NEPAL > Inbound FDI commitment to Nepal dwindled in 2015-16. China led the pledged amount.

July 28, 2016 – Department of Industry (DOI) Nepal, the organization that registers companies in Nepal, reported that China led foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments for the fiscal year 2015-16. China’s commitment stood at US $57 Million (6.21 Billion Nepalese Rupees) against the total FDI commitment of US $140 Million (15.13 Billion Nepalese Rupees).

China’s commitment was followed by Britain with investment pledge of US$ 19 Million (2.07 Billion Nepalese Rupees). India followed with a pledge of US$ 18 Million (1.94 Billion Nepalese Rupees).

In terms of total FDI commitment, the latest figure of US$ 140 Million shows a significant decline vis-a-vis previous years’ commitment which totaled US$ 626 Million. The devastating earthquake followed by political turmoil post promulgation of new constitution and the economic blockade in India-Nepal border are the biggest contributors to the lackluster FDI commitment number.

 

Drilling down into the numbers, 125 FDI Chinese projects were registered at DOI out of a total of 341 FDI projects. These projects are mostly focused around infrastructure, hydropower and hospitality sectors.

Kantipur reports the following figures for FDI commitments in 2015-2016.

Country            Amount
China                  Rs 6.21 Billion (US$ 57 Million)
UK                       Rs 2.07 billion (US$ 19 Million)
India                   Rs 1.94 billion (US$ 18 Million)
Switzerland       Rs 1.83 billion (US$ 17 Million)
USA                     Rs 0.70 billion (US$ 6.4 Million)