About the event

The “Fonepay Digital Economy Conclave” is public discourse on needs, opportunities, challenges, and the way forward in the journey of transforming the Nepali economy - digitally. Each year, the conclave shall bring together top ICT experts, industry leaders & doers, bankers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, media, and the major stakeholders to start and take on the much-required conversation about the digital economy of Nepal and carrying one theme for each year to discuss on this Fin-Tech Forum.

In the first year, we moved forward with the main objective to raise awareness and start conversations about the digital transformation of the Nepali economy by hosting multiple discussions covering emerging topics like the Government's take on the policy changes for digital transformation, digital banking, and Nepali market's and bank's readiness for Bank 4.0, digital remittance and cost of moving money, e-learning and its challenges, Brick and Mortar vs online businesses, facilitation of the online platforms, payment systems, and ongoing competition, etc.

During the multiple series of lockdowns in Nepal, the businesses have tried their best to operate online. The businesses that could adapt the digital technology have stayed active during this time. However, many businesses have been dormant. But with the availability and distribution of the COVID vaccines, the hopes are high to be 'Back to Business'.

Being "Back to Business" now does not mean you merely go back to the way how you did business before the pandemic. There are a lot of challenges, the market has evolved and one may need to adjust the business models. The pandemic has made a turning point in our economy, which brought new patterns of consumers and their new needs and business behavior emerging at an extraordinary speed.

Digitization acceleration faster than many believed possible. Yet the pandemic's uneven impact on workers, consumers, and companies threatens to create a two-speed recovery that widens inequality in our nation. The disruption caused by COVID-19 also offers a path to higher productivity and broad-based growth, nonetheless, if companies and policymakers seize the opportunity to address emerging gaps.

So to bring people back to business after the pandemic, government, private sectors, and development agencies should join hands. There are many issues to be addressed and many plans to be made as to how anyone can ease this process and contribute to the holistic growth of the Digital Economy in Nepal.

Hence, the main agendas of this year shall be Digital Literacy, giving equitable access to capital for the business to be back and grow, and how and what assistance is required from the international agencies and development bodies to make the next normal.