Bhotekoshi of Rasuwa district has been flooded at 3:00 am on Tuesday. The flood has caused a lot of damage. The auto business has also been affected by the floods. Some vehicles have been washed away by the flood. Road infrastructure has also been demolished. What impact will this have on the auto sector?

The Nepal Automobiles Importers and Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) is all set to hold a ‘Naima Mobility Show’ at Bhrikutimandap in the capital from August 21 to 25. Does the flood have any effect on it?

Kathmandu: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) is preparing to bring monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. What is Naima’s expectations on that? Naima Chairman Ritu Singh Vaidya}for Investment Newsfor Sobhit Thapaliya}:

I am doing a mobility show in Naima, the flood in Rasuwa has also caused a lot of damage to the vehicle, will it make any difference to the show or not?

Rasuwa: The flood in Bhotekoshi of Rasuwa at 3:00 am on Tuesday has caused a lot of damage to property. The loss of people is much bigger than the car. This has saddened all of us.

So far, 35 vehicles have been damaged in the floods and some containers have been washed away. The floods have also affected members of NAIMA. What wasn’t supposed to happen happened. Now we don’t just remember that loss. Now we have to move on from it. The Nyema Mobility Show to be held at Bhrikutimandap from August 21 to 25 will not be affected much. Naima is doing mobility show, NADA is doing auto show.

This gave the consumer two options. Will this benefit or disadvantage traders?

This show is a great festival for two-wheeler and four-wheeler traders. We need to look at it positively. The focus on the mobility show that Naima is doing is on two-wheelers and four-wheelers. NAIMA will facilitate the production and import here. The presence of two-wheelers and four-wheelers in the transportation sector is heavy. There are many importers in Naima. We have to work for their welfare. That’s what the show was organized for.

What’s different from the previous one at this auto show?

The expectation of doing a lot at this auto show is to give a new feeling to the visitors and customers who come. It is felt that those who visit the fair should be able to go with something new. You can participate in various interactions from the observation of various new models of vehicles taking place inside.

Every year, the assembly industry is discussed at the auto show. But there is not much implementation?

It is not that the assembly industry has not opened in Nepal. they are opening up. Two-wheelers are being assembled in Nepal. It’s happening on four-wheelers as well. It is not possible to open an assembly industry for a few vehicles. In such a situation, import is better than assembly. If less than 1,000 vehicles are imported, there is no work to open industries. The cost is only high. Thousands of vehicles can only be assembled if consumed. While assembling, vehicles of very to low price had to be produced. Talking about Laxmi Group, bmw’s assembly in Nepal is not possible.

Will TAG_OPEN_strong_103 the floods in Rasuwa affect the business of auto entrepreneurs during dashain or not?

The flood in Rasuwa is said to have caused a lot of damage. As of Wednesday, 35 electric vehicles and six containers have been damaged. This may be small in terms of numbers, but more in terms of money. Out of 12,000 vehicles, 35 vehicles have been damaged. It’s not much in terms of numbers.

We’re not going to do business just for the time being. Now the festival has come immediately. We have to pay attention to how to compact the damage that has happened now. You have to focus on how to maintain your business.

Now 35 vehicles have been damaged, there are some containers. The road infrastructure has been severely damaged due to the floods. If the road is not built immediately, will there be a problem in importing?

Rasuwa: The Prime Minister, ministers and officials of the concerned bodies have monitored the flood in Bhotekoshi of Rasuwa. China is said to have promised to build infrastructure in the region in two to three weeks. It doesn’t matter much to us if China makes that path. Our business can go back to the old style.

What has NAIMA suggested to the Rastra Bank for the upcoming monetary policy?

We have given three suggestions for the monetary policy to be brought by the Rastra Bank. We have asked to review the loan ratio system according to international standards, nature of vehicles and market demand.

We have requested to maintain 80 percent and 20 percent loan ratio for all types of vehicles. We have requested the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to allow importers to open LC in Chinese yuan irrespective of the country of the beneficiary company in case Chinese products are produced in China and shipped from China.

It has been suggested to reduce the rate of risk-weighted assets for loans to 75 percent from the current 100 percent. As vehicle prices are sustainable and resale prospects are good, this change will help make loans easily available and will boost the market and maintain financial security.

How confident are you that the suggestions made by meeting the Governor will be implemented?

We have got a very positive governor. He also became an educated person. He listened to everything we had to say. Here we listened carefully to every issue of our concern and talked about some issues. I think he will fulfill our demands.

The import TAG_OPEN_strong_99 of electric vehicles (EVs) in Nepal is increasing significantly. What is the reason?

What we need to look at is the policies, taxes, costs of EVs, priorities for loans, etc. taken by our government. Therefore, EVs are not compared to fuel vehicles and hybrids. EVs are taxed at 26 per cent, 28 per cent, while those with fuel are taxed at 150 per cent. If it makes a lot of difference, then the attraction is more.

Many brands of vehicle TAG_OPEN_strong_98 s are imported in Nepal. Some brands disappear shortly after coming, how will it affect consumers?

This is because of our policy issues. When a new brand comes, the car will be cheaper. But now consumers should also pay attention. Not all cheap is good. There were 27 new brands at last year’s auto show. But now the names of some are not even heard.

When buying a car, let’s look at its characteristics, not just the price. Let’s also see how useful it is for us. There is also a need to study what the company is like. Naima is a businessman who sells both the vehicles inside.

How do you do it when you lobby the government on a policy basis? Is there any talk that a conflict has started in Naima on a similar issue?

There is no such conflict within us. I am the president of NAIMA. I see that EVs, ice, hybrids are all equal. Everyone is working in all fields. A member is doing all three things from the same company.

Naima should speak in the interest of all members. If you are a person, you have to talk about yourself. After being in the organization, you have to speak to everyone institutionally. We are treating everyone equally.

You are now seen in a shark tank, how did you get there?

Instead of me reaching the SAARC tank, they have come looking for me. I am very happy about it. It has worked in entrepreneurship.

How did you find entrepreneurship developing in Nepal?

There is little work on entrepreneurship development in Nepal. A program like shark tank helps us a lot in entrepreneurship development. We get a lot of calls after we are there. There are a lot of people who want to help us too. This will help create jobs.

Sitting in the shark tank, in which areas will Nepal have more potential for entrepreneurship development?

There is not much potential for the IT sector in Nepal. If we increase investment in IT, we can bring in a lot of money. We can export id services. That kind of app needs to be created. The Finance Minister has given priority to the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

It’s not just for Nepal. There is no possibility in agriculture and domestic industry. Former lawmaker Shanta Chaudhary was also present. He has also done a very good job. In Nepal, you want to do something on your own. For that, they are trying to get out of the house. That’s good.

Where are you expanding your investment now?

Investment is being made in the education sector and IT sector. It’s also cosmetic. Investment is being added to the areas of climate change impact.

How many startups are you investing in shark tanks?

The total is 40 crores. I am investing around Rs 50 million. There are five of us.