Parimita Organization: Four Decades of Nepalese Enterprise
Most business groups tell their story as a straight line of growth. Parimita's is better told as a change of materials.
The organization began at a loom. Four decades later it distributes electric two-wheelers, imports consumer technology, develops residential property, and still weaves silk. The products have almost nothing in common. The work — make it well, then get it to the people who need it — has not changed at all.
Where it started
Parimita Handloom Industries was the first company, established to weave Nepalese silk and carry the country's art and handicraft to buyers abroad.
That is a harder business than it sounds. Craft exports depend on quality consistent enough for foreign buyers to reorder, and on a supply of skilled hands that is shrinking almost everywhere. The company employs artisans, engineers and craftspeople whose skills take years to build and are not easily replaced.
The company has exported to eight countries across Asia, Europe and North America — Japan, China, the USA, the UK, Germany, India, France and Italy — and has taken part in international expositions on Nepal's behalf, including the Nepal Pavilion at World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan, and World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
Alongside textiles, the company works in Nepalese traditional art and architecture, contributing to buildings in that idiom internationally.
What followed
What came next was less a change of direction than an extension of one.
Parimita Housing
Residential property development: high-rise apartment buildings through to individual bungalows, together with land and real estate management. The current project is DownTown Housing.
The link to handloom is not obvious until you look at the work rather than the product. Both are about making something physical to a standard, on a schedule, with skilled labour.
Parimita Investment
Electric mobility and energy storage. The company holds exclusive distribution agreements with electric two-wheeler manufacturers, brings their vehicles into Nepal, and supports the dealer network that sells and services them.
It distributes Garow and S Way electric scooters, and supplies batteries both to businesses and directly to customers. It also publishes battery disposal declarations for the brands it carries — a detail that says something about how the company thinks about the products it puts on the road.
Parimita Import and Export
Consumer technology distribution, and it brings Dayang electric two-wheelers into Nepal.
The business here is reach. A distribution network that gets product to retailers, wholesalers and online platforms across the country — including districts most importers do not serve — is the asset. Anyone can import; keeping stock on counters in remote districts is the difficult part.
The founder
Purushotam Tuladhar founded the organization and has more than forty years of business experience behind it.
In his own words: "What started as a humble endeavour in manufacturing has grown into a leading business in Nepal, spanning manufacturing, import and distribution."
He is direct about what made it possible — the trust of customers and partners, and the people behind each product. It is a conventional sentiment. It is also, for a business that has kept artisan manufacturing alive while moving into electric vehicles, a fairly accurate description of what forty years requires.
What holds it together
Four companies in unrelated sectors could easily be four unrelated businesses. What connects them is a stated position, consistently applied:
Vision — to be the most trusted and preferred distributor of high-quality technology products in Nepal; to improve the standard of living of the people the work touches; to keep the Nepalese tradition of hand manufacturing alive and show it to the world; and to build lasting relationships with multilateral companies for the development of trade and industry in Nepal.
Mission — to give customers best-in-class products and service and keep them for the long term; to adapt to a changing global business environment without lowering standards; and to stay committed to the success of employees, clients and community.
The consistent thread is distribution. Whether the object is a length of silk going to Japan or a scooter going to a dealer in Pokhara, the organization's competence is in making or sourcing something to a standard and moving it to where it is wanted.
Where it operates
The corporate office is in Bhainsipati, Lalitpur, in the Kathmandu valley — the historic centre of Newar craft, which is a fitting address for a group that began in handloom and still practises Nepalese traditional architecture.
Frequently asked questions
What does Parimita Organization do? It is a Nepalese business group of four companies: Parimita Investment (electric two-wheelers and batteries), Parimita Import and Export (consumer technology), Parimita Housing (residential property) and Parimita Handloom Industries (silk, handicraft and traditional architecture).
Who founded Parimita Organization? Purushotam Tuladhar, who has more than forty years of business experience.
Where is Parimita Organization based? The corporate office is in Bhainsipati, Lalitpur, Nepal.
Which electric scooter brands does Parimita distribute? Garow and S Way through Parimita Investment, and Dayang through Parimita Import and Export.
How long has Parimita been in business? The organization marks four decades of operation, beginning with Parimita Handloom Industries.