Establishing an IT service industry is possible even with a small investment. One can start the business for as little as Rs 50,000 with one computer in his house.

Semi-skilled labours to be used in the industry can be trained in a short duration such as one month.

The products of the industry can be exported without facing the difficulty of a land-locked nation the the use of air links or telecommunication lines.

IT related services does not have side effects such as environment pollution.

The number of companies dependent of IT related services (IT products sale, software development, consultancy, computer training, maintenance, data processing, word processing , DTP etc ) are estimated to be exceeding 200 all over Nepal and around 150 in Kathmandu valley alone. Many companies in Kathmandu valley are equipped witht eh latest computers and have LAN system. Some  are even equipped with minicomputers and UNIX operating systems.

The number of computer graduates in Nepal is estimated to be 100+ at present and 40 – 50 graduates annually will be returning to Nepal in the coming 3 to 4 years. After four years, approximately 20 computer graduates will be produced annually in Nepal only.

Many organizations (public and private) in Nepal have already started data communication facilities through telecommunication lines. Many organizations have access to global links through facilities like INTERNET.

Although Nepal and India had started using computer during the same time, India is trying to penetrate the would market of IT services especially in software development and technical consultancy areas. The major hindrances for Nepal in export IT services are :

Nepal did not have in the past its own source of producing computer professionals and thus the number of computer professional at present is not enough to be able to support the demand for computer professionals.

Nepal is far behind reaping the benefits of the technology by utilising it for increasing one’s productivity and efficiency. Computers are merely being used as a word processor. Especially large public and private organisation have not been able to use the technology for increasing their performance. There is lack of knowledge regarding the role of software in computers, the cimpo9rtance of integrated approach to system development and the management of information. People buy computer hardware but do not want to spend on software or management of computer system. Due to these reasons, there is limited use of computer in Nepal.

    Unless the use of computers spreads throughout Nepal, one can not say to other countries that we are able to provide services relation to information technology.

Nepal is renowned in the world for its Himalayas, and natural beauty but most people have the feeling that it is technologically backward and may not be able to provide IT services. Any body or organisation going abroad for marketing its IT services will have difficult times in convincing the possible clients of the services.

Many small business in Nepal can not afford the cost of Marketing services outside Net)al especially in Europe, USA, Arabian countries etc. No organisation has taken a coordinated approach. HMG has not been able to visualize the possibilities of this industry so far.

No government organization has been made responsible for providing the policies to boost IT industries in Nepal. HMG must be able to provide enough facilities for foreign investors to come to Nepal to open joint ventures regarding this industry. The talk of an IT park was initiated by the Nepali Congress government and we should hope that the present government will take it up further for the economic development of the country.

There is no separate data communication networks set up by any organization in Nepal. Although there is talk of X.25 services, Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) has not been fast enough to provide the services at a reasonable price. To be able to export IT services, this is one basic infrastructure requirements which should be available at an affordable price.