The Nepal Weekly 
April 23, 2024
Nepal is set to showcase 148 potential projects including 21 ready- to- go ones worth nearly Rs. 900 billion, during the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit slated for April 28-29 in Kathmandu. During an interaction with senior journalists from national and international media ahead of the summit on Monday Finance Minister Barshaman Pun invited investors from both within and outside the country to invest mainly in hydropower, tourism and IT sectors with the assurance of safe and conducive investment environment.
Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has said that the continuation of the best policies taken by the government would help create an environment conducive for investment and repatriate the returns.
During the consultation meeting with media persons the Finance Minister said government policies will remain unchanged despite the change in the government and the investors won’t have to face difficulties in taking their returns back.
Minister Pun made it clear that there will be no changes in Nepal’s investment laws and policies though the changes take place in internal politics. “The characteristics of capital is an environment for investment and securing profits. There is nothing to do with any ism and system for the investors. Investors look for the environment and now Nepal has an appropriate environment for investment,” the Finance Minister pointed out.
He also expressed hope that domestic and foreign investment will increase in Nepal due to different legal, procedural and structural changes that the government made in recent times.
There is no problem for the market for goods produced in Nepal since Nepal enjoys friendly ties with two gigantic nations India and China, said Minister Pun.
A total of 1,355 invitations have been sent to investors around the world, of which so far around 500 have confirmed their participation in the grand event, according to Sushil Bhatta, CEO of Nepal Investment Board, the main organizer of the event. A total of 31 private sector projects will be showcased at the summit, according to IBN.
More projects will be showcased at the summit, but their values have yet to be ascertained, remarked Pradyumna Prasad Upadhyay, spokesperson for IBN.
However, critics pointed out that the government has done very little homework to convince the international investors at a time when Nepal is passing through political uncertainty. Corruption, political instability and policy inconsistency are some of the hurdles that the potential investors might face while making key investment decisions in Nepal, they argue.
This will be the third investment summit to be organized by Nepal, as the first and the second summits took place in 2017 and 2019.
