Govt urges NRNs to increase investment, transfer technology

Kathmandu, Oct. 11

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has urged the Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) to support in the development of the country by transferring the much-required capital and technology.

"The government is committed to create an environment where you can safely invest and get a reasonable profit from the investment here," he said while addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and Global Conclave 2022 on Tuesday in the Capital.

Stating that the government has tried to address most of the demands put forth by the NRNA, PM Deuba urged them to bring investment to Nepal and support in the national prosperity. He also promised to facilitate the investment made by the NRNs in the country.

According to him, the government wants to promote the industries that use the locally available raw materials and generate employment. The prime minister also highlighted the policy reforms including the cutting the limit of investment size for the foreign investors form Rs. 50 million to Rs. 20 million to attract more FDI.

PM Deuba also recalled and appreciated the support of the NRNA during the disasters like the 2015 earthquake and pandemic like COVID-19.

Minister for Home Affairs, Bala Krishna Khand, said Nepal needs investment to realise its development aspirations and vision of prosperous Nepal.

"It is our duty to protect your investment regardless of its size. The government is committed to protect business and property of all investors including the NRNs," he said.

He urged the NRNA to motivate its members and Nepali diaspora to bring in investment in Nepal. Minister Khand also said that the government was serious about providing citizenship to the NRNs as per the constitutional provision.

Bharat Raj Paudyal, Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Constitution of Nepal has recognised the NRNs which is the highest honour given to them by the country.

"You are the goodwill ambassadors and representatives of the country and we expect you to support in promoting investment, trade and tourism of Nepal in the international markets," he said.

According to Paudyal, many countries having friendly and diplomatic relations with Nepal have said that the Nepali community has not become a burden to them but appreciated that the latter has contributed in the business and economy of the respective country.

“We aim at promoting economic diplomacy in collaboration with the NRNA,” he said.

President of the NRNA, Dr. Badri KC, said that the NRNs want policy facilitations since they send remittance equal to about a third of the national Gross Domestic Product of the country.

He also said that in this time of economic slowdown, the NRNA want to expedite the process to run the NRN Development Fund in a full-fledged manner. "We want the government to treat NRNs as Nepalis in terms of investment, there are obstructions in running the NRN Development Fund, so we request the prime minister to look into the issue and facilitate its operation," he said.

The NRNs have been playing an important role in supporting relief and rehabilitation programmes in the post-disaster scenario here, and during the COVID-19 pandemic we rescued more than 200,000 Nepalis stranded in various countries across the globe. They have sent COVID-19 test kits, medicines, oxygen and other essential goods.

“Likewise, we want the NRN citizenship at the earliest and urge the government and other political parties to create another legal instrument to provide citizenship to us,” said Dr. KC.

Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Chandra Prasad Dhakal, said that the government has addressed the demands of the investors through the creation of new investment-friendly laws and amending the existing ones.

"The rate of return from the investment that you make is much better in Nepal compared to many other countries where you have established businesses, so I would like to urge you to channelise your and fellow investors money here," he said.

Former Ambassador and Founder General Secretary of the NRNA, Bhim Udas, suggested using remittance as a collateral to get development finance from the multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank. He said that Nepal should follow the model set by Kenya in this regard. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 October 2022.