KATHMANDU
Nepal’s leading commercial bank, Nabil Bank and R&D Innovative Solution Pvt. Ltd. (R&D) have collaborated to lend in agriculture and livestock sector to fulfill the financial needs for agro related business along with the interest subsidized loan as per NRB Guidelines. Under this strategic partnership, the bank agrees to be a supportive bank in fostering agriculture and livestock in Nepal. Further, R&D supports agricultural technician by providing linkage with the Bank.
Niraj Kumar Basnet(Danil), Head-SME & MF Division, Nabil Bank and Sunita Nhemaphuki, Chairperson, R&D, Kathmandu signed the agreement in the presence of Mr. Manoj Kumar Yadav, Manager- Microfinance Division, Nabil Bank & Sushma Sharma, former Banker & Women Entrepreneur. Speaking about the partnership, Niraj Kumar Basnet(Danil) said, ‘Nabil Bank has always given priority to Sustainable Banking & believes that lending to agriculture sector shall help the sustainable growth of the agri-business which is one of the major contributor of Nepalese GDP.
We are very excited to collaborate with R&D to provide various types of banking facilities including agriculture and livestock loans as per the requirements of Agricultural Technician enabling them to become successful Agri-Entrepreneur and contribute to the economic development of the country. With this partnership, Nabil Bank has started an innovation in traditional financing with fusion of technical knowledge with entrepreneurship development in Agriculture sector. We believe that this initiative shall grow in larger scale and change the financing pattern of Nepalese Banking arena in the longer run’.
Likewise, Sunita Nhemhafuki said ‘One of the main problems of Nepal’s agricultural sector is the inability to run agribusiness or enterprises because of the study of agriculture. Therefore, Nabil Bank and R&D have been instrumental in creating an environment conducive to entrepreneurship by providing easy access to loans to those who have studied agriculture. R&D Innovative Solutions has brought agri-entrepreneurship development program with financial access to agricultural technicians for agri-entrepreneurship development.
For this, R&D Innovative Solutions will select the technicians who want to start an enterprise, provide basic training on entrepreneurship development and recommend to the bank for concessional loans. Nabil Bank will provide soft loan of up to NRs 1 million based on the business plan of the recommended technicians. It is believed that this program will provide technical services to other farmers through those agri-entrepreneurs along with sustainable development of agriculture sector of the country. Those who have studied JTA, JT, ISCAG and B.Sc.AG will be able to participate in this program. Under this program, it is planned to develop at least 100 agricultural technicians in their place within the next one year.
Nabil Bank is operating with a wide network of 119 branches, 185 ATMs and more than 1,500 Nabil Remit Agents spread across the country. With banking experience of more than three decades with a highly trained team and robust / secured banking system, the bank intends to deliver superior service for enhancing value to the customers. R&D Innovative Solution has been in operation since 2012 and aims to address the challenges faced by farming communities of Nepal. The company has been working in a soil to sale model, addressing the problems in every components of agriculture value chain.
