KATHMANDU: Stakeholders on Monday discussed how to become a successful entrepreneur and how to avail various facilities given by the government to women entrepreneurs. They made such remarks during a one-day training program on financial literacy and entrepreneurship for women entrepreneurs organized by New Business Age Private Limited in Butwal. The event was sponsored by Siddharth Bank.

Speaking at the event, Madan Lamsal, chairman of the event and editor-in-chief of New Business Age, said that unless women are encouraged to enter into entrepreneurship, it will be difficult to develop entrepreneurship in the country. He mentioned that New Business Age has been conducting financial literacy and entrepreneurship training for women in various parts of the country for several years.

Similarly, the chief guest of the program, Khel Raj Pandey, mayor of Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City, highlighted that the city provides various training programs for women entrepreneurs and plans to continue these initiatives.

"This year, 500 women entrepreneurs received various skill trainings, especially in the productive sector. We aim to provide similar training to about 3,000 women entrepreneurs annually starting from the upcoming fiscal year," he said. The mayor also mentioned that Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City offers training on expense reduction and money-saving techniques.

Basanti Pradhan, vice president of the Federation of Women's Entrepreneurs Association Nepal (FWEAN), noted that people can become entrepreneurs by solving various problems.

"I want to emphasize that even your interests can be turned into a business. To do this, you need to improve skills such as product quality, packaging, and marketing," she said.

Sagun Khanal discussed how to become a successful entrepreneur as well as various facilities provided by government agencies and banks to women entrepreneurs, and how to obtain these facilities.

Yagya Prasad Pageni, ward chair of Ward No 8 in Butwal, pointed out that some entrepreneurs divert loans from banks to other sectors like real estate and the stock market. He stressed that loans should be used for the ventures for which they were intended.

Chandradev Paudyal, head of Siddharth Bank’s Butwal Branch, shed light on various facilities the bank offers to women entrepreneurs.

Anita Devi Chudali, president of Women Entrepreneurs Association, Rupandehi, and Sheila Nepali, president of Women Entrepreneurs Association, Karnali, expressed their satisfaction with the usefulness of the training for women entrepreneurs.

About 140 women entrepreneurs participated in the program held at Siddharth Cottage, Butwal, including Central Treasurer of FWEAN Sabita Subedi and officials from the Nepal Cottage and Small Industries Federation, Butwal.