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VOL. 28, NO. 25, April 03, 2009 (Chaitra 21 2065)
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Twin Turmoil
After remittance inflow, the tourism industry is beginning to feel the heat of global recession
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
The two main pillars supporting the Nepali economy – remittance income and tourism - are both shaking at the impact of the global economic crisis.
First, the news came that the inflow of remittances by the Nepalis workers abroad is set to decline in the coming months. Even the governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) – the central bank – admitted as much.
“At present, we see surge in remittance inflow. But as news come about mass lay offs of overseas workers, we are very concerned that the remittance would dip in the coming days,” said governor Deependra Bahadur Chhetri.
According to Chhetri, in fact in the first half of the current fiscal year, the remittance income the country has received has already surged by 65 percent compared to previous year.
During this period, the country has received Rs 95 billion worth of remittance money in foreign exchange. This is a big increase compared to last year’s income of just over Rs 100 billion.
“Despite the rise, we are still concerned about the remittance income. Because we think that if people are laid off they are likely to bring in all their savings by closing their accounts – which could have led to the sudden surge in the income for the short term,” he clarified.
On the other hand, the number of workers going overseas, has not dipped significantly.
According to Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general of Department of Labor Promotion, the number of workers leaving for overseas has come down from around 600 a day to 500.
“But still we have not seen significant decline of their number as was being feared. In fact, in the month of Fagun, the number of workers leaving for overseas increased by few thousand compared to the same month previous year,” he said.
Trouble In Tourism
Another equally, if not more, important pillar of Nepali economy – the tourism – is now feeling the heat.
“In the first three months of this year, we have seen that the arrival of tourists from Europe and America decline by 18 and 14 percent, respectively – compared to the same period last year. Those coming from SAARC countries have declined by 8 percent while those coming from rest of Asia have decreased by 21 percent. Overall, the tourist arrival has decreased by 16 percent,” said Hisila Yami, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation.
“The economic recession is likely to hit the long haul travelers the most,” she said.
As a response to the situation, the government has said it will now focus on neighboring countries.
“Pilgrims who come on religious tourism from India will be least affected by recession. And then, we also can attract tourists who come to Lhasa, Tibet. Almost 3 to 4 million tourists visit Lhasa annually. There are some visa problems for them to come to Nepal. If we resolve that, then we can earn a lot even if a fraction of them can be attracted,” said Ram Chandra Man Singh, Secretary at the Ministry.
In order to attract the neighborhood tourists, the government is joining hands with the private sector to prepare special packages.
The government also recently passed a new Tourism Policy in order to further promote the sector.
The recession woes could not have come at worse moment as the country is preparing to observe Nepal Tourism Year in 2011 when it wants to attract one million visitors.
Tourism, arguably, is the most important foreign exchange earning industry. It contributes 17.8 percent to the GDP and provides hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities.
Bengali Magic
Magician of Bangladesh Jewel Aich performs his art enthralling the audience in Kathmandu
By A CORRESPONDENT
Like all magicians, he is humble. A man full of tricks to make people laugh. Jwel Aich- a well known magician from Bangladesh performed his magic brilliantly in front of a big gathering organized to celebrate the 38th anniversary of the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh.
In his one hour long magic show, Jewel Aich performed various kinds of classical as well modern forms of magic in front of big crowd. From children to adults, his tricks enthralled one and all.
For audience, magician Jewel Aich’s performance was unbelievable. From putting his wife in the air with just a side of small still pipe and turning tissue paper into chocolates were some of the interesting tricks.
Similarly, he also has handkerchief show in which he creates different items from them. The card playing was another interesting trick performed by him. He made impossible things possible.
His teachers were gypsies guarding ancient secrets of myth and magic. The simplest bamboo flute that he perfected to transform wind into wonders, sang of the soul’s deepest cries through many a sleepless nights under stars. And that is how little Jewel became Jewel Aich as we know him today.
Winner of the Ekushey Padak in Bangladesh and countless accolades from around the world for his scientific approach, unprecedented presentation and a varied human understanding of the audience’s mind, the Magic Man came to Nepal.
Organized by Embassy of Bangladesh, the show performed by Jewel magician won the hearts and minds of the people. Organized at Radisson Hotel, Bangladeshi magician put all his efforts to make the audience feel at fun.
Attended by a large number of diplomats based in capital Kathmandu as well as people from various walks of life, the 38th anniversary of the Independence and National Day of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh began with the welcome speech by ambassador of Bangladesh Imtiaz Ahmed. “After the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Bangladesh-Nepal relations remain very cordial and friendly and two countries share many international concerns.”
“Despite our geographical closeness, trade relation between Bangladesh and Nepal is yet to improve. There is a lot of possibility to increase the volume of trade between the two countries,” said ambassador Ahmed.
Nepal and Bangladesh is divided by a small stretch of land of about 30 Kilometre and Bangladesh can be Nepal’s easiest destination to enter to sea. However, Nepal is unable to exploit it as Nepal needs to cross India’s land to get transit facilities from Bangladesh.
Thanks to so many hurdles on the road to Bangladesh from Nepal, the two countries’ trade remain at the lowest volume. “Bangladesh is ready to provide all kinds of trade facilities to our close neighbour Nepal,” said Ahmed.
Although Bangladesh is youngest nation in South Asia with the history 38 years as an independent nation, it has already made progress in many fields to prove itself as a matured nation in an international arena.
