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Wednesday, Nov 08, 2006
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Nepal's promise on investments

Special Correspondent

"Conducive atmosphere for investment in different areas"

Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and Foreign Minister K.P. Sharma Oli with Confederation of Indian Industry President R. Seshasayee at a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. — Photo: Ramesh Sharma

NEW DELHI: Allaying the fears of Indian businessmen, Nepal has promised a "conducive" atmosphere for investors while seeking their participation in the development of its infrastructure, tourism, water resources, agro-business and other sectors.

Addressing business leaders at a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) here on Tuesday, Nepali Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, sought to dispel apprehensions of Indian businessmen, many of whom have pulled out of the Himalayan Kingdom due to the Maoist and security-related problems.

"A conducive atmosphere for investment in different areas now exists," Mr. Oli said declaring, " the Nepalese Government wants to encourage investments from India." Mr. Oli, who held wide-ranging discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders, said: "We intend to set an annual trade target of $5 billion in the next five years compared to the current one that is $2 billion. To meet this ambitious target, we invite the Indian investors in both manufacturing and services sectors and assure them of our full support and cooperation, including expeditious clearance of investment proposals."

The CII president, R. Sheshasayee, enumerated the areas where further business collaboration between India and Nepal was possible. "These include water resources, infrastructure, human resources development, health, education, tourism, IT and IT-Enabled Services. "The renewal of the trade treaty will give a fillip to bilateral cooperation," he said.

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