Siddhartha SJB Rana is the 34-year-old heir of Pravakar Rana's Soaltee Group. The soft-spoken but articulate Group President was selected as one of this year's 100 Global Leader of Tomorrow (GLT) by the World Economic Forum, Davos. Siddhartha's empire-to-be has an annual turnover of about $110 million with interests that range from travel and tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, hydropower generation, trading to shipping. Excerpts of an interview with Nepali Times.

How did you get selected to the World Economic Forum?
It came as a pleasant surprise. A letter from the WEF informed that I was elected to be one of the 100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow (GLT) selected from business, government and the social sector. GLTs are under the age of 40 and once initiated you're expected to remain active with the Forum's country and regional meetings, where you do not only discuss business but also sit on task forces that discuss ways to make the world a better place.

What did you take away from Davos?
I have a better understanding of the WEF now. It is more than just a closed club of big business-it has begun to recognise and listen to people from business and also from the social sector. For example, there's a very interesting project to use IT for rural education in India, and I don't see why it can't be replicated here. Dr Mohammad Yunus, who started Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, said George Soros had supported the Grameen Telecom drive. Something good could be done here, with support from business. Like this year a big issue was that governments have not done enough with pharmaceutical companies on AIDS. So Bill Gates took the initiative with a $100 million pledge to fund research.

There was also a slight sense of despair. There were close to 3,000 delegates representing almost every country. Countries that have greater problems than ours were there (we were not). Are we even on the world map? We have to make better efforts and not just expect to be invited. Someone once told me that in Nepal he got the sense of [a country] walking the middle path-between the medieval ages and this century-undecided what it wants to do. I think we should make that decision quickly, and there's only one way to go.

Not much is done in Nepal with philanthropy.
One has certain social responsibilities. The tourism sector is an important and integral part of our economy and we need to contribute to protecting what encourages tourism in Nepal. The Soaltee Group has taken some initiative as far as pollution and protection of heritage sites are concerned. Business can also play a larger role in critical areas like education or health care. We are looking forward to a pilot project now being discussed with DFID where we will take private sector structured management to rural development.

What's special about your group of companies?
At the corporate level our functions are not operational. We might be construed as a family business because two holding companies either jointly or exclusively own a significant amount of stock in each of our companies. The way we are structured is that we take decisions to invest or divest in certain business sectors but don't interfere in businesses that we feel are best left to professionals. Each company is board-managed, and we have found it to be a very successful formula so far. Our handicaps in Nepal are the lack of finance, cutting-edge technology, and to some extent, management expertise. That is why we have chosen the joint venture route. Typically we enter into joint ventures where we come in as a strong local partner. As investors they come in with investment and management know-how because they are in that related field of business.

You finished schooling and suddenly had a big business empire waiting for you. Did papa hold your hand?
We share a father-son relationship at home and at work it is a professional relationship. A lot of eyes were initially focussed on whether it was a case of the father bringing in the son. But he said "go actually get your fingers dirty with a unit. You are more or less in-tune with contemporary business practices and we will give you a free hand. But let us evaluate your success before you move forward." It has been a very healthy professional relationship.

You may take over as chairman of Soaltee Group sooner or later and will be compared with your father. How do you plan to stand up to the gaze?
Latently one does think of the future and he's a tough act to follow. He's been a wonderful guiding force for the group. All the basic tenets he leaves behind we'll never compromise-corporate culture, ethics, values, and being progressively transparent. These are a strong foundation, which we'll strengthen. There might be differences. The younger generation is more result-oriented-we may talk more about the bottom line. There may also be a slight sense of corporate ruthlessness internally.

How big is the company right now?
We have a turnover of about $110-$120 million, and employ about 1,500 people. The very recent Bhote Kosi project alone is an asset of $98 million.

How is the investment environment in Nepal now?
Not very conducive. We have the security issue, the Maoist problem, the law and order situation, corruption. There is a lack of confidence because of governance issues [and the duty drawback payable to large companies]. Opportunities are there-tourism, power generation, transmission and distribution and agriculture-but the climate is not very conducive.

Are there signs of hope?
Yes, in vocalism. There is well-researched journalism and key issues are being discussed in a very responsible manner. One wishes also for some encouragement from the younger generation [in politics]-I don't meant the construed younger generation, but even younger.

What must Nepal do to gear up for the changing world trading regime?
Over the decades the Nepali economy was supported by the invisible economy, a smugglers economy. Inevitably, that correction happened when India allowed joint ventures to manufacture here and took down duty barriers, which they are still doing. Because the old economy was sustained by illegal trading to up to 60 percent, I think the correction caught us completely off balance. In terms of the potential for growth I think we don't need to be negative about being a landlocked country-yes it would be lovely to have had a port. We are in the middle of two of the largest markets of the world . We may never attract General Electric or IBM for manufacturing here but there are things we can do: like value-added agriculture that our topography allows, and hydropower where we have potential to sell to India. They need it, and we have it, although the possibility is diminishing daily as we begin to see the attractiveness of valued added gas from Bangladesh. The day the two ladies stop fighting that will become a reality.

We haven't done enough ourselves. Three and a half years ago we signed the power trade agreement, which gives legitimacy to buying and selling of power between two countries. Nepal has not even discussed the basic document at the appropriate level. So if we go to India and ask if they are interested in hydropower develop along with us, the issue of that agreement comes up. The ball is really in our court and it has been there for a long time.