FNCCI to get new leadership from tomorrow

KATHMANDU: The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the governing body of businesspeople, is holding its 57th annual general meeting in Kathmandu today.

The new leadership of the Federation will be chosen by the General Assembly. Chandra Prasad Dhakal, the current senior vice president of the federation, will automatically take over as president following this general assembly, with elections for the new senior vice president and other positions taking place on Wednesday.

The FNCCI’s constitution states that after serving a three-year term as senior vice president, the person will automatically take over as president.

Anjan Shrestha, Umesh Lal Shrestha and Ramchandra Shanghai  are vying for the position of senior vice president.

Along with the panel, they declared their candidacy and outlined their platform, which included working with the government to create an environment that was welcoming to business and industry.

Lilendra Pradhan, president of the Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association, who will run for the central member position on Umesh Lal Shrestha’s panel, stated that he will run for office with the objectives of fostering an environment that is favorable to investment, creating jobs, promoting indigenous industry, working with the government to achieve economic prosperity for the nation, etc.

Which candidates are the others?

A new 64-member working committee for the federation will be chosen by the general assembly. Jamsher Mian, a member of the Lumbini province council, and Sunil KC, a representative of the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are the only candidates still standing.

The Federation’s Constitution established three vice presidents, one for each of the three professional categories (District-Municipal Commercial, Substantial, and Associate). The competition for district-city business is between Surkrishna Vaidya, Arunraj Sumargi, and Dinesh Shrestha.

In a similar vein, candidates for vice president include Hemraj Dhakal, Manish Lal Pradhan, and Shakuntala Hirachan. For the position of Associate Vice President, Jyotsana Shrestha and Bharatraj Acharya will compete.

The panel includes Dinesh Shrestha from district-municipal, Hemraj Dhakal from commodity association, and Bharat Acharya Umesh Lal Shrestha from Associates, three of the eight candidates for the position of three vice presidents.

Surkrishna Shrestha and Arunraj Sumargi are also members of the Anjan Shreth panel. The Sanghai panel is represented by Jyotsana Shrestha of Associates from Ramchandra panel, Shakuntlal Hirachan, the substantive vice-president, and Surkrishna Vaidya, the district-city vice-president candidate.

For the seven working committee seats that will be chosen from among 17 candidates, 17 candidates have been nominated. After the Lumbini state member faces no opposition, 14 candidates are vying for the remaining 6 seats. From the Koshi region, candidates Tank Prasad Dulal, Narendra Kumar Khadka, and Taranath Ghimire are running.

Both Vijay Kumar Sah and Arun Kumar Pradhan are representatives for the Madhesh province. Krisisna Prasad Awal and Savin Shrestha are competing in the Bagmati province, while Jeevanjyoti Shrestha and Yuvraj Rajbhandari are competing in the Gandaki province.

Similar to how Shamsher Mian does not face competition in Lumbini, Lalman Budha, Dhan Bahadur Raut Chhetri, and Kul Bahadur Vishwakarma are up for election in Karnali.

For the position of Central Member from Sudurpaschim Province, Ram Bahadur Bhandari and Jung Bahadur Malla are in competition. For a single working committee seat on the founding member group, Bhishmaprasad Neupane and Tikaraj Dhakal are vying for the position.

Similar to this, 90 candidates from district-city, objective, and associate are vying for 51 seats on the working committee.

The 14 working committee member positions up for election from the objective association are being contested by 28 people. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry is electing 32 candidates for 18 working committee seats, and 30 candidates for 19 associate working committee seats.