Kathmandu, Jan. 26
The Office of the Investment Board, Nepal (OIBN), the
national investment promotion and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agency of
Nepal, has speeded up the final preparations for the upcoming Investment Summit
2024.
To update the stakeholders about the initial
preparations the Board along with collaborative partner KPMG in India, organised
a workshop on ‘Unlocking Nepal's Investment Potential: Collaborative
Strategies for Economic Growth, in Kathmandu on Friday. The workshop was
held as the pre-event of the Nepal Investment Summit (NIS) 2024 that is
proposed to be held on April 28-29 this year.
The workshop delved into enhancing the investment
climate in Nepal through legal, procedural and regulatory reforms as well as
the innovative approaches to facilitate private investments including Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) to unleash the country's full potential among the policymakers,
private sector, development partners and experts.
Addressing the workshop, Finance Minister and the Vice-Chairperson
of IBN, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat, said that the country was pursuing fresh
investments in every sector of the economy as the country’s potential are
largely untapped and under-utilised.
“As green investment has become a buzzword in recent
days, there are not any better investment destinations except Nepal as we emit
insignificant and carry potential to serve clean and renewable energy to other
countries of the region to minimise emissions in line with their targets,” he
said.
Dr. Mahat further said, “Similar potentials are long
awaiting to be unlocked in the sector of tourism, agri-business and ICT.”
Stating that there is no ceiling for foreign
investment in Nepal, he urged the investors, both national and foreign, to tap into
the current policies that priorities Foreign Direct Investment and joint
venture initiatives.
Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission,
Dr. Min Bahadur Shrestha, highlighted that private investments are crucial for
the sustainable and inclusive growth trajectory for the irreversible graduation
of Nepal to the league of developing countries by 2026.
Likewise, Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal,
Dr. Baikuntha Aryal, underlined the prompt response based on the feedback of
the foreign investors investing in Nepal as well as the private sector is
crucial to spreading the message among the potential investors that their
investments in Nepal won’t be a loss.
Chief Executive Officer of the IBN, Sushil Bhatta, highlighted
that NIS 2024 will provide a platform to onboard serious, potential and capable
investors in our investment landscape.
“With its serious efforts, the government has been
reviewing the various policies and laws to provide a favourable and better
investment climate for unleashing Nepal’s full potential in various sectors
including the development of strategic infrastructure in different sectors
clean transport, road, tourism, ICT, manufacturing and mining among others,” he
said.
Similarly, Acting Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank,
Dr. Neelam Dhungana Timsina, shared information regarding the provisions of
recently amended FDI and Foreign Loan Bylaws, which removed the provisions of
pre-approval of the central bank to bring in FDI.
Yezdi Nagporewalla, CEO of KPMG in India, underscored
that the success of this joint effort between IBN and KPMG delivered a commitment
to fostering strategic partnerships and driving sustainable growth for Nepal.
Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs, NP Saud, said
that Nepal should do its homework for the upcoming Investment Summit. Addressing
the 'Award for Excellence' programme held on Friday in Kathmandu, he pointed
out the need to create an investment-friendly environment and said that more
homework is needed.
Minister Saud also said that he was also working to
speed up economic diplomacy. He added, "Economic diplomacy is important
for the success of the conference and we are working for this."
According to him, it is also necessary to explain the
reforms in the investment policy to create an investment-friendly environment to
attract foreigners.
Minister Saud said that the investors should be
assured that the investment made in Nepal could be profitable, and beneficial
and that the profits could be reinvested or safely repatriated back to their
country.
The upcoming investment summit will be the third one
in the recent series of conferences organised to attract foreign investment in
large projects. Earlier, investment conferences were held in 2017 and 2019.
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