Analysis on Market Promotion of Business Development Services in Nepal

Business Development Services (BDS) is an internationally recognized tool for achieving economic prosperity by developing Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The BDS market comprises three major actors representing three major aspects i.e. entrepreneurs representing the demand side aspects, service suppliers representing the supply side aspects, and government and donors representing the facilitation aspects. Most developed and developing nations are promoting BDS for MSME development, income, and employment generation. This article evaluates the promotional efforts of the BDS market in Nepal. It is a case analysis of the approach applied by the Micro-Enterprise Development Program (MEDEP) under the Ministry of Industry for BDS market promotion. Before the MEDEP, standalone training service models were used for enterprise development in Nepal. The impact of such standalone models was criticized for their inefficiencies in many respects. The number and sustainability of the created enterprises by such standalone training models were also questioned. The Ministry of Industry launched project MEDEP in 1998 which designed and applied a holistic approach to business development and named it Micro-Enterprise Development (MED) model. Currently, the MEDEP program has been fully internalized by the Ministry of Industry as Micro-Enterprise Development for Poverty Alleviation (MED-PA). This article has analyzed the efforts of the Ministry to promote all aspects of BDS market in Nepal and concluded that the MEDEP had played a very effective role in this respect. The proven usefulness of the MED model has led to its expansion in 75 districts to being expanded in all 753 Local Bodies of Nepal and contributed for promotion of all aspects of the BDS market. Ultimately, the Ministry of Industry has played a vital role in the introduction, development, and growth of the BDS market in Nepal.