Nepal’s first Forbes Dollar Billionaire to expand investments in Lanka

Even before Forbes placed Binod Chaudhary in its 2013 Annual Global Rich List, his love affair with Sri Lanka had begun with a foray into Colombo in 2000, when he acquired a substantial stake in the Taj Lanka Hotels, Sri Lanka. This longstanding investor of Sri Lanka has been travelling to the country ever since and displayed tremendous market confidence, even during the long drawn conflict in the country, when tourism took a nose dive. His loyalty and belief that Sri Lanka would turn around never faltered and this proved him well post conflict.

Exploring investment opportunities in Sri Lanka the businessman’s company Cinnovation entered into a joint venture with the Jetwing Group where two of its signature properties, Jetwing Vil Uyana and Jetwing Sea have benefited with substantial investments.

In Sri Lanka, he has an estimated US $ 200 million investment including projects underway and proposed. He has submitted a US $ 75 million proposal to the government to build a landmark, state-of-the-art cement plant in the Jaffna Peninsula.

He is a great admirer of Sri Lanka and expresses confidence that Sri Lanka is on the threshold of a dynamic phase of growth in spite of several challenges that he believes, must be faced. For a tiny impoverished nation in the Himalayas, the 57 years Binod Chaudhary has given Nepal an identity that mirrors the towering peaks of the world’s most famous mountain range. His ‘can do’ attitude was whetted when at the impressionable age of 18 he was forced to take over the family business from his ailing father.

Having had to give up his studies, the young Chaudhary turned to the business world to learn his multiple trades and before long began to make his mark has an intelligent and hard driving businessman.

Today the conglomerate encompasses close to 85 operating companies with interests in banking, food, real estate, cement, power, electronics, education, ayurveda, telecom, retail networks and hotels.

This relentless growth restricted at home, compelled Binod Chaudhary to base much of his estimated $ billion fortune in Singapore with his investment arm, Cinnovation. Sitting in the company of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Bono at the Forbes 400 Philanthropy Summit at the UN in June, Binod will join a group of philanthropists to pursue the theme,‘Tackling Extreme Global Poverty’. Binod intends to work in this forum to assemble donors who will spearhead a Social Business Fund announced by his Cinnovation Group in association with Nobel Laureate Prof Mohamed Yunus.

“I am truly humbled Chaudhary said,“As a businessman, you don’t get a Nobel prize. This is my Nobel.” He said acknowledging the recognition accorded by Forbes which ranks him at 1,342 among the world’s billionaires. Binod Chaudhary has three sons, two of whom, Rahul and Varun are domiciled abroad running parts of the business empire, while Nirvana the elder son takes care of the enterprises from base camp in Nepal.

Having been a Member of Constituent Assembly and Parliament of Nepal he aspires to a new role to serve and develop Nepal.

He is a great believer in free enterprise and the private sector and disdains an overly dependence on government and foreign grants. Eyeing a more enterprising return to mainstream politics, Chaudhary wants to make sure that it is the right move. I love living in Nepal and therefore, I must do what I can for my people, he said.