Banda hits 2 big biz events

KATHMANDU, MAR 08 -

The two-day banda, on Wednesday and Thursday, has affected two high-profile business events in the Capital. The annual general meeting of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry , which was set to commence in Kathmandu on Thursday, has been postponed due to the banda.

Around 55 business leaders from SAARC countries were scheduled to attend the meeting. “Bringing in 55 business leaders is a big deal. Since the event has been postponed, we are not sure whether Nepal will get an opportunity to host the event in the future,” said Kalyan Krishna Tamrakar, member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

The Nepal International Trade Fair - 2013, slated to begin Friday, is another casualty. The organiser, FNCCI, had invited around 200 delegates for the fair. But now it expects only 50 percent of the invitees to make it to the event. “Only 50 percent of the invitees are likely to make it to the trade fair,” said Tamrakar.

According to FNCCI, a team of 18 delegates from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Beijing, which arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday, left the country due to the strike . Among the three groups invited officially, only the nine-member German group, which reached here a couple of days ago, is likely to attend the event.

FNCCI had urged political parties and their sister organisations not to call bandas during this period. FNCCI said the country faces a loss of nearly Rs 2 billion on every day of banda.

Source: The Kathmandu Post