Former Japanese PM to support Nepal in bringing FDI

Kathmandu, Mar 18: Former Japanese Prime Minister Dr. Yukio Hayotama has expressed commitment to help Nepal in bringing in more investment and tourists from Japan.

Speaking at a welcome function organised by the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) on Saturday, Dr. Hayotama said that as Nepal offered a huge potential in agriculture, hydroelectricity, tourism and other business areas, more Japanese investors were interested to come here.

"Besides that, I am personally interested in investing in Nepal. I am investing in a 17 megawatt hydroelectricity project in Nepal in collaboration with Non-Resident Nepalese. We plan to complete the project within two years," he said.

He will visit the construction site of the project.

Dr. Hayotama suggested Nepal to give priority to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they were the main contributor to the economic development of any country.

"You might have heard some large multinational corporations of Japan but Japan's economy is primarily supported by the SMEs," he said.

According to him, Nepal has high potentials in tourism, so the country should promote and develop tourism products and infrastructure.

"Nepal can be a good destination for Japanese people because they are nature lovers. Apart from that they will come to Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha. We are ready to collaborate with the government and private sector in Nepal in this regard," said Hayotama.

Welcoming him, president of the NCC Rajesh Kazi Shrestha urged him to facilitate the private sector in Japanese technology transfer to Nepal.

"Nepal is one of the major tourist destinations for Japanese tourists, and it is also a destination for foreign direct investment because of two of the world's largest markets – India and China. In addition to it, there are abundant resources for industry and business in the country," he said.

He said that Japan had a remarkable role in the development of agriculture, health and education sector in Nepal, and Japan's grant and other assistance supported in the economic development.

Dr. Hayotama is scheduled to meet President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Tuesday.

He will also call on Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and chair of the main opposition, CPN-UML.

He served as the PM of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 2 June 2010, and was the first PM from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 and became the president of DPJ in May 2009.