Kunal Kayal Unanimously Elected President of Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Kunal Kayal has been unanimously elected as the new president of the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI). Kayal, who was serving as an office-bearer at the organisation, was elected unopposed after Karan Kumar Chaudhary, a member of the executive committee, withdrew his candidacy for the presidency on Wednesday.

Chaudhary withdrew his nomination ahead of the scheduled NICCI election, saying that he agreed to move forward through consensus. The organisation’s general convention is scheduled to be held on Ashwin 29. According to the election calendar published ahead of the convention, Wednesday was the deadline for candidates to withdraw their nominations.

Kayal will succeed the current NICCI President Sunil KC. The chamber’s executive structure comprises a president, two vice presidents, a general secretary, a treasurer and 11 executive committee members.

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Kayal is a director at Keyal Group, a diversified industrial and trading conglomerate in Nepal. The group has business interests across manufacturing, construction materials trading, hydropower and solar energy, real estate, banking and insurance, tourism, healthcare and other services.

Kayal also serves as the Honorary Consul of Jordan to Nepal, adding an international dimension to his professional responsibilities.

The Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation established to promote trade, investment and economic cooperation between Nepal and India.

NICCI was initially formed through an ad-hoc committee in 1993 and was formally registered with the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, on September 6, 1994 (Bhadra 21, 2051). The chamber currently has around 150 members representing various sectors of the business community.

As a bi-national chamber, NICCI works with government and private-sector institutions in both Nepal and India to connect businesses, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. It provides members with market information, studies, thematic programmes and platforms aimed at identifying business opportunities, projects and potential partnerships in the two countries.

The chamber also engages with concerned authorities on issues affecting its members and facilitates dialogue aimed at strengthening bilateral economic relations, trade and investment between Nepal and India.