Nepal holds good investment opportunities: PM Prachanda

Kathmandu, Mar. 14

Vice Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of Investment and Trade (CCPIT), Zhang Shaogang, has said that Nepal and China should continue to expand bilateral trade between the two countries and give full play to the trade promotion organisations.

"There are many attractive products in Nepal, but their visibility is yet to be felt among Chinese consumers," he said while speaking at the Nepal-China Investment and Business Forum 2023, orgnaised by Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and CCPIT in the Capital on Tuesday.

A 60-member Chinese delegation led by Zhang is in Kathmandu to explore the opportunities in trade and investment in Nepal. This is probably the largest business delegation to Nepal from the northern neighbour since the advent of coronavirus pandemic in the end of 2019.

According to him, as China’s largest trade and investment promotion agency, CCPIT will continue to host more trade and investment promotion events, in order to boost imports of Nepal’s premium products, including artworks, wool products, garments, agricultural products, tea and Chinese herbs.

According to the organisers, the business forum aimed to further consolidate the foundation for bilateral economic and trade cooperation and promote the Chinese and Nepali business communities to embark on a new journey.

Zhang also stressed on further expanding areas of investment cooperation in infrastructure development including power stations, communications and roads.

He suggested Nepal to get benefit from China's sound industrial system and advantages in capital, technology and experience. He expressed his hopes that the businesses from the two countries will actively expand investment cooperation in accordance with market-oriented principles. In this regard, CCPIT is ready to work with Nepali private sector organisations like CNI, Zhang said.

Addressing the forum as the keynote speaker, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda said that Nepal wants an easy and more generous market access to China and other neighbouring countries.

"We believe that phenomenal economic progress achieved by our neighbours would open up wider avenues of opportunity for Nepal to grow and prosper through expansion of export trade and enhanced level of inward investment," he said.

PM Prachanda said to the Chinese businesspersons that Nepal had made major reforms in its investment regime protecting foreign direct investment and easing the process.

"Our tax slabs are one of the lowest and our position is fairly good in ease of doing business. Investment in any sector is profitable in our country given the nascent stage of our industrial development," he informed while stating that profitable areas of investment include hydropower, industrial manufacturing, infrastructure development, tourism, agriculture, minerals, and mining, among others.

Likewise, Nepal's laws permit full repatriation of income earned from investment. Foreign companies registered in Nepal can purchase, own and sell land. No discrimination is made between domestic and foreign investors. There is no policy of nationalization of private industry. The other factor that makes business competitive in Nepal is the availability of a less expensive workforce, reformed labour laws, and improved industrial relations. “We are seriously working on further simplifying the procedures and fully operartionalise the one-stop service,” said the Prime Minister.

He also urged the Chinese investors to invest in the areas of technology. "We need significant investment in infrastructure and maximise the utilisation of technology in development and post-LDC graduation strategy," he said.

PM Prachanda also said that as China lifts restrictions for out-bound movement, Nepal expected more tourists from there. ‘Enhanced level of economic engagement' with people-to-people contact, opening of border, cross-border transmission line and other infrastructure are the priority areas for Nepal, according to him.

He also said that cross-border connectivity is vital for enhancing economic partnership. Nepal is committed to develop infrastructure at Nepal-China border including dry ports, roads and laboratories. Trade is the engine of growth and our future prosperity largely depends of our capacity to produce and trade more.

"Our two governments have been discussing the establishment of cross-border economic zones and opening of more border trading points. Our two countries are already linked by optical fiber and the prospects of cross-border railways and transmission lines will help significantly improve our economic ties in the coming years," he said.

Ambassador of China to Nepal, Chen Song, said that China remains as the second largest trading partner of Nepal and the bilateral trade between the two nations should be enhanced.

Pledging that he would encourage Chinese enterprises to come to Nepal and invest here, he said that expansion of economic ties between the two countries is further deepening the friendly relations.

He also invited Nepal to expand its trade promotion in China.

Vishnu Kumar Agrawal, President of CNI, said that Nepal expected an influx of Chinese tourists as the northern neighbour opened its borders for outbound tourism. We would like more Chinese investors in both trade and service sectors, he said. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 March 2023.