According to the report, a total of Rs 45.32 billion has been committed for foreign investment in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. The commitment has been received through 728 different projects in the period of 10 months of the current fiscal year. Of these, 533 have come through the automatic route and 195 through the approved route. According to the department, the commitment for investment amounting to Rs 3.52 billion has been received in the month of Baishakh alone. A total of 113 new foreign investment industries have been registered in Baishakh.
Analyzing the statistics regionally, Nepal's agriculture and forestry sectors are the main choices of foreign investors. Of the total commitments, 49 percent or Rs 22.08 billion have been allocated to the agriculture and forestry sector. However, numerically there are only 16 projects in the region.
The second choice for FDI is tourism sector. A commitment of Rs 12.54 billion (28 percent) has been made in the sector. A total of 189 projects has been registered in the tourism sector. Similarly, Rs 4.23 billion (9 percent) has been committed in the service sector, Rs 2.70 billion (6 percent) in the manufacturing sector, Rs 1.65 billion (4 percent) in infrastructure and Rs 1.74 billion (4 percent) in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
Although agriculture is ahead in terms of the amount of investment, the information technology (ICT) sector has emerged victorious on the basis of the number of industries. Of the total 728 projects, 421 (58 percent) are in the information technology sector. This confirms the growing interest of foreigners in small-scale software development and IT service providers in Nepal. This is followed by 26 percent (189) of the registered industries in the tourism sector.
Statistics show that foreign investment coming to Nepal is still concentrated in small industries. Of the 728 industries registered in the last 10 months, 711 (about 98 percent) are in the small category. Only 8 industries of medium scale and 9 industries of big category have been registered. Out of 113 industries registered in the month of Baisakh, 112 are small industries and only one is big. This indicates that there are still challenges to attract foreign investment in large infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.
When these projects come into full operation, it is estimated that 23,530 people will get employment. The industries registered in the month of Baishakh alone have committed to provide employment to 948 people. Along with investment, the Department has also been recommending visas for foreign investors and their representatives. A total of 84 investors, 40 representatives and 42 dependent family members have been recommended for business visa in the month of Baishakh.
With the inflow of investment, the outflow of money in the form of dividends and royalties has also continued. In the last 10 months, foreign investors have repatriated Rs 17.79 billion as dividends. Similarly, Rs 5.09 billion has been withdrawn as royalty. According to the department's report, Rs 115 million has been released as service fee.
