Ban on ‘non-essential’ imports presents unique opportunity to Nepalese brands
Nepal has just recently banned imports of most non-essential items. The argument is that it will help limit the exponential burn rate of Forex reserves of Nepal. It is embarrassing that our country is being plunged into an economic crisis, because of the complete incapability of our politicians and ‘experts’. A detailed analysis of Nepal’s impending economic doom can become a topic for a thesis in itself. However, BrandGuff wants to focus on unrealized and unexpected opportunities to Nepalese brands that this crisis has suddenly made possible.
Real reason why our economy is tanking
At the end of the day, a consumer chooses a brand based on how he/she connects with the brand. In simpler terms, a brand’s value is what entices a customer to buy its product. For a country like Nepal, with the rise in average income, Nepalese people have now started buying goods and services that would reflect their change in economic status.
Ergo, in spite of our incompetent Finance Minister trying to blame the economic crisis on the growth in crypto trading and diminishing remittance, it is happening actually because Nepalese are buying foreign goods and services in record numbers. In fact, for the first time in Nepal’s economic history, our imports have surpassed 1 Trillion Nepalese Rupees.
Unprecedented opportunities for local brands
That said, even though we believe that market is best left unregulated following Adam Smith’s famous ‘Market works best through God’s invisible hand’ quote, we believe the ban on imports of multiple foreign products to Nepal has presented Nepalese Brands a historic and unprecedented opportunity to build its brand without having to worry about its well-funded and established competitors.
Let’s talk about Kwiks’ line of products like cheese balls and potato chips. Kwiks had been directly competing with MNCs like Lays and Kurkure. However, with the recent ban on these products, there will be a vacuum created for these snack products. Imagine Kwiks focused on acquiring these customers who have never tried their products but are regular snackers. The ban extends to electronic items like Tvs and Washing Machines too. So CG electronics also has been presented with a unique opportunity to infiltrate Nepal’s electronics market.
Need for national unity
While we understand the perils of a nationalist wave, if we can direct it in a positive direction like India has been able to with its ‘Make in India’ campaigns, we could tap on the nationalist wave to bolster our own internal brands and manufacturers. It is a shame that Nepalese test their nationalism only through our ‘hatred’ for India, or by destroying our own infrastructures.
As much as the blame lies on our government for taking our economy to the brink of ruin, we can do our part in doing our best to stop Nepal from being the next Sri Lanka. We can always blame our government and take them to task through our voting powers, but for now, we all need to do what we can to mitigate the crisis our politicians and technocrats have rained down on us.
Summing up
We understand that as consumers we want the best available goods and services available in the market. However, if we do not bolster local brands and manufacturers and insist on buying foreign goods and services, the day when our life savings that is in NPR will become valueless is not far.
At the same time, we also want to make our Nepalese brands aware that while the crisis has provided you with a golden opportunity, the onus is on you to be able to leverage from it. We suggest local brands engage in active marketing and maintain consistency with their goods and service, and upgrade too is possible. Your investment now will help compete with foreign brands once and if the forex reserve crisis becomes over.
