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 Every year, the Ministry of Finance comes up with figures highlighting soaring consumption versus modest saving patterns of the general public. Though just a small pie is left for saving, people still find it challenging to think of saving alternatives apart from the traditional ones of real estate and precious metals, more so in peri-urban and rural contexts. The savings portion of inbound remittance is mostly being used in acquiring another piece of land or adding one more storey. The general belief is that an investment in real estate will provide multiplied returns. At the outset, this might look true. But if one starts to calculate compounding return over the period of real estate holding, the story might look totally different.

Smart ones always look for avenues to diversify their holdings. They try to make their money smarter by making it work more efficiently for them. Starting a business venture could be one of the options, but the inherent risks associated with such ventures are higher compared to putting one’s money into largely true and tested business models of others as a lender or as a passive partner.

Both the options have different scales of risk. The ones who are comfortable with lesser risk would go for the lending option and tools available include term deposits and debentures issued by the financial institutions or the government bonds.

The ones who have slightly higher appetite for risk would go for ownership stake in public business ventures

The ones who have slightly higher appetite for risk would go for ownership stake in public business ventures as a public shareholder. Motivating attributes for this option include ease of entry/exit and multiple sources of return on investment–cash dividend, bonus share or price appreciation of a scrip. If one is more interested in price appreciation, s/he needs to keep a closer tab on market situation for prudent decision-making.

Nepali bourse, ever since making the all-time high of 1,888.36 in July 2016, has been running continuously down. Multi-month downtrend had has pauses in between. In February 2017, after testing the low of 1,218.86, the buyers overcame the sellers till April 2017 and the bourse reached the seasonal high of 1,746.82. Again, the supply exceeded the demand and the market tested the low of 1,134.92 in March 2018 followed by a bounce-back to 1,461.21 in April 2018.

In 2019, the same pattern has continued. The index tested the low of 1,100 on multiple trading days in February. Since March, it showed a sustained growth till it neared 1,350-ish.

The index has been in stalemate for past four weeks (since the fourth week of April). It is moving sideways, unable to break the resistance of 1,350-ish while taking continuous support of 1,280-ish. Compared to past two and half years, market confidence is in positive zone which is reflected in market depth and trading volume each day. Still, the market direction will be guided by whichever way the index will break from the current sideways moment.

 A team of climbers from Nepal, India and China are sched­uled to surmount Mount Everest this climbing season. Their goal will be to plant at the summit the official flag of the ‘Visit Nepal 2020’. The venture is intended to publicize Nepal as a tourism des­tination and entice more tourists from India and China, says industri­alist Suraj Vaidya, the coordinator of Visit Nepal 2020 national campaign. The tri-national team will include Kanchimaya Tamang from Nepal, Kalpana Das from India and Liyamu Ma from China. The campaign for Visit Nepal 2020 officially started on April 14 and the committee under Vaidya has stepped up its marketing and promotion efforts. Working from its office at the old Education Min­istry in Keshar Mahal, the commit­tee will focus on infrastructure and long-term tourism development, Vaidya informs.

Also, targeting the Visit Nepal Year, Nepal is going to sign an aviation agreement with Viet­nam, after which the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Lumbini will be able to receive direct flights from the South East Asian country. The aim is to bring more Buddhist tourists from Vietnam. Efforts are underway to arrange for flights from other countries to fly to the Gautam Buddha Airport as well.

The committee is tying up with Lonely Planet to promote Nepal as a tourist destination

The repair and upgrade of the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu has been hastened too. Besides, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal is spending Rs 23 million to upgrade and manage both its termi­nals. CAAN intends to add facilities for the passengers at both arrival and departures, while also adoring the terminals with decorations bearing historic and cultural representations of Nepal.

Tourism investment summit

A tourism investment summit is also on the cards for November 2019, according to Vaidya. In this summit, the organizers will call for invest­ments in the tourism sector. “We will coordinate with all the seven prov­inces to explore the possibility of investments in each province and to develop their tourist destinations,” Vaidya adds.

The committee is tying up with Lonely Planet to promote Nepal as a tourism destination and brand ambassadors for the NTY 2020 have been appointed from differ­ent parts of the world. American body builder Roelly Winklaar, Jap­anese literature Mariko Hayashi, Hong Kong Chef Association founder president Heinz Egli, popular French photographer Eric Vali and climber and activist Johan Ernst Nil­son have been endorsed as brand ambassadors.

Prabal Gurung, one of the most popular fashion designers in the world, has also agreed to hold an international fashion show in Nepal targeting the Visit Nepal 2020.

 Plastic eating plates are a big environmental hazard, yet in much vogue. In comparison, plates made out of plant leaves are perfectly safe for the environment, and yet very few of us use them. Leaf Plus wants to change that. This company started by three young entrepreneurs in 2017 man­ufactures plates made of the Areca plant leaves, using locally sourced material and indigenous talent. (Leaf Plus also makes some second­ary leaf products.)

As things stand, the company is the sole manufacturer of Areca leaf plates in Nepal, and has been able to create quiet a buzz for its innovative design and top-notch products. Its tagline of “Sustainable solution to plastic pollution” is revelatory.

Before Leaf Plus happened, three engineering graduates—Kobit Singh Baniya, Swaviman Acharya and Bidhan Pokharel—had each been running individual busi­ness ventures. They then met Ramesh Silwal, CEO and founder of the Golden Gate International College, who encouraged them to come up with a youth start-up that would create a positive impact on the society.

 Leaf Nepal makes durable and bio-degradable single-use plates and spoons that are also chemical-free, microwavable and light

Silwal pointed out the ineffec­tive quality and design of plain sal taparis used to serve momos to customers outside his college, and urged the trio to try to improve upon the quality of the ‘natural’ utensils. After some research, they discovered that if they could make utensils from Areca leaves, these utensils would be both strong and leak-proof.

The three young entrepreneurs explored various parts of South India with a fourth colleague, Hari Dahal, to get an idea of how various kinds of leaves were being used there. After extensive research in Tamil Nadu, the group settled on Areca plants.

They were astounded to learn that around 38 million Areca leaves were going to waste every year in eastern Nepal. What if they could collect, clean, process and build something new with the leaves and barks of Areca plants?

With this idea, they pooled around Rs 2,500,000 and built their first research center and production facility at Hetauda, before starting another state-of-the-art manufactur­ing facility in Jhapa.

“We currently produce 13 variants of utensils such as cutleries, bowls, partition plates, square plates, regular round plates, heart plates, sauce bowls, shallow round plates and round bowls,” says Bidhan, a co-founder. But for whom?

The majority of its customers are individuals organizing picnics, BBQ parties, backyard parties, as well as catering services, department stores, hotels and restaurant chains. “Salesberry, Express Mart and One- Stop Mart are some popular depart­ment stores that sell our products. We will also soon deliver to various outlets of the Bhatbhateni super­market,” says Bidhan excitedly.

According to Baniya, another founder, Leaf Nepal makes durable and bio-degradable single-use plates and spoons that are also chemi­cal-free, microwavable and light. The goal, he says, is to make the company number one eco-friendly startup venture in Nepal.

Apart from selling in 12 districts of Nepal, the company also caters to customers from Australia, the US, Thailand, Hong Kong, Estonia, Mauritius, Spain and Portugal.

“We now have a yearly turnover of around Rs 3 to 4 million,” says Bhanu Bhakta Aryal, 27, the chief financial officer at Leaf Nepal.

He reveals that the company sells its products between Rs 2.20 (for a single spoon) and Rs 16 (for a sin­gle partition plate). On an average, products worth Rs 330,000 are shifted every month.

Pressed for time? The company also delivers right at your doorstep, for a charge of Rs 50 to 100, depend­ing on your location.

Not many people may be aware that international-standard chocolates are being manufac­tured in Nepal, that too by a group of young entrepreneurs. ‘Ecstasy—Handmade with Love’ chocolates are the brainchild of a group of eager youths brought together by their common love of chocolate and entrepreneurship. Besides producing handmade and home-made chocolates, the com­pany, which was officially launched in 2018, also allows for customiza­tion.

Besides their online marketplace, Ecstasy chocolates are mainly sold in local tourist hotspots like Thamel and Durbarmarg. The chocolates sell well beyond our borders though. The company delivers chocolates as gifts with heartwarming inscribed messages for its clients in countries as diverse as India, Bangladesh, Bel­gium, Oman, Japan, Australia, China and Germany.

Ecstasy’s international standard flavors, hand-crafted packaging and glocal focus make it stand out from similar Nepali companies while its customized delivery across South Asia and Europe give it another competitive edge.

Inspired by her aunt’s delicious homemade baking, Shristi Adhikari (24) joined hands with her friend Celeste Pokharel (22) to lay the com­pany’s foundation. They were later joined by other same-age friends who also wanted to be entrepre­neurs. With Rs 250,000 as seed money and nothing to lose, the group began with a series of tri­al-and-error.

According to recent media reports, Nepal in the last fiscal imported lux­ury chocolates worth Rs 1.28 billion from various international brands such as Lindt, Nestle, Dairy Milk, Mars, Snickers and Toblerone. Choc­olates are among the most sought after gift products in Nepal, and Ecstasy wants to capitalize on it. “We just have to prove that Nepali products are on par with such global brands,” says Shristi about the pos­sibility of Ecstasy competing against imported products.

 Production materials are mostly sourced locally while the cocoa comes from Malaysia and packaging wrappers from India

What explains the company’s name? “The name is self-explana­tory. Ecstatic is what you get when you eat our chocolates. One bite and a person gets transported to a world of bliss and euphoria,” says Nikesh Adhikari (20), another co-founder.

Ecstasy gets most of its orders during festivals and celebrations. The fact that it offers custom­ized delivery in specially crafted boxes with special messages for its clients keeps it busy all year, the owners inform.

It currently takes orders via Ins­tagram and Facebook pages and is partnering with local marts, conve­nience stores and hotels to market its products. “We prefer to use social media as most of our customers are young and digitally active,” says Nikesh.

With prices ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 600 a packet, the company sells around 80 to 100 packets a week. Production materials are mostly sourced locally while the cocoa comes from Malaysia and packaging wrappers from India.

Ecstasy is currently planning to open sales outlets in Thamel, Pokhara (preferably in Lakeside area), Chitwan and the Tribhuvan International Airport. The com­pany is also preparing a deal to import packaging material from China, which will further reduce the cost. Its delivery is being upgraded too, both in and outside the Kathmandu valley.