Background

In 2009, the Government of Nepal (through the Ministry of Finance) launched the Youth and Small Enterprise Self-Employment Fund (YSESEF) Programme in order to provide the opportunity of self-employment to the unemployed youths and to small business people. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has been working in collaboration with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), which has its local Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCIs) all over the country. The YSESEF Programme includes four steps:

1) Application and registration at CCIs

2) Participation in orientation training on small business and entrepreneurship (3 days) provided by CCIs

3) Application for a loan up to the maximum amount of Rs. 200,000 through banks and financial agencies

4) Utilisation of the loan for establishment of new small-scale businesses or strengthening of existing small-scale businesses

The programme was widely advertised in the media. There has been record response to the programme from the public and around 600,000 applicants have been registered in local CCIs. More than 80% of the registered applicants have already received the 3-days orientation training.