Kathmandu, June 24: National Planning Commission Member Dr. Shankar Sharma today said that the government was committed to develop tourism and information technology (IT) sectors that held good prospects in terms of national development.
The government is working with the private sector to address the problems facing these sectors and devise appropriate policy to harness the potentials they hold, Sharma said addressing a talk programme on Human Resource Development in Nepal in the New Millennium here this afternoon.
Citing the ongoing second infrastructure development project in tourism and the open sky policy in communications, Sharma said that the government had given due importance to these sectors. “The government is running various programmes to develop human resources in tourism and IT sectors.”
HAN (Hotel Association of Nepal) President Narendra Bajracharya however said that the government had not given due importance to tourism development. “There is no incentive to tourism industry,” he said.
Bajracharya said that the government was not likely to attain its prime objective of poverty alleviation unless it gave due priority to tourism development that occupies about 20 per cent of country’s foreign currency earnings and provides direct or indirect employment to about 4.5 million people.
Bajracharya stressed on education and training for the development of tourism industry.
President of Computer Association of Nepal Rajib Subba stressed the need to recognise IT as a service industry. “We have missed the industrial revolution and green revolution but we must not miss IT revolution.”
Subba said that human was the prime capital in the present day digital world and called for human resource development initiatives on part of the government.
Organised by Nepal AOTS Alumni Society (NAAS) as a part of observing its 10th anniversary, the programme was attended, among others, by AOTS-Japan’s President Kanichi Ito and AOTS-Dhaka’s representative.
NAAS is a non-profit organisation of the ex-trainees of the AOTS, Japan. It was established in 1991 with human resource development in management and technical fields as its main objective.