16 June 2024, Kathmandu
Nepali Tech Entrepreneurs have said the country is all set to emerge as a global tech hub but needs support from the government and international agencies.
Delivering a presentation on the theme “Nepal: An Emerging Global Tech Hub,” the president of the Nepal Association for Software and IT Services Companies (NAS-IT), Richan Shrestha, said that over 2,000 IT companies are operating in Nepal, employing more than 70,000 IT personnel. “The IT sector contributes to 4.5 percent of the country’s total forex earnings, and 60 percent of the ICT services are being exported to the US.
Nepal Becomes Global Tech Hub
Over 10,000 students are graduating in IT every year, providing a talent pool to grow the industry, said Shrestha, adding that NAS-IT was established in 2023 with a view to elevating Nepal as a global tech hub by 2035.
Mr. Shrestha, who leads a company called Quickfox Technologies in Lalitpur, said that Nepal could create over 500,000 jobs, have over 50 companies listed on the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), and earn over USD 25 billion by exporting ICT services by 2035. He urged the government of Nepal to formulate policies encouraging IT startups in the country.
Founder and CEO of Genese Solution, a UK-based value IT consulting company, Mr. Anjani Phuyal, said that tech giants like Google. Microsoft and Amazon were supporting Nepali academic institutions to incorporate tech curricula.
“Nepali academic institutions are now teaching the latest courses, which are not even taught in many UK universities,” said Phuyal, adding, “There are dozens of Nepali success stories, and we need to nurture them.”
Mr. Phuyal said the present moment was the most opportune time for the Nepali tech industry to leapfrog and make its presence felt in the global tech space.
Nepal’s Ambassador to the UK, Shri Gyan Chandra Acharya, said the government of Nepal is committed to establishing the country as an emerging tech hub.
Ambassador Acharya said the Nepal government had introduced a number of measures in this year’s budget announcements to promote the IT sector in the country.
“There is a big opportunity here in the UK in the finance, legal, hospitality, and health sectors, and Nepali companies should tap these opportunities to export IT-enabled services,” said Ambassador Acharya.
The government of Nepal has declared the decade 2024–34 as the decade of information technology, with a view to generating employment for 1.5 million people directly and indirectly and exporting IT services worth NPR 3 trillion in ten years. It was NPR 67 billion in 2022. The Nepal government has aimed to reduce the digital divide through various programs like IT parks, strengthening data centers, promoting domestic software usage, and increasing access to broadband services. The Nepali government has also announced that it will provide a rebate on tax to information technology companies in reinvested profits.
The Deputy Chief of Mission at the Nepali Embassy in London, Mrs. Roshan Khanal, welcomed the participants.