The 5th edition of Next Growth Conclave 2020 took place on Sunday with a theme ‘Decoding the post-pandemic growth strategy’ bringing together several successful and aspiring speakers from various sectors who presented their views on surviving, reviving and growing a business in the post-pandemic period.

Next Growth Conclave is Nepal’s largest entrepreneur conference that started in 2016.

Kavi Raj Joshi, founder and managing director of Next Venture Crop, said that entrepreneurs have an important role to play in the current situation to contribute towards the economy that has been badly hit by the pandemic and at the same time entrepreneurs need to be supported for the economy to thrive.

Speakers said that Nepal should use information technology (ICT) to ease communications, collaboration and coordination of work. This will not only help businesses continue their operations for now but also help Nepali firms become globally competitive and future-ready.

Using ICT, anyone could work from anywhere, anytime which means local businesses could also hire remote talent when required.

Amit Agrawal, co-founder and director of Khalti, said that financial technology has garnered popularity in Nepal through e-wallets and QR codes. It has increased the adoption of digital commerce not only in e-commerce but also among small merchants.

Nepalis will soon be able to make payment for local government services, bills, taxes through an online wallet and payment gateway as the government has taken a leap on financial technology adoption, he said. For the economy to bounce back quickly, the use of digital technology is key as it offers greater transparency.

Similarly, Dhananjay Regmi, CEO of Nepal Tourism Board, said that tourism in Nepal moving forward should be focused on democratization (benefit for everyone from workers to investors), decentralization (local tourism promotion) and digitization (using digital technology for tourism promotion).

All individuals should be able to capitalise the tourism potential and the board is ready to take a leadership position, he said.

Sudeep Acharya, managing director of Dish Home, said cable operators suffered from both the pandemic and policy changes regarding clean feed and streaming digital content.

Shashwat Dhakal, managing director and CEO of Bigmart, said it was difficult to scale up the business in Nepal due to several factors such as government policies, trade union, taxation and a small domestic market. During the conclave, a handful of challenges were identified which businesses face from a poorly educated workforce and the unsatisfactory services offered by the banking and financial sectors.

According to the organiser, all participants followed Covid-19 safety measures and protocols before entering the conclave.

Amit Agrawal, co-founder and director of Khalti, Mannsi Agrawal, a transformational speaker, Sudeep Acharya, managing director of Dish Home, Ranjit Acharya, founder and CEO of Prisma Advertising, Ananta Saurabh, founder and CEO of 10 Orbits, Laxman Neupane, founder and managing director of Siddhartha Hospitality Group, Shahwat Dhakal, managing director and CEO of Bigmart, Sewa Pathak, executive director of Vianet Communication and Bigyan Shrestha, co-founder of Gyapu Marketplace and XCelTrip were among the speakers.