Cooperation Agreement Between Nabil Bank and One to Watch

4 Dec., Kathmandu : Nepal’s leading commercial bank, Nabil Bank and One to Watch (OTW), an investment management company, have collaborated to provide interest-free & collateral-free loans to MSMEs under OTW COVID-19 MSME Fund Nepal.

Under this strategic partnership, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with the potential to return to revenue against the COVID-19 induced recession shall be benefited by the collateral-free and interest-free loan to meet their short-term working capital and help them survive through the hardships and restrictions presented by COVID-19. Apart from the loan, enterprises shall also receive technical assistance in the form of customized business advisory/development services enabling them to preserve business continuity and build resilience.

MSMEs evaluated to have the potential to bounce back based on a pre-determined set of criteria shall get collateral-free loan from Nabil Bank and the interest amount shall be paid by the Fund for a maximum period of 18 months.

Mr. Sujit Kumar Shakya, Deputy CEO, Nabil Bank and Mr. Suman Joshi, Managing Director, One to Watch signed the agreement in presence of Mr. Niraj Basnet Danil, Head SME and Microfinance, Nabil Bank and Ms. Subrina Shrestha, Program Manager, One to Watch.
Speaking about the partnership, Mr. Anil Keshary Shah, CEO of Nabil Bank said, “Nabil Bank is always ready to support the MSME sector in Nepal, to help grow their businesses and surge ahead for long-term stability and overall economic growth of the country.

We are very excited to collaborate with One to Watch in this effort to provide interest-free and collateral-free working capital loans to MSMEs affected by COVID-19 to assist in their survival through these tough times, enabling them to retain their teams and sustain their businesses. Nabil Bank continues to be focused on promoting the MSME segment by bringing products and services that enable ease of access to finance to small entrepreneurs and businesses in this segment.”

Likewise, Mr. Suman Joshi, Managing Partner, One to Watch said, “We are pleased to on-board Nabil Bank to the pool of Partner Banks. Since the launch of the Fund a few weeks ago, we have received very encouraging response from SMEs belonging to diverse sectors and geographies across Nepal. With Nabil’s participation, our mission to help SMEs bounce bank and create jobs will receive further boost.”
MSMEs can visit the following link (https://rb.gy/8jqzxg) to fill up the application form to apply for the fund.

About Nabil

Nabil Bank is operating with a wide network with 119 branches, 185 ATMs and more than 1,500 Nabil Remit Agents spread across the country. With banking experience of more than three decades with a highly trained team and robust / secured banking system, the bank is intended for superior service delivery for enhancing value to the customers.

About One to Watch

One to Watch is an investment management company based in Nepal, Netherlands and Myanmar. One to Watch works with small and medium sized high growth high impact companies by leveraging on their investment management expertise to support the entrepreneurs in the ‘missing middle’ who are actively solving problems and creating jobs for local people. As learnt, the existing investment tickets range between Euro 100K to 500K. The community of One to Watch includes 40+ local mentors, 20+ international mentors, 13 industry experts, 40+ investors and 8 institutional partners.