Bangalore: Nepal, whose IT industry is still in its infancy, is looking at software exports and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry as an opportunity that could generate employment in the Himalayan Kingdom.

"Nepal, due to its strategic location, can have an advantage of flourishing software industry and have possibilities of exporting software and other IT services. Nepal can be a place for offshore source of software and data processing," Nepal Information and Communication Ministry Under Secretary Batukrishna Poudel said.

In a paper at the APT 3rd meeting of the Asia Pacific Initiatives for Information Society, Poudel said the employment opportunities would be generated in local e-business, jobs in infrastructure and foreign jobs in IT field.

He said the country's IT industry was plagued with the lack of huge investment in creating telecom infrastructure, start-up IT industries, IT parks and computerisation in schools and improving human resources.

Viewing e-commerce as an opportunity to increase hard currency earnings, Poudel said, Nepal can diversify its export trade in both the range of commodities and country destinations, make imports cost effective and increase travel and tourism services.

The Himalayan kingdom with a 23.4 million population has low computer penetration (around two lakh) and low telephone penetration with a waiting period of three to five years.

PTI