Lee Kwan-Yew Role Model

Lee Kwan-Yew is known for transforming Singapore, from a fishing village at its separation from Malaysia in 1960,into one of the richest and most advanced countries in the world, in his lifetime. I hope Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli will make Lee his role model, not the greedy and failed Third World leaders, because his health is poor and he does not have children.

Mr. Oli has become prime minister at an extremely difficult time. The treasury is empty, his predecessor has announced new welfare measures without costing them, financial discipline is non-existent, revenue collection is below the target, and the seven states have been asking for resources left and right. This situation could have been avoided.

For instance, some, including

Hydropower can substitute fossil fuel as the source of energy, help expand irrigation facilities, acclerate invest and production, reduce turn-around time, and increase increase per person production and trigger further investment at high levels. When he was foreign minister, Abdullah Ahmad Bidwai, the former prime minister of Malaysia, had told his Nepali counterpart, Prakash Chandra Lohani, to use water resources wisely to make Nepal rich.

These two sectors will pull other sectors of Nepal along. If you do not believe me, look at Maldives and Bhutan. High-end tourism has made Maldives already a middle-income country. Similarly, the high-end tourism and the Chukha and Tala Hydropower Projects have catapulted once poor Bhutan to an unprecedented level of prosperity.

Focusing on agriculture and land reform is politically popular in Nepal. We should invest in this sector up to a point to make the poor 's life bearable. But subsistence agriculture will not transform Nepal 's economy. The transformation will come from creating employment opportunities in agricultural industry, manufacturing, construction, and services. As the country develops, see how the share of agriculture gradually declines:

Sectoral Contribution to Global

Promote agricultural industry to add value to what Nepal produces. This will push up agricultural production as well.
Develop main transport corridors while letting the local level do the local transport infrastructure.
Improve and increase road and rail connectivity with the neighboring countries.
Incentivize high-value and low-volume products and services such as information technology and finance and banking.
Focus resources and attention on high-priority projects, monitor and evaluate them regularly, and reward/punish the best/worst performers.
Create a private-investment friendly environment (even the communist China had to do it for progress).
Deliver corruption-free, efficient and effective government.
Maintain close and balanced relations with the immediate neighbors and friendly and cooperative relations with development partners. Stop whining about our country small and weak; we are a mid-sized country with proud history.
I hope Prime Minister KP Oli will consider these priorities and become Lee Kwan-Yew of Nepal. He has the opportunity to become a statesman, and hopefully, he will take