Rameshwar Khanal Admits Focus on Elections Hampered Tourism Development

Finance Minister Rameshwar Khanal has said that the government has been unable to give sufficient attention to the development of tourism and other sectors as its full focus had to be directed toward conducting elections.

Speaking at the Nepal Tourism Seminar organized in Lalitpur on Friday by the Tourism Board and Parisuchak Media, he stated that the government had to face numerous challenges to hold elections on time. He acknowledged that prioritizing elections led to shortcomings in development efforts. However, he emphasized the need to go beyond merely recognizing the importance of tourism on paper and to address policies, programs, and projects related to the sector.

He said, “Although the budget mentioned that the tourism sector would be provided facilities similar to industries, this has not yet been implemented. The government faced many challenges from the very beginning. One of the biggest challenges was the widespread doubt among the public and political circles that holding elections would not be possible under any circumstances. There were incidents of prisoners escaping from jails, weapons being looted, and a new generation unwilling to engage with traditional political leaders. In such a situation, it was a major challenge for the government to prove that elections could be conducted. As a result, while focusing on this, we were unable to work on commitments made in the current fiscal year regarding tourism and other development sectors. However, the importance of tourism will not be limited to paper, we will address it through policies, programs, and projects.”

He further stated that the current government has been entrusted with the responsibility of reducing corruption and ensuring good governance, adding that some reforms have been carried out in this regard.