New Delhi (India), 20 December: Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba has called on Indian entrepreneurs to invest in Nepal in the energy, infrastructure development, agriculture, tourism and information technology sectors.
At the ‘Indo-Nepal Economic Conference’, organized by Kathmandu University and India’s ‘Foundation for Economic Growth and Welfare’ (Egrow Foundation), which began today in the Indian capital New Delhi, he called on Indian entrepreneurs to invest, citing Nepal’s liberal policies related to foreign investment and private sector promotion.
Minister Rana mentioned that an investment environment has been created in Nepal and a situation of high returns has also been created. He informed that Nepal has received a ‘Double B Minus’ (BB Minus) rating to attract foreign investment and has implemented incentive-oriented policies for investment.
Minister Rana emphasized the need to strengthen Nepal-India relations not only economically but also socially and culturally. He was of the view that Nepal-India relations should be developed as an exemplary framework for regional cooperation in South Asia. Stating that Nepal and India have a relationship that is more connected by heart than by paper agreements, he said that the cultural, religious and historical relations between the two countries should be further strengthened with priority.
On that occasion, he emphasized on cross-border infrastructure development. “Projects like Integrated Check Post (ICP), railways, petroleum pipelines, and power transmission lines are important pillars of Nepal-India economic cooperation,” he said. At the conference, Foreign Minister Rana said that the electricity trade agreement signed between the two countries has put forward a plan to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity to India within the next 10 years, and Nepal has recently been able to sell 40 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh through Indian transmission lines.
He said that India is Nepal’s largest trading partner, a major contributor to foreign direct investment, and a transit country for international trade and connectivity. He said, “India’s support in education, health, infrastructure development, institution building and industrialization of Nepal has further strengthened this relationship. Religious pilgrimages, cultural festivals have been bringing our relations closer for generations. In recent years, the scope of bilateral economic cooperation has expanded and significant progress has been made in this area.”
Minister Dr. Rana expressed concern over the imbalance in trade between the two countries. Noting that Nepal’s trade deficit with India has increased significantly as a proportion of its gross domestic product, he called for the conference to find ways to diversify and expand trade to reduce such imbalance.
He also said that it is very necessary to remove the barriers in Nepal-India trade. He pointed out that non-trade barriers and structural problems in border trade have hindered the economic relations of both countries. Dr. Charan Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Egro, said that this is the first time that such a conference has been organized and that priority should be given to collaboration, learning and teaching practices with neighboring countries. He informed that this conference can play an important role in promoting collaboration in the field of educational research.
Kathmandu University Registrar Dr. Achyut Wagle said that the conference was organized to identify the possibilities of bilateral and regional cooperation between Nepal and India. He described the conference as an example of ‘Track to Diplomacy’ and expressed the view that using studies and data from the academic sector can contribute to policy-level cooperation.
Pointing out the imbalance in foreign trade between Nepal and India, he presented the fact that India’s remittances from Nepal are 40 percent higher than Nepal’s remittances from India. Registrar Wagle pointed out the need for cooperation between the two countries in solving the common problems of climate change.
Stating that the melting of mountains due to the effects of climate change is not only a problem of Nepal but also of India and the entire world, he mentioned that cooperation is indispensable for the concept of green and sustainable development. Similarly, he said that the problem of youth migration should be taken seriously. He also suggested that the plan to operate a payment gateway between Nepal and India should be prioritized.
Speaking at the conference, Dr. Ashok Bisandas, Director of IGRO, said that this conference is important not only for academic achievements but also for promoting regional unity and cooperation. According to him, this conference will play an important role in providing suggestions on policy-level cooperation for sustainable and inclusive development.
He expressed the hope of drawing important conclusions on the possibilities of cooperation in areas such as bilateral investment, infrastructure construction, trade, tourism, etc. He also highlighted the positive aspects that Nepal can learn from India’s economic liberalization.
