PM Dahal assures investors of government support

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurated the Nepal Investment Summit 2024 on Sunday, announcing measures taken by the country to create an environment conducive for business to investors. "We are committed to implementing continuous reforms to facilitate investors, industrialists, and innovators, and improve the business environment," said PM Dahal. He added that the government has recently amended eight different laws related to business and investment.

At a separate side event, the Prime Minister, who is also the Chair of the Nepal Investment Board, attended a meeting with business leaders from 22 countries. He assured them of Nepal's readiness to support investors interested in undertaking projects in Nepal.

The summit showcased 154 projects at various stages of preparation, including 19 that were being prepared for soliciting Expressions of Interest from potential investors.

Earlier, Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun welcomed the participants at the summit, which he described as an important platform for the government to reach out to potential investors and for investors to provide feedback. He added that it was also a platform where potential foreign investors could network and interact with Nepali officials, policymakers, and their counterparts in the private sector to obtain information required for assessing Nepal's readiness for doing business.

The inaugural session included addresses by dignitaries including former Prime Minister and leader of the main opposition party, Sher Bahadur Deuba, President of the Nepali Congress; Madame Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary General of the UN Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and Ben Mellor, Regional Director of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, Ambassador of the United States of America to Nepal, Dean R Thompson, and Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nepal, Chen Song, also addressed the session.

Other speakers included Martin Raiser, Vice President (South Asia) of the World Bank; Yingming Yang, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank; and Rajat Mishra, Acting Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). 

The President of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Md Jasmin Uddin; Senior Vice President of the United States Chamber of Commerce Atul Keshap; and the leader of the Delegation from Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Supratim Dutta also addressed the session.

Chandra Prasad Dhakal, Federation of Nepali Chambers of Commerce, and Industries (FNCCI); Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, Confederation of Nepali Industries (CNI); and Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce – the co-organisers of the summit – also delivered their remarks. 

Two other speakers at the session were Sushil Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), which has been building a large hydro project in Nepal, and Sushil Bhatta, Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board Nepal (IBN). 

Two plenary sessions were held on Sunday, one exploring the investment opportunities in Nepal and the other dealing with success stories of investments made in the country.

Two Memoranda of Understanding were signed on the first day of the two-day summit. One agreement was signed between the BLC Group Nepal and Yotta Data Services, India, and another MOU was signed between the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM). 

The summit had over 2,163 participants, including representatives of government agencies, the private sector, and Nepal’s Development Partners. Of the total 680 international participants, 186 were from India and 240 from China.