit Cards are to be acceptable in over 600 PNB ATMs across India from December 2006 itself.
Laxmi Bank Ltd. has opened a branch at Teku increasing its number of branches in Kathmandu valley to three. This is the third branch opened by the bank within three months indicating its expansion drive in terms of distribution points. With this, the number of branches of the bank in the country has reached eight.
Siddhartha Bank has opened a new branch in Kathmandu valley which makes the number of its branches six throughout the country and three in Kathmandu valley.
IT Nepal P Ltd., a Golchha Organization Company, has launched the ‘Tally Accounting Package’, compatible with Nepali date, Nepali VAT and Nepali Language. Tally is India's No. 1 accounting package which is very popular in Nepal also and IT Nepal was recently appointed Tally's distributor for Nepal. As a promotional offer, IT Nepal is providing a limited time offer of free upgrades to Version 9 with Payroll and POS for customers who buy Tally's latest version 8.1 from Tally's authorised distributors.
