Initiatives for Local Economic Development (ILED-Regional) project aims to enhance regional economic development in Province 1 based on competition and collaboration arising from citizen responsive governance system and processes resulting in a region where private sector investment in a free and open environment, including that of foreign, is valued, and the region realized as a reliable economic partner.
Since, the COVID pandemic has forced all states to look at how each region behaves in the aspect of the economy and measures that need to be in place to ensure all affected by closures of markets and business, and thus jobs, are restored to a healthy level. For many nations such as Nepal, the pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. The country’s economy being very dependent on imports and minimal own production, has forced the already blue collared working class to resort to foreign employment. There has been reports of decrease in migration from various sources such as the Labor Migration Report, 2020. However, this decrease is not a result of improved job market in the country but more financial and deplorable conditions and harassment faced by the workers abroad, contract termination and failure to seek other employment, injury/health issues, resignation as well as social issues at their home base that have discouraged export of jobs. The report further indicates approximately 756,000 returnee migrants and that 60% of them are from province 1, 3, 5. Among the returnees in Province 1 it is reported that only 46% are employed and the remaining are either unemployed or outside the labor force.
Province 1 is considered significant in terms of the economic development opportunities available: presence of manufacturing industries, thriving economic corridors and hubs, tea plantations, tourism based on geography, geology, and cultural diversity, immediate connectivity to India and Nepal, and close proximity to Banglabandh (Bangladesh), to name a few. Despite these opportunities, Nepal economic development in this general area is not just external but many internal policies at the national and local levels hinder economic development activities. While most practices at the local level continue to represent reflections of the prior unitary type of government structure, through which instructions and regulations were handed down and also dictated local reliance on the central government for economic relief. However, it need not be anymore. Since the onset of local governments in place, there are ample opportunities for provincial and local level governments to steer the economic woes faced by businesses as well as households at the grassroot level. These grassroot level stakeholders can be organized to present their issues and concerns through citizen engagement mechanisms to lead up to the local government intake for further interventions.
While core taxing responsibilities are still held tight by the federal body, there are many other opportunities for local governments to embrace and to allow businesses and entrepreneurs to flourish and thereby create opportunities for jobs for struggling families. The current environment is closed to some extent and needs opening up with the introduction of innovative ideas that provide incentives for local and foreign businesses to flourish in an open investment environment. Such a strategy would not only create jobs and provide more revenue for the government to provide better services, but also express a region that promotes belonging to a free’er’ democratic world as in developed nations. While developing such LED strategies, the municipalities at the consolidated municipal level will be encouraged to give special attention to incentive packages to businesses that encourage jobs with special eye for GEDSI groups to take advantage of job availability or at the entrepreneurship level. Businesses that directly or indirectly address climate change issues will also be given more privileges.
For a region to thrive economically, the approach has to be bottom-up ensuring citizen structures and processes are put in place, through which needs at the grassroot level are understood and solutions derived. This is fruitful not only for the purpose of understanding issues and needs but also to create a just and equitable society that is based on transparency and accountability. For such mechanism, an enabling environment has to exist-mostly possible through a higher level of governmental leadership. Having such a democratically established system and processes will enable the citizens to trust the local governments in development affairs and help bridge the gap between the demand and supply side of governance, resulting in direct positive impact in the lives of citizens. With the local and provincial governments in their infancy but ample authority, opportunities to carry an economy driven agenda are plenty. Through this opportunity grassroot socio economic issues, needs, gaps, opportunities can be identified to be linked with needs of start-up and ailing private businesses in an open environment that is free and yet competitive. Because jobs provide the throttle for a booming economy initiative in Province 1, as all other places, requires mechanisms at both levels of governments that engages with the citizens and businesses and promotes competition and coordination through business-friendly policies and regulations to ensure they are able to create jobs. And the timing could not be any better, as the labor market is plenty with the migrant returnees as well as many small, medium, and even big businesses are desperate for a revival and new beginnings.