Nepal’s top businessman plans to partner local bank to raise venture capital
The Chaudhary Group (CG), led by Nepal’s first billionaire and business tycoon Binod Chaudhary, is looking at partnering with a local bank and possibilities of raising venture capital to attract investors to Sri Lanka.
Mr. Chaudhary, on the sidelines of a briefing with senior business writers on Monday, told the Business Times that he is interested in an investment which can bring together a pool of investors through a banking platform to Sri Lanka. “At the moment we’re discussing with many financial institutions in this regard,” he said, adding that he’s interested in getting into the financial services industry. But he isn’t interested in a stock broking firm, he added. “There are many stock broking licences for sale, but it’s not a business that we want to get into right now,” he said.
Pic shows from left -. Rahul Chaudhary son of Binod Chaudhary and Director of Cinnovation/ Chaudhary Group; Binod Chaudhary - Chairman of Cinnovation/ Chaudhary Group and Tilak de Zoysa, close friend and mentor of Mr Chaudhary.
Mr. Chaudhary also said that he’s interested in getting into the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector in Sri Lanka. “We may look at a Noodle manufacturing facility first. We produce over one billion packets of noodles, branded Wai Wai, and we have reached 1 per cent of the world population.” He also mulled plans to enter the local financial services sector and the education sector.
He said CG’s cement production venture in Jaffna has progressed and they obtained a Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) exploration licence in this regard. “We also got preliminary approval from the Board of Investment,” he noted, adding that the company is now looking for land in the Jaffna Peninsula. Some 50 acres of land is needed for the factory and the company was planning to lease land bearing limestone rock from residents in the peninsular, Mr. Chaudhary said. Jaffna’s high quality limestone was used to produce cement at two state-owned factories in the early 1980s and they were abandoned with the war which lasted 33 years.
He said this is a US$100 million project and the intended plant plans to produce 600,000 tons per annum. He added that no sooner they get the necessary sanctions they will start building the plant. “Within 30 months’ from the time we get the approvals, we’ll start Clinker production,” he said.
He reiterated that the country must match the pace of the investors and be fast moving in order to entice them to invest. He emphasised that Sri Lanka needs to be fast in its development and noted that fast tracking of official dealings will promote the country’s potential for businesses to the investors.
“Sri Lanka should be doing much better in terms of attracting investment and need to take its marketing and promotion to the next level.” He said that of the 19 countries where CG has its business associations through more than 79 companies, Sri Lanka is perhaps one of the most important destinations in terms of economic cooperation, existing businesses, and many of the future opportunities that they are looking at. “We put together a fully phased office set up which came into operation a few months ago.”
Mr. Chaudhary also noted that in today’s world investors have their options the world over and that all countries are competing for investments. “People want quick decisions; redress mechanisms in terms of problems, which function, we could go to.”
CG with its presence in Nepal for over 136 years is a multidimensional conglomerate. The core area of business is Food and Beverages, Education, Real Estate, Financial Services, Hydro Power, Infrastructure, Telecom, Cement, Hotels and Resorts. The group’s operations in Nepal are headed and led by Mr. Chaudhary’s eldest son, Nirvana, as its Managing Director.
The group was established in 1990 in Singapore and is led by Mr. Chaudhary’s other two sons Rahul Chaudhary and Varun Chaudhary, who are the Executive Directors of the group and also non-resident Nepalese. It has a portfolio of complementary businesses comprising over 90 companies and 60 brands in the global market with strength of more than 7,700 employees. It provides world-class services and products in various fields such as Hotels & Resorts, Wildlife and In-Bound Tourism, Real Estate, Financial Services, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), and Cement. CG is moving rapidly to establish regional principal offices across the globe and Sri Lanka is strong on its radar, Mr. Chaudhary said.
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