December 14: Nepal received foreign investment commitment of around Rs 6 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year. According to the data released by the Department of Industry, foreign investment proposals worth Rs 5.89 billion for 43 companies have been approved between mid-July to mid-November.

According to the department, the investment commitment from mid-October to mid-November is more than the first three months of the current fiscal year. From mid-July to mid-October, investment worth Rs 2.24 billion was made for 19 industries. From mid-October to mid-November alone, foreign investment proposals worth Rs 3.65 billion was received for 24 industries. The department informed that one large, 10 medium and 19 small industries were registered in October.

A total of 12 industries related to tourism, 10 service-oriented industries and one industry of infrastructure and information technology were registered in the review period.

So far, 5,628 industries backed with foreign investment have been registered in Nepal, for which investment commitment worth Rs 430 billion has been pledged. The investment proposals submitted to the department states that 297,935 jobs will be created with the establishment of those industries.

The number of industries registered with the department include 323 large industries, 622 medium industries and 4,683 small industries. Similarly, the service sector has the highest number of industries (1,867), followed by tourism (1,855), manufacturing (1,269), agriculture (295), information technology (124), energy (91), mineral (72) and infrastructure (55).

Although the investment commitment for setting up industries in Nepal is increasing, the actual investment is very low in proportion to the commitment. After the foreign investment did not come in as promised, the Department of Industry started to tighten the business visa recommendation from November 4.