IBN struggling to materialise investment pledges

The Investment Board of Nepal is facing difficulties to materialise investment pledges due to ambiguous legal provisions which have not defined the role of the government in project development. IBN said that lack of clear government provisions on viability gap funding has been a major setback in realising mega foreign investments in Nepal. Viability gap refers to the gap between revenue required for a project to become commercially viable and the revenue that is expected to be generated after completion of the project. CEO of IBN, Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that the government must clearly define its contribution to facilitate project development as lack of the pre defined contribution does not allow them to give a complete project package to investors who have signed the letters of intent at the Nepal Investment Summit in March. Foreign investors had signed letters of intent with the government to invest more than $13.52 billion in different sectors. Meanwhile, IBN is also preparing to issue tenders for four mega projects in the country within the next fiscal year.