The current budget, the government has come up with a plan to provide employment to 500,000 people in five years. This sector is creating many opportunities and possibilities even though it is not a priority of the government. Some time ago, a report of a working group formed by the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security had estimated that the ICT sector could provide employment to 85,000 people in five years. However, with the increasing demand for ICT manpower in the market and the emergence of many IT-related schemes and programs at the local level, there is a possibility that more than this number will get the opportunity.
Meanwhile, a master plan is being prepared by the government to transform Nepal into a digital system in five years. The private sector is also becoming more commercial. Manpower is being produced at the rate of 7,500 per annum. The country would soon be transformed if the help of IT sector was sought in the campaign to make Nepal prosperous.
Employment Status
There are three types of companies operating in the IT sector in Nepal. These include local solutions providers (offshore centers), ie domestic oriented companies, export oriented companies, and hybrid companies. Such companies are doing call center, medical transcription service, GIS, data mining service, animation service, back office data processing companies, customized software development, quality assurance, security testing etc.
ICT is one of the fastest growing sectors in Nepal. The ICT sector mainly covers two sub-sectors and services. Communication services include Internet, telephone and mobile communications. Similarly, IT services include IT enabled services and business process outsourcing.
Lately, Nepal’s IT market seems to be booming. The number of IT companies is also increasing rapidly. Based on the report of the study committee, only 1000 IT service companies are registered and operating in Nepal. Similarly, only 1,000 companies are registered and operating, while a large number, that is, around 5,000 are working as freelancers. Of these, very few companies employ more than 300 employees.
So far, no official report has been able to describe the state of Nepal’s IT industry. Therefore, in the beginning, it is necessary to have a mapping of Nepal’s IT ecosystem. Most of the companies are working on web enabled application development, software development, deployment of management information system, data processing, call center etc.
Where is the opportunity?
Lately, many opportunities have started appearing in the IT sector. There is a lot of demand for manpower in telecom sector, ISP, software development company etc. In the context of Nepal, there are companies working for the local market, working for local and foreign countries and working for both. Local solutions providers are focused on the local market. Focused on local NGOs, government, academic institutions, local business, etc. Export-focused businesses are focused on international markets. Hybrid service providers are focused on both local and international markets. Sub-sectors IT Enable Services and BPO are doing a lot of work.
Nepal has ample opportunities in the areas of IT support, database analysis and development, security, web design / development, mobile development, software development, digital content development, etc.
Some of the companies providing BPO services are Verisk Information Technology, Dearwalk, Javra Software, Lipfrog, Efwan Soft, Innocent Rain Animation, Cloud Factory etc. The import and export of ICT services has increased over the last decade. The boom in BPO industry in Nepal is due to low wages and English speaking young population. There are ample opportunities in Nepal for IT enabled services and BPO in the areas of software development, mobile applications, digital content development, etc.
Business Process Outsourcing is considered as a sub- sector of potential outsourcing of BPO due to cheap labor . It is analyzed that there is ample opportunity for this in Nepal as well. Currently, it is estimated that one thousand people have got employment opportunities from BPO sector in Nepal. The study committee has also stated that one lakh people can be provided employment through BPO in the next five years.
These include contract research, engineering design, remote education and publishing, animation and gaming services, banking, security, insurance, artificial intelligence, machine learning, translation and localization. Some of the companies working on BPO in Nepal are Young Minds Creation, Lipfrog Technology, BrandDigit etc. Most of these companies operate BBO services for international IT firms.
There are no official statistics on the annual turnover and earnings. However, BPO-related business companies are expected to generate large sums of money. Most BPO firms refuse to divest their financial activities. The annual turnover is estimated at 6 to 10 billion. Currently, Nepali BPO firms are providing services in Nepal for European countries along with USA, Canada and Australia.
Knowledge process outsourcing
is another potential sector in Nepal, knowledge process outsourcing. Outsourcing information or knowledge related work can be good for Nepal. There is a growing demand not only for indigenous companies or organizations but also abroad. Legal Services, Education & Training, Healthcare Services, Writing & Content Development, Market Research & Analytics, Engineering & R&D, Financial Services, etc. fall under such outsourcing.
IT Enable Services (ITES)
The Nepali market is very important for IT enabled services. Call Center, Electronic Publishing, Medical Transcription, Data Center, GIS Mapping, Data Processing, Telemarketing, Technical Support, Back Office Operations, Digital Content Development, Animation, Online Education etc. Since such works have just started in Nepal, there is a lot of work to be done in the future.
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