December 31: Tourism entrepreneurs have stressed the need of a special action plan at the policy-level to promote women entrepreneurship for propping up economy.    
They stressed it at a programme organised for women entrepreneurs of service sector in Gandaki Province. The event was organized by the EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Project in coordination with the Women Tourism Entrepreneurs Forum (WOTEF).    
On the occasion, tourism entrepreneur Sharmila Neupane said the state has not been paying attention to result-oriented activities. She mentioned, "The state should create gender-based investment-friendly environment in order to encourage women in entrepreneurship for social justice and equality."
Gandaki Province Assembly member Devaka Pahari, who is also a tourism entrepreneur, shared that women are deprived of income generating opportunity in lack of women-friendly environment.    
She said she has been consistently raising her voice for creating investment-friendly environment and policy to encourage entrepreneurship.

Similarly, Professor Dr Chandra Bhadra viewed that women are compelled to face discrimination due to various reasons as the state is not sensitive towards gender-friendly concept.    
Chairperson of Pokhara Tourism Council, Pom Narayan Shrestha, underscored that there is immense potential to encourage women towards entrepreneurship as tourism is a multi-dynamic sector.    
Likewise, WOTEF Chair Uma Bhandari Regmi said the organisation had been organising various programmes for augmenting status of women associated with different business. Women tourism entrepreneurs had gathered for the first time in Pokhara and established the organisation in 2074 BS.    
EU Representatives Dipanjali Shrestha shared that as per the statistics of Gandaki Province only around 45 per cent women are self-dependent. -- RSS