From Nepal but not for Nepal

This is the current state of Nepal’s IT industry.

Nepalese but not for Nepalese, Yes, I believe this is the current state of Nepal’s IT industry, which is dominated by service-based businesses. When you look at the profiles of well-known 30–40 IT companies, you will notice that the vast majority of them only serve international clients (mostly from the United States). And very few of them are collaborating with Nepali clients (and individuals) to develop products for the Nepali market. We all say Nepal has a lot of opportunity, but I believe it’s only in the service sector because of the cheap labor. Furthermore, the majority of the talent is working in service because the work that they provide for international clients pays well compared to Nepal. Furthermore, the claimed tech revolution only occurred in fintech. Aside from digital wallets and financial software, I believe there are very few successful Nepal-made products.

Working with international clients and people while remaining at home is a huge benefit, but more work is needed on the in-house product for the Nepali market. Under the current situation, this must be altered. We must abandon bureaucracy and favoritism. (As someone who has worked on products, I believe I can relate to this.) Thus, good software can win not because it has connections at the organizational or political levels, but because it is good at solving important problems. Otherwise, our own market won’t be able to use our homegrown talents.