Finance Minister assures investors of policy stability

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 3^rd 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.