Addressing the Start-Up Nation 2030 conference here today, PM Oli viewed that youth and women, with innovative and creative thinking, could get employment opportunities at home instead of seeking greener pastures. Oli encouraged the expansion of entrepreneurship among youths to displace imports, reduce poverty, bolster national confidence, and achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

He argued that the banks and financial institutions should provide loans to such enterprises on the basis of the project rather than keeping enterprises as the mortgage. Stating that some ‘fraudulent elements’ were trying to defame cooperatives, he assured that the government will advance cooperatives in a healthy manner.

Furthermore, the Head of Government insisted that we should enhance entrepreneurship based on technology, skills, and capital so that desired results are achieved in domestic production. “Any startup invested by the government should not fail. It should be taken forward as a campaign,” the PM observed, pledging utmost facilitation to the private sector on the part of the government. “We have not come to power and formed the government for its sake.

Not for nothing, I have assumed the role of Prime Minister at this age. I am entrusted with this responsibility to deliver something substantial,” said the 73-year-old PM. The two-day event is a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies and the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), among other organizations.

Present in today’s conference were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel, Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies Damodar Bhandari, and Minister for Labour, Employment, and Social Security. Sharat Singh Bhandari and FNCCI’s President Chandra Prasad Dhakal, among others.

The conference is a part of the campaign to make Nepal a startup-friendly nation in Southeast Asia by 2030, paving the way for the establishment of 10,000 startups and 100,000 jobs by the end of this period.