Youth and Small Entrepreneur Self Employment Fund, Helvetas -Nepal ink MoU

KATHMANDU, APR 20:

Youth and Small Entrepreneur Self Employment Fund (YSEF) and Helvetas-Nepal have signed an agreement to provide small entrepreneurship loans to youths trained through the Employment Fund. The fund has provided skill-based training to about 60,000 youths so far.

Loans from YSEF will be provided to youths who have business plans, said country director of Helvetas-Nepal Shiva Prasad Aryal. “The scheme will be started in 20 district on a trial basis,” he added.

Helvetas-Nepal has been providing various skill-based training to youths aged between 18 years and 50 years. YSEF has been providing non-collateral loans of up to Rs 200,000 to help youth become entrepreneurs and self-reliant.

This project will be run till end of 2013, said vice president of YSEF Prof Dr Punya Prasad Regmi. The small loan scheme will be provided in Ilam, Jhapa, Sarlahi, Bara, Parsa, Chitwan and Kavre districts in the east and Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Syangja, Kaski, Banke, Bardiya, Mugu, Jumla, Rukum, Surkhet, Kailali and Kanchanpur in the west.

Helvetas-Nepal and YSEF will expand the programme based on the experiences gathered in these districts, said Regmi. YSEF and Helvetas-Nepal have formed a committee to monitor the activities. The committee includes two members from YSEF and two from Helvetas-Nepal, said Aryal.

According to the plan, Helvetas-Nepal will refer trained youths to banks and cooperatives to avail loans for their projects. It will be a fully project-based loan scheme, he added.

Source: THT