Nepal

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The trading of wool.
remittances has declined since 2010/2011. While remittance growth
slowed to 11 percent (in Nepali Rupee terms) in 2010/2011 it has since
increased to 37 percent. Remittances are estimated to be equivalent to
2530 percent of GDP. Inflation has been reduced to a three-year low
to 7 percent.
The proportion of poor people has declined substantially in recent
years. The percentage of people living below the international poverty
line (people earning less than US$1.25 per day) has halved in only
seven years. At this measure of poverty the percentage of poor people
declined from 53.1% in 2003/2004 to 24.8% in 2010/2011. With a
higher poverty line of US$2 per-capita per day, poverty declined by
one quarter to 57.3%. However, the income distribution remains
grossly uneven. In a recent survey, Nepal has performed extremely
well in reducing poverty along with Rwanda and Bangladesh as the
percentage of poor dropped to 44.2 percent of the population in 2011
from 64.7 percent in 20064.1 percentage points per year, which
means that Nepal has made significant improvement in sectors like
nutrition, child mortality, electricity, improved flooring and assets. So if the progress of reducing poverty continues
in this rate, then it's predicted that Nepal will halve the current poverty rate and eradicate it within the next 20 years.
The spectacular landscape and diverse, exotic cultures of Nepal represent considerable potential for tourism, but
growth in this hospitality industry has been stifled by political instability and poor infrastructure. Despite these
problems, in 2012 the number of international tourists visiting Nepal was 598,204, a 10% increase on the previous
year. The tourism sector contributed nearly 3% of national GDP in 2012 and is the second biggest foreign income
earner after remittances.
The rate of unemployment and underemployment approaches half of the working-age population. Thus many Nepali
citizens move to other countries in search of work. Top destinations include India, Qatar, the United States,
Thailand, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Brunei Darussalam, Australia, and Canada. Nepal receives $50
millionWikipedia:Citation needed a year through the Gurkha soldiers who serve in the Indian and British armies and
are highly esteemed for their skill and bravery. As of 2010, the total remittance value is worth around $3.5 billion. In
2009 alone, the remittance contributed to 22.9% of the nation's GDP.
A long-standing economic agreement underpins a close relationship with India. The country receives foreign aid
from India, Japan, the UK, the US, the EU, China, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries. Poverty is acute;
per-capita income is around $1,000. The distribution of wealth among the Nepalese is consistent with that in many
developed and developing countries: the highest 10% of households control 39.1% of the national wealth and the
lowest 10% control only 2.6%.Wikipedia:Citation needed
The government's budget is about $1.153 billion, with expenditure of $1.789 billion (FY05/06). The Nepalese rupee
has been tied to the Indian Rupee at an exchange rate of 1.6 for many years. Since the loosening of exchange rate
controls in the early 1990s, the black market for foreign exchange has all but disappeared. The inflation rate has
dropped to 2.9% after a period of higher inflation during the 1990s.Wikipedia:Citation needed
Nepal's exports of mainly carpets, clothing, hemp natural fiber, leather goods, jute goods and grain total $822
million. Import commodities of mainly gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products and fertilizer total US$2
bn. EU (46.13%), the US (17.4%), and Germany (7.1%) are its main export partners. Recently, the European Union
has become the largest buyer of Nepali ready made garments (RMG). Exports to the EU accounted for "46.13
percent of the country's total garment exports". Nepal's import partners include India (47.5%), the United Arab
Emirates (11.2%), China (10.7%), Saudi Arabia (4.9%), and Singapore (4%).Wikipedia:Citation needed
Nepal
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Besides having landlocked, rugged geography, few tangible natural resources and poor infrastructure, the ineffective
post-1950 government of uneducated old self-centered Politicians and the long-running civil war is also a factor in
stunting the economic growth and development.
Infrastructure
Energy
The bulk of the energy need is dominated by fuel wood (68%) agricultural waste (15%), animal dung (8%), and
imported fossil fuel (8%). Except for some lignite deposits, Nepal has no known oil, gas or coal deposits. All
commercial fossil fuels (mainly oil and coal) are either imported from India or from international markets routed
through India and China. Fuel imports absorb over one-fourth of Nepal's foreign exchange earnings. Only about 1%
energy need is fulfilled by electricity. Paradoxically, the perennial nature of Nepali rivers and the steep gradient of
the country's topography provide ideal conditions for the development of some of the world's largest hydroelectric
projects in Nepal. Current estimates put Nepal's economically feasible hydropower potential to be approximately
83,000 MW from 66 hydropower project sites. However, currently Nepal has been able to exploit only about 600
MW from 20 major hydropower plants and a number of small and micro hydropower plants. There are 9 major
hydropower plants under construction, and additional 27 sites considered for potential development. Only about 40%
of Nepal's population has access to electricity. Even in this scenario there is a great disparity between urban and rural
areas. The electrification rate in urban areas is 90%, whereas the rate for rural areas is only 5%. Power cuts of up to
22 hours a day takes place in peak demand periods of winter and the peak electricity demand is almost the double the
capability or dependable capacity. The position of the power sector remains unsatisfactory because of high tariffs,
high system losses, high generation costs, high overheads, over staffing, and lower domestic demand.
Transport
Means of transport in mountain area
Nepal remains isolated from the world's major land, air and sea
transport routes although, within the country, aviation is in a better
state, with 47 airports, 11 of them with paved runways; flights are
frequent and support a sizable traffic. The hilly and mountainous
terrain in the northern two-thirds of the country has made the building
of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. In 2007 there
were just over 10,142km (6,302mi) of paved roads, and 7,140km
(4,437mi) of unpaved road, and one 59km (37mi) railway line in the
south. There is a single reliable road route from India to the
Kathmandu Valley. More than one-third of its people live at least a two
hours walk from the nearest all-season road; 15 out of 75 district
headquarters are not connected by road. In addition, some 60% of road network and most rural roads are not
operable during the rainy season. The only practical seaport of entry for goods bound for Kathmandu is Calcutta in
India. Internally, the poor state of development of the road system makes access to markets, schools, and health
clinics a challenge.
Nepal
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Communication
Mahabir Pun hand-making a satellite dish in
Nepal
According to the Nepal Telecommunication Authority MIS May 2012
report, there are 7 operators and the total voice telephony subscribers
including fixed and mobile are 16,350,946 which give the penetration
rate of 61.42%. The fixed telephone service account for 9.37%, mobile
for 64.63%, and other services (LM, GMPCS) for 3.76% of the total
penetration rate. Similarly, the numbers of subscribers to data/internet
services are 4,667,536 which represents 17.53% penetration rate. Most
of the data service is accounted by GPRS users. Twelve months earlier
the data/internet penetration was 10.05%, thus this represents a growth
rate of 74.77%.
Not only has there been strong subscriber growth, especially in the
mobile sector, but there was evidence of a clear vision in the sector,
including putting a reform process in place and planning for the
building of necessary telecommunications infrastructure. Most
importantly, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC)
and the telecom regulator, the National Telecommunications Authority
(NTA), have both been very active in the performance of their
respective roles. Despite all the effort, there remained a significant
disparity between the high coverage levels in the cities and the coverage available in the underdeveloped rural
regions. Progress on providing some minimum access had been good, however. Of a total of 3,914 Village
Development Committees across the country, only 306 were unserved by December 2009. In order to meet future
demand, it was estimated that Nepal needed to invest around US$135 million annually in its telecom sector. In 2009,
the telecommunication sector alone contributed to 1% of the nation's GDP. As of 30 September 2012, Nepal has
1,828,700 Facebook users.
In the broadcast media, as of 2007, the state operates 2 television stations as well as national and regional radio
stations. There are roughly 30 independent TV channels registered, with only about half in regular operation. Nearly
400 FM radio stations are licensed with roughly 300 operational. According to 2011 census, the percentage of
households possessing radio was 50.82%, television 36.45%, cable TV 19.33%, computer 7.23%. According to the
Press Council Nepal, as of 2012 there are 2038 registered newspapers in Nepal, among which 514 are in publication.
In 2013, the Reporters Without Borders ranked Nepal at 118th place in the world in terms of press freedom.
Education
Main article: Education in Nepal
Nepalese teacher and schoolchildren in Pokhara
Currently the overall literacy rate (for population aged 5 years and
above) has increased from 54.1% in 2001 to 65.9% in 2011. Male
literacy rate is 75.1% compared to female literacy rate of 57.4%. The
highest literacy rate is reported in Kathmandu district (86.3%) and
lowest in Rautahat (41.7%). While the net primary enrollment rate was
74% in 2005; in 2009, that enrollment rate was at 90%. However
increasing access to secondary education (grades 9-12) remains a
major challenge, as evidenced by the disturbingly low net enrollment
rate of 24% at this level. More than half of primary students do not
enter secondary schools, and only one-half of them complete