Nepal to organise international investment summit on March 2-3

A number of Indian and Chinese companies will participate in an international summit in Nepal next week that aims to position the landlocked country as an attractive investment hub.
The Nepal Investment Summit 2017 in Kathmandu on March 2-3 will see the participation of nearly 250 companies from about two dozen countries, Ministry for Industry Nabindra Raj Joshi told reporters here today.
Around 300 Nepalese firms will also take part in the summit themed 'Harnessing Investment Opportunities', he said.
Chinese firms are likely to outnumber Indian companies at the summit, with confirmed participation of 99 firms from China and 21 from India.

Twenty companies from Sri Lanka, 14 from Malaysia, 13 from Japan and 10 from Canada have also confirmed their attendance.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) president Jin Liqun have confirmed their participation, organisers said.

Other countries attending the summit include the US, the UK, Russia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Italy, France, Spain and Vietnam.
The aim of the summit is to position Nepal as an attractive investment destination and to explore possibilities of foreign investment in hydropower, infrastructure, tourism, information technology, mining industry and agriculture.
The summit is expected to help Nepal fulfil its infrastructure gap and provide feedback to policymakers about reforms needed to promote investment, Joshi added.

According to local media reports, this will be the first investment summit in Kathmandu since the promulgation of the Constitution in 2015.