Emerson said, ‘An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man.’ If this is the case, Ambe Group is synonymous with Hari Neupane

Shovakar (Hari) Neupane (15 September 1958 – present) is the founder/ chairman/ Managing Director of Ambe Group. Neupane is highly reputed to have established himself as an industrialist in a country where Nepali people of his ethnicity rarely venture into big business. Hari Neupane is foremost amongst self-made Nepali industrialists of his generation.

Born on September 15, 1958, Hari Neupane is the oldest of 6 siblings. His father, Lilaram Neupane, left Nepal for Burma in search of better business opportunities, and established a milk processing shop in Lassio, Burma. After Burma came under military rule, the government decided to implement socialist economic policies prompting Lilaram Neupane to return to Nepal and settle his family near Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. He opened a wholesale garment store there.

In 1982, as a 23 year old with big dreams, Hari Neupane borrowed $5000 (NRs. 5 lakh) from his father and established a trading firm in Kathmandu while completing his BBA from Tribhuvan University. He had decided not to spend his life in a wholesale garment store in Bhairahawa.

For the next 22 years of his life, he established Ambe Group as a large trading firm importing electronics, garments and computer parts from Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Dubai and Bangkok.

In 2004, he established Ambe Cement. Under his leadership, Ambe Group went on to establish Ambe Complex (a commercial building in Teku, Kathmandu), Ambe Residency, Metro Apartment (Housing Development), a noodles factory (Smart Food and Snacks Pvt. Ltd.), Shiwani Complex (a commercial building in Bhairahawa), Siddhi Mobiles Pvt. Ltd. (sole distributor of Mtech mobile phones in Nepal), Ambe Mobiles Pvt. Ltd. (sole distributor of LAVA mobile phones in Nepal) and Ambe Steels Pvt. Ltd. (Nepal’s second largest steel company).

In 2011, Neupane along with other industrialists founded Commerz and Trust Bank Nepal Pvt. Ltd., a class ‘A’ commercial bank. Neupane was the Chairman of Commerz and Trust Bank from 2012-2014, when he merged it with Global IME bank. He is a promoter of Global IME Bank.

Neupane is also the Chairman of Lilaram Kuntidevi Pratisthan, a non- profit organization that rewards eminent personalities in Nepal with $50,000 (NRs. 50 lakh) every year. The organization is named after Neupane’s father, Lilaram Neupane, an eminent philanthropist, who was also awarded the Gorkha Dakshin Babu (honorary title given by the king) in 2002.

Neupane was married in June 19, 1987 to Laxmi Kharel Neupane. They have two children.