Kathmandu, Apr. 22: Meeting the national goals of development and prosperity hinges on raising confidence of investors to pour capital on projects promising sure returns. That is what Nepal should do to break the chain of development inertia long plaguing the country.
In this regard, Minister for
Finance Barsha Man Pun has assured the investor to invest with full confidence
stating that Nepal’s investment policy has remained, and will remain,
consistent and stable.
“Governments can change and
so can the ruling coalitions. But they will make no difference with the
investment policy of the country. The policy is stable,” said Minister Pun
during a consultation meeting with editors in the capital on Monday on the eve
of the 3rd Investment Summit 2024.
If there are changes in
investment policy they are as per the need of keeping pace with the changing
technologies and accommodating with the demand of the time, the Finance Minister
said.
Dwelling on the central
motivation, mood and mentality of the investors, the Finance Minister said
matter-of-factly, “The tendency of the capital is to seek an investment
friendly environment where the expected return is assured. In fact, the
investors are less concerned with the political system than the investment
climate.”
This investment summit has
accumulated useful lessons from the past summits held in 2017 and 2019. This is
an event of the nation and not of the government alone, Minister Pun said
adding that political parties have an understanding to cooperate and
participate in it.
Drawing an instance regarding
the continuity of investment policy in Nepal, the Finance Minister said that
the policy on hydropower development has remained unchanged for the past 15
years while so many governments have changed during this period.
Under this policy, tax waiver
is granted for the first 10 years of the hydropower project operation. For the
five years after than, 50 per cent taxes are discounted. Regarding cerement
factories, the government opens road access to the stone mines while access of
electricity is provided to the industries. “These provisions have not changed
over time,” Minister Pun said.
The government is hosting the
third Investment Summit in Kathmandu on April 28 and 29 where projects on a
range of areas, mainly on hydropower, tourism, agricultural business and
information technology will be showcased.
The focus of the summit is
related to the projects that have competitive edge and based on our available
resources, Minister Pun said.
Today’s cabinet meeting has
decided to formulate about a dozen laws through ordinance to facilitate
investments. There is no reason not to agree with the ordinance. The ordinance
was necessary due to time constraint in the parliament and the provisions will
be ultimately put in discussion, the Finance Minister said.
Talking about Nepal’s vast
tourism potential at the doorstep, Finance Minister Pun said that we are
conveniently located between India and China, and visitors from these immediate
neighbours are attracted to nearer and popular destinations in Nepal. For
example, we can build a religious tourism link between Ayodhya in India and
Janakpur in Nepal, he added.
Chief Executive Officer of meeting
organiser Investment Board Nepal Sushil Bhatta said that investment promotion
is a continuous process and it does not come to an end from this summit. The
private sector has also been urged to fully utilise this platform and showcase
their projects, he added.
Agreements with interested
investors can be made during the summit and those projects that declare their
investment deals in this event have the benefit of branding, he added. He,
however, said that incentive packages to the investors can be announced after
necessary assessments are carried out.
Joint Secretary at IBN Pradyumna
Upadhyay said that this investment jamboree offers a unique opportunity for the
investors to directly meet the Prime Minister and hold interaction with him on different
aspects of investment. The Prime Minister is the Chair of the IBN.