December 12: The Government of Nepal held a meeting with development partners on Monday in view of the upcoming Third Investment Summit scheduled for April 21-22 in Kathmandu.    
According to Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, the meeting focused on generating ideas for making the Summit effective and result-oriented.    
"We are seeking inputs from investors in regard with investment atmosphere in Nepal and areas they believe need improvements," the Finance Minister said, adding that Nepal presents an environment conducive for investment.

"The demand side is higher than supplies in Nepal, making it an attractive destination for investment," Finance Minister Mahat further said.    
He said that there is high potential for investment in hydropower, tourism, information technology and agricultural sectors in Nepal. According to the minister, Nepal presents a favorable ground for investment in small and medium enterprises as well. He added the government is seriously working to address challenges in the investment sector.    
"The bill regarding laws against money laundering is likely to be endorsed by the parliament. We could work toward the achievement of Sovereign Credit Rating before the Summit. We are dedicated to remove all sorts of challenges and hurdles for investment," the Finance Minister assured.    
During the meeting, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal said the government is effortful to make policy-level and procedural improvements for investment. The meeting also discussed issues regarding projects to be showcased during the Summit.     
The government has already formed separate committees for the Summit like the director committee led by the finance minister, the implementation committee led by chief secretary and the technical committee led by secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.    
The first meeting of the director committee took place on November 26 and the implementation committee meeting on December 5. But the technical committee meeting is yet to be organised.    
The director committee is tasked with approving the conference schedule and model, identifying the areas that require policy reforms to create a climate for the conference and looking after the whole affairs of the conference.    
The committee's members are the foreign minister, the energy minister, the physical infrastructure minister, the culture and tourism minister, the industry minister, the agriculture minister, the development urban minister and the federal affairs minister, vice chairperson of the National Planning Commission, chief secretary, governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank, secretary of the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, finance secretary, industry secretary and chairpersons of three umbrella organisations of the private sector.    
The implementation committee is tasked with preparing the proposal to be submitted to the director committee, in coordination with the stakeholders and providing necessary help to the director committee for the entire preparation of the conference.    
Members of the committee are secretaries of the line ministries, deputy governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank and chairperson of the umbrella organisations of the private sector.    
The technical committee is tasked with developing the project concept after analysing the status of the projects to be presented at the conference, developing attractive and reliable projects to be proposed and preparing various memorandums of understandings and agreements. The committee members are joint secretaries of the line ministries. -- RSS