Nepal hopes the return of investors and donors will help kick start an economy stalled by years of political uncertainty. Ron Corben, who recently visited Nepal, reports that hopes are high that recent elections will put the country in a better position to benefit from high economic growth in neighboring India and China.
Nepal's economy has been ravaged in recent years as political uncertainty delayed infrastructure spending and kept foreign investors away.
Power shortages remain an almost daily occurrence and long lines greet drivers buying fuel.
A month after Nepal's election for an assembly to write a new constitution, attention is now turning to the economy.
Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times, says years of a communist insurgency and instability undermined the economy.
"It's because of the political instability the fact that no-one in power has been in power long enough to implement a lot of these economic plans on energy, on power, on water, this is jobs creation," said Dixit. "Investment is almost zero and there's been no major manufacturing or hydropower projects added to the grid."
Recent United Nations reports put growth in the landlocked nation at just 2.5 percent in 2007. The economy remains heavily dependent on the $1.5 billion in remittances coming each year from Nepalese working abroad. U.N forecasts expect growth to pick up to four percent this year.
But the U.N. warns the country will struggle to deal with rising prices for both food and fuel. Those price increases will be only partly offset by increased demand for Nepalese workers overseas in oil-exporting nations.
Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, vice chairman at Nepal's planning commission, says with the elections over, it is time for investors and donors to return.
He says there are several plans to revive the economy and get more people jobs.
"The immediate priorities - employment generation and how that could be done," he said. "We have largely worked out that there will be larger investment in infrastructure projects, which will immediately generate employment and kick start the economy."
One hope is that Nepal will benefit from the fast-paced growth of its neighboring economic giants, India and China. Editor Dixit thinks with the right infrastructure in place, combined with Nepal's other strength - tourism - the economy will make significant gains.
"We must lash our wagons to the two locomotives in the region - China and India - both growing at nine to 12 per cent a year - and I think these two locomotives will just drag us along," said Dixit.
Experts say if the government remains stable it should be able to increase infrastructure spending, and tourism should expand since the insurgency is over. That will mean solid economic growth that will allow Nepal to reduce poverty after years of uncertainty.
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尼泊尔希望外国投资者和捐助者返回尼泊尔，能够帮助启动这个国家由于多年政治局势不明朗而造成的经济停滞。尼泊尔对最近的选举使国家能够更好地受益于邻国印度和中国的经济增长抱有很高希望。
近年来，尼泊尔政局不稳导致基础设施建设滞后，外国投资者退避三舍，国家经济因此遭受重创。电力短缺每日可见，司机为加油而大排长龙。
尼泊尔选举出负责起草新宪法的议会一个月之后，人们的注意力开始转向经济。尼泊尔时报编辑昆达.迪克西特说，共产党人多年的反叛活动和政局不稳破坏了国家的经济。
迪克西特说：“由于政局不稳，没有任何人掌权时间长到能够落实许多经济计划，解决能源、电力、水等问题，并创造就业机会。投资几乎是零，没有增加任何主要的制造业或水电项目。”
联合国最近的报告说，尼泊尔这个内陆国家2007年的经济增长只有百分之2.5。尼泊尔经济极度依赖在外国工作的尼泊尔人每年汇回的15亿美元。联合国预测尼泊尔经济今年将增长百分之4。
尼泊尔计划委员会副主任贾甘迪什.波卡雷尔说，选举结束，现在是投资者和捐助者重返尼泊尔的时候了。他说，现在有几项恢复经济和使更多人就业的计划。
波卡雷尔说：“当务之急是如何创造就业机会。我们已经大致知道会有更多的基础建设项目投资，这些将立即创造就业机会，启动经济发展。”
现在的一个希望是，尼泊尔会受益于经济高速增长的两个邻国印度和中国。尼泊尔时报编辑迪克西特说，有了相应的基础设施，再加上尼泊尔在旅游业等其它领域的优势，经济将会取得重大进展。
迪克西特说：“我们必须把我们的战车和这个地区的两台机车中国和印度，绑在一起，中国和印度的年增长率都在百分之9至12。我认为这两台机车会拉著我们一起跑。”
专家说，如果尼泊尔政府保持稳定，就应当能够增加基础建设支出，而随著反叛活动结束，旅游业也应当有所发展。这意味著经济稳步增长，使尼泊尔在多年动乱后得以减少贫困。
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