Kathmandu, Sept. 7
Chinese investors have shown
interest in investing in another industrial park in Nepal.
The park is likely to be
developed in Shaktikhor, previous Maoist Combatant Cantonment Area in Chitwan
district.
The Investment Board of Nepal
(IBN) said that they were likely to develop the industrial infrastructure
facility in Shaktikhor, or government proposed Motipur Industrial Area in
Rupandehi district in Province 5.
Maha Prasad Adhikari, Chief
Executive Officer of the IBN, said that a team of Economic Joint Committee of
China Commercial Stock Enterprises (EJCCCSE) had already inspected both the
areas.
"They liked both the areas,
but they found Motipur comparatively small. We are facilitating them with the
required support," he said.
It would be the second project of
this time to be developed with Chinese investment. Chinese investors are
developing Clean Industrial Park in Damak of Jhapa district.
"Chinese investors want to
develop joint industrial infrastructure in collaboration with Nepal," said
Li Xuesong, Deputy Secretary General of EJCCCSE, at Nepal-China Economic and
Trade Cooperation Forum organised on Saturday in the Capital.
According to him, Nepal and China
will jointly set up a park management committee to carry out comprehensive
operation and management of the industrial park.
Similarly, a project development
company in Nepal will be set up to manage the overall development and
construction of the park.
Li said that China-Nepal Park
Construction Committee, property management, supporting commercial operation,
pubic service platform, industry cultivation and business development and
public relation coordination were the major component of the project.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice-President
Nanda Bahadur Pun urged the Chinese investors to invest in Nepal saying that it
was the land of high potential.
He said that China-Nepal railway,
Kathmandu-Lumbini railway, electric transportation, industry producing
agricultural inputs and induction oven could be executed in
public-private-partnership including the government and private sector of the
two countries.
"It is also about
strengthening the one and a half millennia old relation between the two
countries. We want to give priority to Chinese investors in hydroelectricity
and transmission projects as well as in other infrastructure development,"
said VP Pun.
Likewise, former Prime Minister
and Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said
that Nepal had always benefitted from the development in China.
"The relation has been
further strengthened, and cooperation has been increased following the
high-level exchanges between the two countries," he said.
"I would like to inform you
that the government has been trying to create favourable investment climate
through the creation of business-friendly policies and amendment of the old
policies."
He expressed hope that
interactions between the government and private sectors of Nepal and China
would be result-oriented and would help in investment attraction to Nepal.
Saying that the Communist parties
in Nepal were united and the present powerful government was the result of the
unity among the major leftist parties, he maintained that the agenda now was to
lead the country on the path of economic development.
Minister for Industry, Commerce
and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav said that the transit facilities provided by
China has increased Nepal's access to world markets.
The ministry is also preparing to
send study teams that will study the potential of the Chinese route and seaports.
Minister for Culture, Tourism and
Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that increasing air and road connectivity
between the two countries would help in increasing the bilateral investment and
tourist arrival.
"We want just 0.5 per cent
of the 150 million Chinese tourists who travel out of the country," he
said.
He said that the country was soon
going to organise Tourism Investment Summit and invited Chinese investors and
entrepreneurs to participate in the event.
Ambassador of Nepal to China Leela
Mani Paudyal said that the Chinese participants in the forum were successful
and experienced entrepreneurs who had significant contribution in creating
employment opportunities, increasing productivity, substitution imports and
promoting exports.
He said that the investors had
inquired about the policy continuity, simplified and well-defined procedures
and one-door system, and whether hassle free investment and predicable policy
and legal regimes were ensured.
Chief Minister of Province 5
Shankar Pokharel, Gandaki Prithivi Shubba Gurung, Province 1 Sherdhan Rai,
Karnali Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, Province 3 Dor Mani Poudel and Sudurpaschim
Trilochan Bhatta had presented keynote speeches on the investment climate and
potential projects in their respective provinces.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 September 2019.
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