Nepal Agriculture Investment Meeting
CASA EVENT
Nepal Agriculture Investment Meeting
About this meeting
This one-day action-oriented meeting sought to enhance the enabling agriculture investment environment in Nepal. It led to concrete action points being proposed. It comprised a number of facilitated conversations, panel discussion and breakout sessions involving policymakers, and investors and donors able to invest in agriculture in Nepal.
The goal of these breakout sessions was to develop an action plan (including issues, timeframes and potential responsibilities) addressing the underlying issues limiting agriculture investment in the country.
Goal of the meeting
To facilitate discussions between investors, investment stakeholders, intermediaries and policymakers around the key challenges and bottlenecks faced for investing in climate positive agriculture in Nepal. To help to promote Nepal as a global destination for agriculture investment.
Outcomes
The meeting piloted model for conducting annual agri-investment meetings in Nepal with key stakeholders to agree an action plan. The workshop panels developed a shortlist of 9 priorities and around 15 secondary priorities which can be further explored with the policy team at the Ministry of Agriculture. These will help development synergies across the agriculture investor community in Nepal and support moves, where appropriate, to encourage inward investment.
Final agenda
An overview of the event and the final agenda can be found here.
SPEAKERS
Alvaro Valverde
Alvaro Valverde is an international development specialist with experience designing and implementing projects, policy, strategy and research in over 20 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has worked for intergovernmental organisations, NGOs, think tanks and the private sector on issues related to agriculture development for over 15 years. He is currently the Engagement, Learning & Communication Lead for FCDO’s CASA programme. There he is responsible for overseeing, managing and providing quality control to all activities related to stakeholder engagement, high impact research commissioning, development communications and event management of the CASA Programme.
Dinesh Dulal
Dinesh Dulal has over 20 years in the Nepalese banking industry specialising in sustainable energy project financing, agriculture financing, financial inclusion for unbanked populations, and financing CSR initiatives. He currently heads up the Sustainable Banking Department at NMB Bank. He’s on the steering group of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financial (PACF) a global partnership of financial institutions that work together to develop and implement a harmonized approach to assess and disclose the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with projects they finance. He is Master of Business Studies and Bachelor’s in Law from Tribhuwan University, Nepal.
Niraj Basnet Danil
Niraj Basnet Danil heads the SME & Microfinance Division of Nabil Bank. He started his career as part-time employee Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd. He has broad experience of the banking sector gained at Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd and Bank of Asia Nepal Ltd, which became NIC ASIA Bank Ltd He was founder CEO of NIC ASIA Capital Ltd. and the founder Director of NIC ASIA Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd. Recently Nabil Bank has made the paradigm shift in its focus from the corporate to the SME segment, this led to international recognition in SME Financing and has undertaken various Sustainable Banking Initiatives. He has led various projects and partnership of Nabil Bank including UKAid-Sakchhyam, Swiss Contact-Sahaj and UNCDF- Digital Access to Women & Youth.
Paul Kalu
Paul Kalu is the Team Leader of CASA and has been at the helm of the programme since December 2019. He has over 25 years’ experience of working across a wide range of industries including financial markets, economic journalism, information & communication technology, and international development. Over the past 16 years he has been involved in some of the largest donor-funded agricultural market development projects in Africa and Asia, helping businesses identify and tap into opportunities in this critical sector (that they may otherwise have overlooked), and thereby benefiting both the businesses, and the farmers who buy and/or sell products to these businesses.
Vijay Kumar
Vijay Kumar completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Poona, India and currently working in Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited as Head Inclusive Banking. In his line of work, he focuses in access to finance (Micro Finance/ Financial Literacy ), and MSME financing. Prior to joining Muktinath, he was working as Team Leader/ Value Chain Coordinator in LI-BIRD, Nepal and Relationship Manager/Head Development Credit Unit of Bank of Kathmandu Limited. He had vast experience in banking as well as in development sector.
Chandra Dhakal
Chandra Dhakal is a serial entrepreneur. With his brother, he co-founded IME Group, a fast-growing conglomerate of businesses. The business has a strong core of ethics, professional and financial conduct and governance. Additionally, he has set an exemplary model for the successful merger and acquisition of banks and financial institutions in Nepal. His advocacy as Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has contributed to making Nepal more appealing to attract foreign direct and domestic investors. He holds many directorships, including a post on the board of Nepal Infrastructure Bank Ltd and chairs the not-for-profit Western Region Development Forum and Middle Kaligandaki Hydropower and Tiplyang Kaligandaki Hydropower Ltd.
Sidarth Khadka
Siddarth Khadka is the lead for CASA Nepal. He started his career in large multinational private companies but recently has held leadership roles in development programs. His specialism is SME business development and developing and supporting investment for climate resilience. Within CASA, his focus is on the sustainable growth and development of SMEs that source from small-scale producers.
Heidi Tavakoli
Heidi Tavakoli is the Deputy Development Director and Head of the Sustainable Growth team in the British Embassy, Kathmandu. She has spent nearly two decades working on economic affairs across Asia and Africa and has held senior roles in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Overseas Development Institute.
Stream
This was an invitation only event, and therefore not livestreamed.
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