The Growing Needs for Investment in Technology to Support Nepal's Economic TransitionNepal government calls for value investments to support the nation's much needed economic transformation

India's trade fellow, Nepal has been known for all the "disastrous' reasons around the world. Be it the massive hijack, the massacre of the royal kingdom, the Maoist insurgency or the recent earthquake that almost destroyed the nation of the Himalayas and its infamous low-income economy, Nepal has suffered long enough at the hands of an unstable government.

Moving ahead of its past conflicts, the nation is now looking to position itself as a potential hub for investments for the rest of the world. Landlocked between India and China, the country has high hopes from its neighbours to lend a helping hand to its Hydro Power and Infrastructural scope, something that was apparent at the recently organized Summit on investments.

Tech Advancements

Having penetrated into all major economies, technology can play a significant role in the social transformation of Nepal. "Nepal is in transition now, moving towards giving the higher role to the private sector in terms of taking it as a catalytic source of growth and sustained development process of the country," shared the nation's Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada.

Despite the recurring tensions and conflicts, Nepal has reduced poverty by 1 per cent every year over the past 20 years, thanks to factors like social mobilization and community participation. "Social transformation is helping the economic transformation in Nepal, but this is incomplete without technological advancement. Hence, Nepal needs investment in technology transfer to support this transition," Khatiwada stated.

Investment Prospects

Nepal needs an investment of about $20 billion per annum, of which the government and domestic private industry could provide around $5 billion each, requiring the balance $10 billion to come from foreign investors. "We are moving towards giving higher power to the private sector which we also believe will be catalysts for our growth and sustained development of the country," Khatiwada boasted.

To further facilitate foreign investments, change and flexibility in the policies to accommodate the inflow of the foreign funds as compared to the past policies and rigidness, the current government has serious intentions to offer boundless support to get the reported 15 MOUs signed during the event into actionable implementations.

India Connect

The government of India has been providing development assistance to Nepal, focusing on the creation of infrastructure at the grass-root level, under which various projects have been implemented in the areas of infrastructure, health, water resources, education and rural & community development. Indian entrepreneurs can cash on to the opportunity in these sectors well.