Nepal’s first Forbes billionaire yesterday called for policy consistency by governments in the region, to foster investments and become globally competitive.

Binod K . Chaudhary, Chairman of Chaudhary Group, a conglomerate that consists of nearly 80 companies said, incentives such as tax concessions and other monetary benefits could get nullified going forward, but policy continuity is what matters most.

“The investor and private sector community should specially see whether the policies and laws remain intact,” he told the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) yesterday.

Speaking at the very first panel discussion under the theme ‘Building new partnerships among the Commonwealth, Indian Ocean and SAARC’, he explained the bureaucratic absurdity of governments which stifle competitiveness of the SAARC region.

Speaking about the bureaucracy he said, “I am trying to come up with a solution as to how I could incentivize them (bureaucrats) without promoting corruption”.

However he commended the countries in the region which have made tremendous progress in addressing bureaucracy.

Chaudhary who has already made approximately US $ 200 million investments in the booming Sri Lankan leisure sector, is bracing to set up a US $ 75 to US $ 100 million cement manufacturing plant in the northern peninsula to reinvigorate the war-torn province.

“My affair with Sri Lanka started 17 years ago when the country was going through a rough patch. I was not bothered about the conflict it was going through at the time because I sensed its potential,” Chaudhary said when he visited Sri Lanka this May.

The 1,342nd Forbes US dollar billionaire who also plans running for public office in Nepal gave top advice for those who are already in politics and future contenders.