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The discovery of ‘lapsi’, the Nepali hog plum, in a New York superstore left me pleasantly surprised. As I held one in my hand and inhaled its sweet aroma, a rush of memories from my childhood and youth flooded my mind. Clutching onto the lapsi felt like reuniting with a dear old friend, bringing tears of pride to my eyes.

Perhaps they were tears of nostalgia, flowing from the depths of my heart. In that special moment, I felt an unmistakable bond with lapsi, (Choerospondias axillaris), as if it were meant to be mine. With a sense of pride, I strolled through the streets of New York, humming along to Kumar Basnet’s melody, ‘Lapsi ko gedo chusera, jyamir nibuwa sadhera, patpat jibro patkaudai.’

Scientists say that lapsi is indigenous to the hills of Nepal and can also be found in the hills of India (Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam), Bhutan, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Known as Lepchipoma in Assamese, Amrda in Bengali, and Nansuanzao in Mandarin, which translates to ‘southern sour date,’ lapsi carries a rich cultural heritage

Lapsi originates from a sizable tree reaching a height of approximately 25 meters, bearing small, yellow, fleshy fruits abundant in calcium, protein, and sucrose. The tree is dioecious, hosting both male and female species, posing a challenge for wild fruit harvesting. However, through grafting techniques, the trees can be controlled for smaller sizes and enhanced fruit yield.

During the onset of spring, the lapsi tree adorns itself with delicate, light-greenish blossoms, soon accompanied by tiny oval fruits measuring around two to three centimeters in diameter. Upon ripening, these fruits transition to a vibrant yellow or red hue, boasting a distinctive sour, tart flavor. Laden with essential nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin A, and dietary fiber, lapsi offers numerous health benefits. It’s celebrated for its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties.

While ripe lapsi fruits are intensely sour due to their high vitamin C content, few enjoy their pleasant tartness, either fresh or as ingredients for sweet and salty dried fruit nuggets. Although separating the pulp from the seeds can prove to be challenging, cooking facilitates this process. Encased within a hard rubbery skin, the fruits harbor a pale-yellow flesh firmly attached to a large brown seed.

Despite its nutritional prowess, lapsi’s utilization has predominantly remained localized, as noted by many food scientists. Nevertheless, lapsi’s economic significance is on the rise, with its fruit serving multiple purposes. The pulp is transformed into pickles, candies, and spicy delicacies, while the peel can be powdered, and the seeds find diverse applications, from ointments to fire starters. Ripe lapsi fruits present opportunities for both local consumption and international export.

Harvesting occurs as the fruits turn yellow, typically between December and September, allowing farmers to cater to market demands or process them into tantalizing pickles and candies. Furthermore, the dried skin finds utility as fruit leather (paun) or a souring agent for cooking.

Among Nepal’s culinary delights, lapsi ko achar stands out as a favorite pickle. This rich brown, gooey concoction boasts a tantalizing blend of sweetness, spiciness, and tanginess. Although each family has its unique recipe, the process typically involves boiling the lapsi fruit until tender, preserving both pulp and seed integrity.

Subsequently, the peeled fruit undergoes cooking with oil and an array of spices, including sugar, fenugreek seeds, dried chilies, turmeric, cinnamon, ground cardamom, fennel seeds, and chopped dried fruit. Once cooled, the pickle is packed in jars and it can maintain its flavor for up to a year at room temperature.

Beyond its culinary applications, lapsi boasts diverse qualities. Rich in vitamin C, the fruit is integral to various traditional medical practices. Moreover, its hard oval seeds serve as fire starters in rural kitchens or as playthings for children.

In recent years, lapsi has gained popularity as a commercial commodity, gracing the shelves of retail and department stores nationwide. With traditional methods gradually giving way to mass production, lapsi delicacies are now available in convenient mason jars, masquerading as homemade pickles.

In Nepali cuisine, lapsi serves as a quintessential souring agent, enhancing a myriad of dishes, from classic curries to momo chutney and soups. Its versatility and unique tang contribute significantly to Nepali culinary heritage.

Lapsi’s applications extend beyond its delectable pulp, encompassing the peel, seeds, and even natural food preservation techniques through sun-drying. Much like sumac and mango powder in other cultures, lapsi imparts a tangy essence to Nepali cuisine, bridging culinary traditions across borders.

For those traversing markets far from the hills of Nepal, encountering lapsi evokes cherished recollections of childhood games and familial feasts, symbolizing a tapestry woven from the threads of home, tradition, and culinary innovation.

The author is a UK based R&D chef

Despite  political and policy uncertainty, the Nepal government’s decision to organize the ‘Third Investment  Conference’ (TIC) on April 28-29 to attract foreign investment is a welcome step. Major issues/obstacles to such investment remain unaddressed amid a change of guard at Singhadurbar, including the ascension of a new finance minister. To make TIC successful is indeed a major challenge, but it is heartening to find the new finance minister committed to the cause. This article will analyze major issues related to investment and prescribe practical solutions expected to play a crucial role in making the conference successful.

A paltry FDI 

Investment, which helps to produce and reproduce goods and services, plays a pivotal role in national economic development. Despite different kinds of investment like public/private, domestic/foreign investment, the focus of this article is on private and foreign investment, especially foreign direct investment (FDI). For rapid economic development and growth, Nepal needs at least Rs 500bn in annual additional investment. Domestic investment alone will not be enough to fill this gap, so FDI is necessary.

Due to the lack of a conducive investment climate, ratio of real fixed investment (total fixed capital formation) to GDP has plunged from 34 percent (which should be around 60 percent, ideally) to 25 percent in a five-year period, whereas the share of total fixed investment of the private sector has gone down from 28 percent to 25 percent. Over the last 30 years (up to the fiscal 2023-24), FDI amounted to Rs 265bn with the average annual increment of a paltry Rs 8.5bn, marked by a receding flow in recent years. In terms of global FDI flow, Nepal’s position is pitiable, registering a 66 percent decline last year and standing shakily at the 6th position in South Asia, as the NRB Survey Report on FDI Flows in South Asia, 2021-22 shows. It is quite discouraging to note that FDI outflow is greater than its inflow.

Policy uncertainty and inconsistency is a major hindrance to both domestic as well as FDI. 

For example, the current government under Maoist leader Prime Minister Dahal is venturing into an undesirable sector by allowing the Nepali Army to run the already-privatized Hetauda Textile Factory, undermining the private sector (TPS) that contributes around 80 percent to the national economy. All this comes even as foreign investors remain quite afraid of pro-socialist provisions of the current constitution, including on the labor rights front. 

Capital flight

Worryingly, the private sector is diverting investment to a low-risk, high-profit trading sector at the expense of the industrial sector. This is not an overnight development, though. For several years, this sector had been urging the government to create a conducive environment for industrial investment in Nepal by amending relevant laws and enacting more than two dozen acts/regulations, to little avail. Instances of strikes and donation terror—the practice of seeking donations by flexing muscles—have gone down, but strong labor laws are still spoiling the investment climate. 

Notwithstanding a one-door policy on investment, there practically are three doors—the line ministry, the subordinate department and the Investment Board. Then there are infrastructural problems like load-shedding in the industrial sector, local communities’ grievances/concerns and political problems that create hurdles in the establishment of industries/factories. All these factors are also discouraging Nepali investors and triggering huge capital flight, formally and informally.  In such a situation, how can Nepal attract foreign investment?

A great dilemma

Globally, the control regime has become obsolete, thanks to a liberal economic policy adopted in the late 80s and 90s. Our neighbors—communist China and democratic India—adopted liberal economic policies and entered an era of economic growth and prosperity. In the case of Nepal and several other developing countries, some problems have appeared in the execution of liberal economic policy due to a higher degree of liberalization than their respective regulatory/supervisory capacities.  In our case, major leftwing parties have not so far committed to the liberal policy adopted 30 years ago, the need for FDI and a stronger role of the private sector for economic development. This is a great dilemma.

The author is an economist

As by-elections draw closer in Ilam-2 for House of Representatives (HoR) and in Bhajang-2 for Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly, major parties have expedited their election campaigns and top leaders are preparing to reach the constituencies to back their candidates.

This will be the second by-elections since the 2022 national elections in which the Nepali Congress emerged as the largest party while the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) polled in second and third respectively. However, the most talked about outcome of the election was the emergence of the newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) as the fourth largest party.

In the first by-election held in Tanahu and Chitwan in 2023, RSP candidates Swarnim Wagle and Rabi Lamichhane both registered thumping victories against the candidates fielded by major parties. So winning the Ilam-2 by-election—and winning it with a big margin—has  become a prestige issue for major parties. And it is not just prestige that is on the line for them. If the RSP candidate were to win in Ilam-2, it could very well mean game over for the big parties. 

The RSP is already popular among a large section of young urban Nepalis. If the party wins the Ilam-2 constituency, some Nepali Congress (NC) leaders say it could disrupt the voting pattern in the rest of the country in future elections. In other words, there is a high likelihood of RSP emerging as a major—if not the largest—political entity in Nepal come the next general election of 2027.

To stop the RSP, the two ruling parties UML and Maoist have forged an electoral alliance in Ilam-2. They have fielded the UML candidate, Suhang Nembang, son of late UML Vice-chairman Subas Chandra Nembang. Another ruling coalition partner, CPN (Unified Socialist), has refused to support Nembang and has come up with its own candidates. The main opposition, NC, has also fielded its own candidate in the fray.  

Cross-party leaders who just returned from Ilam predict that it is going to be a tight electoral race. 

 “There are intra-party rifts within both NC and UML, and as the voting day nears, it remains to be seen how these intra-party rifts will be managed,” says Nain Singh Mahar, a NC leader who recently visited Ilam. 

A large chunk of UML cadres are unhappy with the candidate selection in Ilam-2, stating that those who had been working for the party for a long time were sidelined. They argue that Suhang may very well be the son of a senior party leader who contested and won many elections from Ilam-2, but he doesn’t know anything about the constituency he represents. 

The Ilam-2 constituency became vacant following the death of UML Vice-chair Subas Chandra Nembang, in September last year. A total of 19 candidates—12 from different political parties and seven independents—are contesting in the by-election. 

The main contest is expected to be among UML’s Suhang Nembang, NC’s Dambar Bahadur Khadka, RSP’s Milan Limbu, and independent candidate Dakendra Singh Limbu Thegim.

Suhang has the support of the UML, Maoist Center and the Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav). He has been appealing to the voters to write down their needs, problems, and aspirations on paper, assuring that he and his party will fulfill them.

Meanwhile NC’s Khadka, who was edged by Subash Chandra Nembang with just 114 votes in the last general election, hopes to win this time. But in 2022, he had received votes from various coalition partners, including the Maoist Center. 

This time the Maoist party is supporting UML’s Suhang. UML and Maoist Center have signed a five-point agreement at the Koshi Province level to secure Suhang's victory. As per the agreement, the by-polls will be a stepping stone for cooperation among left forces to create a foundation for party unification in the future.

However, local UML leaders fear that all Maoist votes may not be transferred to Suhang. Also, there are fears that RSP candidate Milan Limbu, who was earlier with the Maoist Center, will get substantial Maoist votes. 

Some Maoist leaders say about a third of the party’s vote could go to RSP’s Limbu. Although traditional parties have been the major players in Ilam-2, Limbu expects a miraculous vote shift in his favor this time. RSP had received 4,686 proportional representation votes and 1,380 direct votes in 2022.

Independent candidate Dakendra Singh Limbu Thegim also hopes to pull off a surprise electoral victory from Ilam-2, with the support of 41 identity-based groups. He has been reaching out to voters with the agenda of strengthening federalism, identity, equal rights, peace, and sustainable development. 

Thegim has the support of Janata Samajbadi Party as well as identity-based parties like the Rastriya Janamukti Party, Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch, Nepal Samajbadi Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, and Kirat Yakthung Chumlung, Kirat Rai Yayokha, and social organizations, including the Kirat religious guru Atmananda Lingden.

Apart from these four candidates, Jit Bahadur Rai of CPN (Unified Socialist), Lakshmi Gurung of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Prem Kumar Thamsuhang of the Janmat Party, Shyam Bahadur Darji of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Min Bahadur Limbu of Mongol National Organization, Dhanraj Rana Magar of the National Republic Nepal, Jayant Bikram Shah of the Rastriya Mukti Andolan Nepal, and Ganesh Bahadur Chauhan from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, among others, are in the fray. 

Independent candidates Dak Prasad Gautam, Manoj Niroula, Arjun Kumar Shahi, Dipesh Bohra, Yogendra Gurung, and Raj Basyal are also contesting the election. The constituency comprises all of Chulachuli, Mangsebung and Phakphokthum rural municipalities, as well as parts of Ilam (excluding 10 wards), Deumai, and Mai municipalities. There are 115,342 voters in the constituency

Banks are flush with loanable funds, but they are not seeing demand for loans. As a result, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has been mopping up excess liquidity from the banking system through different monetary instruments.

According to the central bank, banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have a lending capacity of over Rs 850 billion at present. However, BFIs are not able to invest. On the other hand, an unruly group has gone after the banking and financial sector unchallenged. The government seems helpless against such groups. Recent arrests of bankers on suspicion of irregularities have unleashed a situation of fear and terror in the banking and financial sector.

That is why, bankers say, despite excess cash, there has been no investment. No wonder bankers are saying there is no environment for investment in the country. Stakeholders say that unless the government takes action against the groups spreading anarchy by saying 'loans need not be repaid' and 'if you protest, loans will be waived', the situation in the banking sector will not improve.

Banks hesitant to invest

 Bankers say the servicing of loans by borrowers has been affected after unruly groups started a campaign against banks. The banking and financial sector has been facing this problem for about a year now. On the other hand, the overall economy has shrunk recently. Most businesses are in a slump as there is no demand in the market. There has been no demand for loans from banks. In such a situation, bankers say that with unruly activities getting support to destabilize the banking sector, they have to hesitate even to lend.

However, the government has not taken any action against those spreading anarchy against banks. Protests are also being organized in the name of victims of microfinance. Some bankers feel that the state has been supporting those agitating against microfinance instead of controlling them.

The Nepal Rastra Bank has set a maximum credit-to-deposit ratio (CCD ratio) of 90% for banks. The current CCD ratio of banks is only 80.02%. While deposits have been increasing daily, lending has not increased proportionately, resulting in an accumulation of cash in the system.

According to the Nepal Bankers' Association, there has been no demand creation in the market. Interest rates have declined, but there are no new borrowers. Commercial banks, development banks, and finance companies have collected deposits of Rs. 6.17 trillion and disbursed loans of Rs 5.09 trillion.

Sunil KC, president of the Nepal Bankers' Association, cites protests against banks, arrests, and unnecessary detentions of bankers as reasons for the inability to disburse loans. “Additionally, imports have declined compared to the previous year, and most industries have not been operating at full capacity. Public construction projects have also been sluggish due to a lack of funds. For these reasons, there has been no demand for loans," KC said. "As soon as money stops flowing into the construction sector, many other sectors will be affected. These are the reasons why overall loan demand has declined." Banks' non-performing loans have also increased compared to previous levels, said KC, who is also the CEO of NMB Bank.

Tightening policies

Bankers say the central bank is not relaxing certain policies because of the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF granted Nepal concessional loans worth $395.9 million under its Extended Credit Facility (ECF). Officials, who were alarmed at depleting foreign exchange reserves and increasing current account deficit due to high imports, agreed to accept the IMF’s conditional loan which extends until February 2025. Bringing reforms to the financial system and public finance management, including amending the law to make Nepal Rastra Bank autonomous, preparing a blueprint to prevent misuse of loans, conducting external audits of 10 big commercial banks are some of the conditions set by the IMF.

The government implemented some reform measures, but it dragged its feet on the implementation of some other conditions set by the IMF. The then finance minister, however, expressed commitment to implement all reforms in October last year after the IMF withheld the third installment of its loan.

NRB’s directives on loan classification, the new provision of a six-month wait for non-performing loans to be upgraded, and the guidelines on working capital loans were met with opposition from the private sector. Private sector bodies like FNCCI and CNI have urged the government to clear IMF loans at the earliest.

NRB's requirement of raising capital reserve by 0.5 percentage points to 9% by mid-June will decrease bank's capacity to lend by around Rs 25 billion, according to bankers. Likewise, further shrinking of spread rate to 4% has hit profitability of banks.