Seven years on, IT Park still out of gear

BANEPA, Jan 31: Even after seven years of establishment, IT Park at Kavre has yet to start full-fledged operation. Locals had laid high hopes on the first of its kind project in the country when Dutch software firm Javra shifted into the park in 2007.

The government has already invested Rs 300 million in the IT Park.
Though the government has expressed commitment to develop the IT Park as a special economic zone for the development of information technology, it has yet to be translated into practice.

Biplav Man Singh, past president of Computer Association of Nepal (CAN), said IT companies are not interested to shift into IT Park because the government is not providing any special facility for them.

The government has even planned to develop Banepa and surrounding areas as IT City. However, the plan is in limbo as the IT Park is yet to start full-fledged operation.

Nepal had decided to construct IT Park before India, which has scaled new heights in information technology. India and China have developed themselves as strong exporters of computer software and hardware.

Singh alleges the government of forgetting local companies in the name of providing special facilities to international companies. "The government should encourage local IT companies to shift into the park by offering special facilities," Singh suggested.

Not only is the park failing to attract new companies, it has also been failing to retain companies that had moved in. Javra for instance has shifted to Tinkune. US-based software company D2hawkeyeService along with software companies from Germany and Finland had expressed willingness to start operation in IT Park. But it never materialized.

Local representatives of political parties see the lack of proper coordination among local bodies as one of the reasons behind the lackluster performance of the IT Park. "Three municipalities of Kavre - Dhulikhel, Banepa and Panauti - worked in tandem during the initial years. But the enthusiasm soon faded," said Surendra Bahadur Bade, former mayor of Banepa Municipality.

"IT Park can´t function in an effective manner unless the local bodies work in tandem."

Sprawled over 12 hectares of land along Banepa-Panauti road, the IT Park has separate buildings for administration, commercial and residential purposes. It has the capacity of engaging 144 engineers. Similarly, it has the facility of electricity, telephone, VSAT and optical fiber cable. However, the construction of bank, school, entertainment center and cafeteria, which were mentioned in the master plan, has yet to begin.

Open Technologies Resource Centre of IBM Corporation is the only company that is under operation at the IT Park. The centre was established to support the government´s e-governance project

Bade suggested the government to develop the IT Park under public-private-partnership model. He also suggested utilizing local human resources to make the IT Park more effective.

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