How favourable is the investment ecosystem?

Recognising the potential of foreign capital, Nepal’s sixth five-year plan (1980-1985) marked the first attempt to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). However, the lack of a comprehensive strategy limited its effectiveness. The Industrial Policy of 1981 included provisions for foreign investment, but these were more symbolic gestures without the backing of a strong legal framework.

The restoration of a multiparty democracy in 1992 ushered in a new era for FDI in Nepal. The government enacted the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act (FITTA-1992), a groundbreaking legislation. FITTA offered a range of incentives to foreign investors, including:

• Repatriation facilities: The ability to send profits earned back to their home country.
• Visa benefits: Simplified visa processes for foreign investors and their employees.
• Tax breaks: Tax concessions to make Nepal a more attractive investment destination.
• Convertible foreign currency options: The freedom to convert Nepali rupees into foreign currency.

This act provided a much-needed legal framework for FDI, boosting investor confidence. The Industrial Enterprise Act (IEA-1992) complemented FITTA by streamlining the process of setting up industries in Nepal, further encouraging foreign investment. Additionally, a trade treaty signed with India (Agreement of Cooperation, 1991, renewed in 1996) improved Nepal’s access to a large market, making it more attractive to foreign companies. These combined efforts led to a promising rise in FDI in the early 1990s.

Unfortunately, progress was hampered by political instability and the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006). This period of uncertainty discouraged foreign investors, leading to a significant decline in FDI inflows. Nepal’s landlocked geography and its location within a slow-growing region also presented challenges for attracting foreign investment compared to other Asian economies. Since the resolution of the insurgency, the government has re-emphasised the importance of FDI for economic development.

A key step was the revision of FITTA in 2019 (FITTA-2019). This updated legislation aimed to further streamline regulations and make FDI even more attractive. Some key changes include:

• Simplified procedures: The revision aimed to make the FDI approval process faster and less bureaucratic.
• Increased flexibility: FITTA-2019 allows foreign-invested companies to borrow from foreign banks under specific conditions, providing them with greater access to capital.

Despite these efforts, FDI hasn’t reached its full potential in Nepal. There’s a continuous effort to bridge the gap between approved FDI (investment intentions) and actual FDI inflows (realised investments). The hydropower sector has been a major recipient of FDI, with projects financed by international organisations alongside foreign and domestic capital. This sector’s potential for clean energy generation and regional electricity export makes it an attractive target for foreign investment.

The government is actively working to improve the investment climate and attract FDI in other sectors with high growth potential, such as:

• Tourism: Nepal’s rich natural beauty and cultural heritage position it as a prime tourist destination. Increased FDI can help develop infrastructure and services to cater to a wider range of tourists.
• Manufacturing: FDI can play a crucial role in modernising Nepal’s manufacturing sector, promoting import substitution and export growth.
• Agro-processing: Investment in modern technology and infrastructure can help improve agro-processing facilities, creating a more efficient and competitive agricultural sector.

The Covid 19 pandemic affected every aspect of human life, including drastically decreasing investments, not just in the country but worldwide. With the negative effects of the pandemic reaching its tail-end, the government is organising an Investment Summit, after five years from the last one in 2019, to display Nepal as a favourable destination for foreign investments. This comes at a time of global economic vulnerabilities, geopolitical tension, high paced technological changes, and global power shifts. Business 360 speaks to four distinct investors who have been in Nepal on their opinion of the country’s investment ecosystem, the challenges of political and policy instability, and the opportunities ahead.

Biggest challenges faced during the approval process for FDI?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: Standard Chartered Bank Nepal has been in operation in Nepal since 1987 and a short answer to this question is that we have never faced significant challenges. In our 37 years, we have worked to introduce various global best practices, bring in FDI to the country and offer the strength of our network to the banking industry; this experience has been extremely rewarding.

We also work very closely with our regulator Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and have a lot of respect for the proactive approach and thinking taken during challenging economic scenarios the country recently faced including the earthquake, Covid 19 and the global commodity price surge. NRB has always been a very supportive and collaborative regulator, open to ideas and determined to maintain stability in the economy; this is one of the major reasons why the Nepali banking industry has been one of the most progressive and stable sectors in the country supporting the larger economy.

As one of the oldest foreign investors and the only international bank in Nepal, we have had a very good run so far and the support we received from the regulator and the government has been very positive for us.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: Dabur Nepal is one of the pioneers of FDI in the country and one of the most successful JVs in Nepal. It was established as an FDI company in the year 1989 and started its operations in 1992. Since this happened over 30 years ago, it is difficult to comment currently on what were the challenges at the time. However, what I have heard from my predecessors is that the government was supportive and facilitative. Coming to our recent investment proposal of Rs 968 crores, we have seen that Investment Board Nepal has been extremely helpful, and has guided us through the entire process.

Jabbor Kayumov: It was only two decades ago, in 2004, that Nepal opened its telecommunications market to the private sector, attracting foreign investors such as United Telecom Limited (UTL), Ncell (previously Spice Nepal), and Smart Telecom. Within the first five years of Ncell’s arrival in Nepal, it was instrumental in changing the landscape of Nepal’s telecommunications industry – making phone calls and data services accessible, cheaper and giving the power of connectivity to the masses. Ncell’s launch of 3G in 2010, and 4G in 2017 provided high-speed mobile data across the country.

Ncell is thus recognised as one of the more successful foreign investments in Nepal. We have managed to survive and thrive in the past two decades and are very proud of the significant impact we have had on Nepal’s socio-economic development and the upliftment of Nepali people. We have been able to bring cheap and fast connectivity to more than 90% of the population with nationwide coverage to 16 million customers. We now currently account for 2% of Nepal’s GDP. 

The journey hasn’t always been easy though. The geographical terrain here, the regulatory hurdles, the constant changes in policy have all have been challenging. The nature of our business is quite unlike other sectors such as hydropower which is a onetime investment. In the telecom industry, we need to continuously invest to update our technology, from 2G to 3G to 4G and now everyone is talking about 5G. Nepal is probably the only country in the world that is still holding on to this B-O-O-T (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) model for the telecom and ICT sector, this needs to change.  

The other major challenge has been the ease of doing business. The telecommunications sector has to be seen as a public good; but in Nepal, it is highly regulated with laws and regulations that are almost 30 years old and are no longer relevant. Telecom operators need to remain current and have access to new technologies that are being developed in the rest of the world. For that, they need support from the government to allow for faster implementation and adoption. Whilst policies, frameworks, and systems are in place, there is substantial room for improvement to keep up with global benchmarks and best practices. These policies and guidelines need to be made more relevant and in line with international standards.

How streamlined and efficient is the current process for obtaining permits and approvals for FDI projects?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: There have been a lot of policy level discussions and work streams around creating a single window to streamline and increase the efficiency regarding entry requirements for FDI in Nepal which has made the situation better than before, however there still is room for improvement. From our experience as the only international bank in the country, as sizable shares of FDI and foreign projects bank with us, common feedback on this regard is around the opportunity to increase the speed of approvals.

This question, nevertheless, might have varied answers depending on the sector. For instance, FDI looking to enter the manufacturing industry might have various requirements that are different to the IT or banking sector, therefore a general answer might not do justice to evaluate this question. Moreover, new investors and companies coming in would be able to give a better feel around this rather than older FDI’s who have already had a good run in Nepal.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: There are still process issues which need to be ironed out for an efficient approval process. The process needs to be streamlined further so as to have greater clarity, be less tedious, less cumbersome and speedier. Also, there needs to be a clearly defined authority matrix in place within the single-stop service centre for a seamless and swift process. Over the years, we have seen the process evolving and feel in the near future, that it will be more investor-friendly.

Jabbor Kayumov: The government has recently been more proactive in attracting investors be it foreign or local and we very much welcome this change. There are many investment opportunities here and if you look back, the country has received ample commitments, but in reality, the actual delivery or outcome is low. This indicates gaps which the government should address. It is great news that the government is amending multiple laws such as the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, Electronic Transaction Act, Public Private Partnership and Investment Act, Industrial Enterprise Act, Forest Act to name a few to make it friendlier to foreign investors.

What difficulties have you experienced related to repatriation of profits or convertibility of foreign currency?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: Repatriation of profits for us has been no issue at all. In fact, one of the things we will say as a foreign investor is that we have had absolutely no issue in sending out dividends and that NRB has been extremely prompt in related approvals.

Amlan Mukherjee: Simplified, effective and practical regulations on remittance of dividend, royalty, services charges and earnings of expert expats would further help to attract more investment in Nepal.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: Dabur Nepal has been reinvesting its profits back into the business in order to scale up its operations. As we have not repatriated our profits, we are not best placed to comment on this.

Jabbor Kayumov: Any investor, be it local or foreign, does business for return and profitability; this is what makes the business sustainable. In our heyday, Ncell earned well and we were a shining example of a foreign investment done right. Obviously foreign investors should be able to repatriate their returns but what often happens here is that repatriation of dividends is somehow treated and perceived negatively. So, the process is long and cumbersome. Foreign exchange is also a hassle as we have to go through three layers of approvals for forex payments of more than USD 10,000 be it for bandwidth, consultancy or any procurement from aboard which take months and months for payment. The government should address such bottlenecks to encourage foreign investors. This all connects directly to Nepal’s ease of doing business and how Nepal is perceived on the world stage.

How effective are the current tax incentives offered by the government for FDI (introduced under FITTA)?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: FITTA aims for a much larger picture than to only incentivise foreign investors through tax incentives, therefore when this question just focuses on the effectiveness of tax incentives, this might not be a correct approach in the larger scheme of things. For instance, if one looks at our experience as an FDI, there has been so much more to our relationship with Nepal that transcends beyond our commercials including profits, tax and returns. Our purpose in Nepal is to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity and a large part of this is also to offer the global expertise we have as an international bank to the financial sector. The aspect of technology transfer has many examples where we have been the pioneer in introducing client-focused products and services in Nepal, including being first bank in Nepal to implement anti-money laundering policies and ‘Know Your Customer’ procedures on all the customer accounts and the first bank to bring the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) in the country.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: The government has provided a number of tax incentives to foster FDI. However, whilst one needs to encourage fresh foreign investment, we are seeing a few FDI companies are continuing to reinvest in Nepal. As these companies have created successful businesses, the government must also incentivise their reinvestment efforts rather than solely focusing on fresh investments. These companies are ambassadors for FDI investment in Nepal and as they continue to grow, the Nepal FDI story will gain greater credibility.  Furthermore, to develop a manufacturing ecosystem in Nepal, there should be more incentives for FDI in the manufacturing sector. Also, to balance Nepal’s trade deficit, there should be greater incentives for FDI in exports focused industries. This will help the country move towards greater self-reliance.

In your opinion, what specific policy changes or reforms would most improve the environment for FDI in Nepal?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: One policy theme which we think would help improve the environment for FDI in Nepal, is regulations and reforms around foreign exchange. This is mainly because FDI would be in foreign currency and there would be an ultimate interest for investors to repatriate profits, therefore swaps, hedges and other products would be required to attract advance investors. There is a lot of work being done including discussions around tools that would cater to these requirements, however the speed of execution might be equally important as investors also associate this to the strength of institutions in the country.

Amlan Mukherjee: The duties imposed upon certain categories of raw materials remain on par or higher when compared with the finished goods imported. This Inverted Duty structure remains a major challenge in accelerating the process of manufacturing more products locally.

Contract Manufacturing is a global practice which has been playing a pivotal role in industrialisation in many countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Contract Manufacturing brings expertise, enables firms to utilise specialisation and technology in the production process resulting in scale benefit to the country. It also creates job opportunities and revenue to the government. The manufacturing sector would flourish further upon regulatory change in contract manufacturing in Nepal.

The biggest challenge that multinationals including UNL are facing in Nepal is pertaining to the look-alikes, fakes and counterfeits of their well-established global/foreign brands. This doesn’t affect only MNCs but there is also loss of revenue collection to the government and most importantly breach of trust for the Nepali consumer who pays for the original brand, however, gets a lower quality one in reality. As we have come to know by comparison with international standards, these existing laws are not enough for the protection of trademarks in the present situation. The increase of global trade and frequent violations of trademark have created a complex situation. Hence, a regulatory adjustment in prevailing Trademark Act would attract more brands to invest in Nepal.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: A detailed study needs to be undertaken at a sector level which should highlight the sectors where Nepal has relative competitive advantage and post the same, adequate awareness needs to be made to potential investors showcasing the long-term benefits of investing in the same. Additionally, I have numerated a few areas which will be enablers for a more positive and robust FDI environment:

i) Consistency in policy is a must as investors are not able to make long-term strategic decisions involving huge monetary outgo with frequent changes in policies. In spite of changes in the government, the message to investors should be that the policies towards FDI will be consistent, stable and investor-friendly. Additionally, whilst legislative reforms are being made to encourage FDI on a regular basis, what is most important is effective execution and implementation on ground.

ii) Simplification of procedures related to royalties and dividend repatriation. A more facilitative approach in this regard will definitely help the FDI ecosystem.

iii) Strong laws and regulations need to be in place to ensure IPR rights for international brands in line with the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Current law prohibits an international brand to operate in Nepal if such trademark is already registered locally. A number of international  companies are unable to operate in Nepal as their brands/trademarks are already registered, so going forward they drop their intent to invest as they do not wish  to go in for long-term litigation.

iv) Facilitate contract manufacturing to enable development of ancillary industries, technology transfer, job creation, skilled pool of resources and product diversification for industries.

v) Adoption of international best practices in terms of attracting and mobilising FDI. Also, shared learnings and experiences of countries with similar economic stature should be incorporated while forming policies and regulations in relation to FDIs, obviously keeping in mind the local context and interest as well. This will undoubtedly help in fostering a more robust FDI ecosystem.

vi) Lastly, we need to continuously upgrade the physical infrastructure (roads, energy, dry ports, customs, warehousing) apart from digital infrastructure. Nepal should be able to provide relatively skilled workforce, local vendors, and suppliers for sourcing needs.

At the end of the day, what does an investor want? They want reasonable returns, safety and security of their investment, ease of doing business and easy repatriation of their returns.
Jabbor Kayumov: For a developing country like Nepal, foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a crucial role in ensuring Nepal’s economic growth and prosperity in terms of capital formation and technology transfers. In order to attract FDIs, the ease of doing business within the country has to be facilitated. Political stability, infrastructure availability, facilitation from the government, bureaucracy, and the overall political climate must be supportive of foreign investors. 

The development that we have witnessed in the telecom sector thus far is the result of free-market policy and FDI in the telecommunications sector. FDI is crucial for any market and there should be good treatment to investors and ensure a return for what they invest with friendly policy. Such investment contributes towards the socio-economic development of the country besides employment generation. 

If you look at our Telecommunications Act 1997, it has yet to be amended even though so much has changed in terms of how businesses and individuals are now using telecom services. The voice driven market has now transferred into a data driven market. The need for reliable and quality driven connection is much more important now than before. All of this will mean continuously investing in technology for expansion. The investment that was made some five years ago will have to be replaced. If we look at the shift in pattern, now people are more reliant on communications which passes through internet than traditional voice or sms but telecommunication operators are still subject to licensing costs which were set more than 20 years ago. The approach for pricing of telecommunication licenses and frequencies will have to be re-evaluated.  Major laws such as FITTA, Industrial Enterprise Act, and the Telecommunications Act including other rules and regulations that are directly or indirectly linked with foreign investment should be looked into, making entry and exit easier. We welcome the fact that the government is now amending multiple laws in order to boost FDI in the country.

Has your company faced any challenges related to access and retention of skilled labour in Nepal?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: For us, both the Ministry of Finance and Nepal Rastra Bank have been extremely supportive in as far as the permits and labour laws are concerned to access skilled labour.

More importantly, I think we take pride in the fact that we attract some of the best talents in the financial industry. We are both an exporter of talent as well as an importer of talent which is one of the major roles an international bank plays. Take our current structure as an example, I’m an Indian, our CFO is from Bangladesh, and we recently have exported a senior talent from Nepal to our London office. Historically we have seen colleagues also move from Nepal to other locations including Singapore and Dubai within Standard Chartered Bank. We take pride in the fact that we attract and develop a lot of talent which also is one of the major benefits of FDI.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: The current resource pool in the country has basic skill sets. Every industry has its own set of skill requirements which they fulfil through in-house training and on-the-job learnings. So, most industries have to invest in training and continue to develop their own resource pool. However, most industries are looking at a certain threshold of basic skills in the resources which they can upskill over time.

Jabbor Kayumov: Ncell has always been one of the most preferred organisations to work for in Nepal. We were recently honoured with two HR awards – ‘National HR Excellence Award 2024’ and the ‘Excellence in Learning and Development Award’ for our HR policies, practices and performance. There is however limited talent in Nepal in some areas such as Data Analytics, Data Science and Business Analytics with telecom industry experience. It would be prudent for education institutions to focus on building expertise in these areas as there is clearly a big demand and IT and ITC sectors have a very promising future in Nepal.

What are your company’s plans for future investment in Nepal?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: Our focus will always be on our participation model which focuses on our Purpose to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity while complementing the economic growth of the country. Standard Chartered’s role in Nepal is very different from other peers; we offer our network to the financial industry which is derived from our presence across the markets we operate in. For example, our correspondent banking business in Nepal is an investment for us, this also means we ‘bank the banks’; this is vouched by our clearing of more than two-thirds of the G10 currency flows for the country. Our trade platform is another avenue where we have invested in; we hold one of the largest market shares in terms of trade services in Nepal as well.

Amlan Mukherjee: Unilever in Nepal believes that what is good for Nepal is good for Unilever Nepal. As responsible Corporate Citizens in Nepal, UNL has been playing an exemplary role on sustainability through recycling more plastics than it generates. Mountain Clean Up Campaign, use of green energy (electric boiler, solar energy in its factory at Hetauda) in its production line are a few examples of UNL’s unwavering dedication towards this step. The company has been consistently rewarding its shareholders year on year. However, like any multinational corporation operating in a dynamic market environment, UNL has also been facing its fair share of challenges while also capitalising on emerging opportunities. For this, UNL has been closely working with the private sector and Government of Nepal on regulatory reforms to attract more investment in Nepal.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: Dabur Nepal is in the process of approval of Rs 968 crores from Investment Board Nepal to be invested over the next five years for capacity enhancement and product diversification. This marks a major milestone in our commitment to doing business in the country with continued focus on both exports and domestic markets.

Jabbor Kayumov: The future is 5G and we are certainly going to be making bold steps in that direction but it also needs be commercially viable, and this will only happen when customers use more data, there are more digital services, and an improved ICT ecosystem. I have been in the telecom business for 20 years now and it is only in Nepal where I have seen that only 2 out of 10 people actually use data. We looked into why this is happening and in the coming weeks we will be announcing major changes that will allow customers to not be afraid of always leaving their data on. The whole objective is to empower the Nepali customer, to change the mindset and how Nepalis’s relationship with the phone. 5G is the future but to get Nepali customers need to start using their phones on the go.

We have to start thinking beyond just providing connectivity. Telecom operators in other parts of the world are now also moving towards providing other services, from Telco to Techo. We recently signed an MoU with Etisalat which will help guide us in this direction.  

We have a vision to make Ncell a complete digital technology company, and from the capability, knowledge, and technical expertise perspectives, we are well-equipped to do the best for the country.   We also now have support from our strategic partner – e& international. We are poised with a strong commitment and capability to diversify our digital services, enriching the lives of Nepali people across the country. The imperative for ongoing expansion of network infrastructure, beyond mobile connectivity, further underscores the significant opportunities that lie ahead for the country.

In comparison to other countries, how does Nepal differ? Are there any areas where Nepal is a better area for foreign investments?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: Nepal obviously is a very comfortable place and there are significant advantages including the people and structural aspects of the economy which are closely interrelated. Nepal’s culture is marked with several references to resilience and bravery. Standard Chartered Bank having a proud heritage associated with banking the British Gurkha soldiers, is a direct witness to the richness of the Nepali culture. One differentiating factor of the culture is also marked by prudence. Even in crises, the resilience of the country is embedded in a culture that ploughs through hardships.

The economy has always bounced back stronger after crises; GDP growth rates see a V shape recovery after events including the earthquake in 2015, trade disruptions, Covid 19 and global economic shocks due to geopolitical incidents. This draws on various structural factors that define Nepal’s economy. With almost zero external commercial debt, low overall external debt, improved FX reserves, a pegged currency to the INR, almost 100% broadband penetration for the entire population and with a median age of 26, Nepal is forecasted to grow approximately 4% to 5% in the near term (forecast numbers as per multilateral economic reports) despite continued impact of a volatile external environment. Additionally, land ‘linked’, Nepal is sandwiched between India and China, with the World Trade Organisation outlining a potential $70 billion of trade. This positions the country very well for a positive macroeconomic story that has tremendous opportunity if pitched to international financial markets.

Most narratives about Nepal’s economy often miss the positive macroeconomic story the country harnesses, backed by strong historical data-points which are not told enough – this has an opportunity cost. With zero sovereign defaults and a supportive environment for the repatriation of profits for foreign investments, the track record of the country has never been dented. Additionally, due to the peg with INR, Nepal following partial convertibility (only the current account being convertible) in the ‘Mundell-Fleming Trilemma’ provides an insulation to any external shocks in the global macroeconomic environment. Moreover, for historical foreign direct investments such as ours, the market has been very rewarding in the longer term. Appropriate messaging, profiling and marketing of the country’s economic strengths could be a crucial game changer for the country in attracting more FDI.

Amlan Mukherjee: Unilever Nepal, a step-down subsidiary of one of the largest global consumer goods corporate Unilever, has established itself as a significant player in Nepal’s economic landscape, despite encountering many challenges inherent to foreign investment. Unilever Nepal has managed to navigate itself towards sustained growth and profitability over its 30 years of operation with a reach of around eight out of 10 Nepali households every year with the help of consumers, partners and concerned authorities. Best marketing knowledge from its parent company, deployment of best technologies and developing human resources helped Unilever Nepal to achieve this success in Nepal. Unilever Nepal believes that the market provides significant headroom for growth in multiple sectors. The young consumers with exposure to the outer world, low penetration of categories, significant possible price advantage if ‘Made in Nepal’ with possible government encouragement make the market investment worthy.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: Any country has its own set of advantages and challenges, and Nepal is no different. Nepal, because of its geography, has inherent advantages in hydropower and tourism. Apart from that, I feel IT, health and education also carry immense potential. Nepal is uniquely located between two of the largest markets in the world viz. India and China which provide significant business opportunities. Also, drawing from Dabur Nepal’s experience, we see scope in the consumer and packaged goods industry. With a relatively young population, increasing participation of women in the workforce, aspirational consuming class, increasing urbanisation, rising incomes, growing internet penetration, social media access, proliferation of emerging channels (modern trade and ecommerce), the time is apt to invest in Nepal for FMCG companies.

What message would you give to other foreign companies considering investing in Nepal?

Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar: I think the message we would give to other foreign companies is to firstly do detailed research on the future prospect and niche around the sector of investment because there are various opportunities for synergy in Nepal. For instance, some sectors might provide long-term complementarity around Sustainable Finance and Renewable Energy. Sectors including agriculture, energy, tourism might be some of the top-of-mind sectors that may benefit from this complementarity in the long term, and this would matter to international investors.

Secondly, it is important to understand the regulations of the country in detail. Often regulations in Nepal are misinterpreted both by investors and many other parties. One of the major institutional strengths of Nepal are fair regulations which need to be appreciated.

Amlan Mukherjee: The present scenario of foreign investment for UNL embodies a delicate balance between challenges and opportunities as the company navigates through economic uncertainties and regulatory complexities, its commitment to consumer-centric strategies, transparency and sustainability remains unwavering. By embracing digital innovations, advocating for regulatory reforms, and prioritising ethical business practices, UNL paves the way for sustainable growth and continued success in Nepal’s evolving market landscape. If Unilever can do it, others can surely do it in Nepal.

Harkirat Singh Bedi: Nepal has tremendous opportunities and growth potential. However, potential investors should thoroughly research the sector they wish to operate in and do comprehensive due diligence.

Nepal is aggressively seeking FDI with a focused approach in crafting investment-friendly policies and processes including but not limited to legislative reforms required for enabling FDI. If any investor is looking for a long-term investment, now is the right time to start investing in the country as there are institutional frameworks like Investment Board Nepal in place to facilitate and guide the investors through their investment journey.

Jabbor Kayumov: Like all emerging markets, Nepal presents many opportunities, but it has its fair share of challenges too. My message to other foreign investors would be – be prepared to commit for the long haul. 

Nepal’s potential is unquestionable, this is a country on a cusp of massive change as it looks to transition from a LDC to a developing country in 2026. The fact that you have two of the fastest growing major economies in the world as your immediate neighbours is also a big advantage.  I am also always impressed by the tech-savvy, smart youth of this country. The future certainly looks very bright but Nepal does have to work very quickly and strategically to alleviate the existing regulatory hurdles and maximise its potential. The time is ripe for Nepal, but the leadership needs to move fast to put in place the frameworks required for a truly Digital Nepal.