A landmark all-women panel discussion brought a sharp gender lens to Nepal’s entrepreneurship ecosystem at the closing event of the “Improving Local Economic Activities via Business Development Services” project.

The initiative, implemented by Innovate Next Impact Pvt. Ltd in partnership with The Asia Foundation under the Subnational Governance Programme Phase II, was held in Kathmandu on Thursday.

The event brought together government leaders, development partners, private sector actors and ecosystem stakeholders to reflect on two years of institutional innovation in enterprise development and to chart a forward-looking agenda for Nepal’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The session was moderated by Ankshita Chaudhary, operations director at Startup Discovery School. The panel featured Juna Mathema, co-founder and managing director of Blitz and executive committee member at FNCCI; Cécile Rivière, first secretary and programme manager at the Embassy of Switzerland/Swiss Cooperation Office Nepal; and Pratikshya Dahal, principal associate at Pioneer Law Associates.

The event also marked the formal conclusion of the Business Development Services engagement implemented by Innovate Next Impact, which operated across the municipalities of Damak, Bhimeshwor and Waling, as well as at the provincial level in Koshi.

The project demonstrated that local governments can serve as effective “front doors” for enterprise support by institutionalising services such as business facilitation and mentorship within municipal systems, and strengthening investment linkages at the provincial level.

Key achievements included the establishment of Growth Hubs, the development of standardised tools such as the Growth Hub Handbook and Business Plan Handbook, and the strengthening of provincial investment facilitation mechanisms through public-private dialogue in key sectors such as agriculture and tourism.