Two years ago, Non-Resident Nepalis (NRNs) held their first global conference in Kathmandu, and they are organising a second one in the capital on October 7-9, expecting 500 participants from some 30 countries. With a view to attracting NRN investment, the government has promulgated an ordinance, including a provision for a ten-year visa facility for NRN investors. Indeed, since their first confernece, there has been a trickle of NRN investment in individual capacity in hydropower sector, telecom and socio-economic projects. The government has promised to create a congenial climate for NRN investment.

However, NRNs still feel that the government needs to do a good deal more to remove the obstacles to the inflow of NRN investment which they want to boost in an organised manner. Another key source of NRN resentment is the ordinance concerned in which they want certain changes. On his part, Finance Minister Madhukar Shumsher Rana pledged on Sunday to resolve NRNs’ problems through discussions, saying that the government would implement the one-window system effectively and take other measures, including amendments to the ordinance concerned. Indeed, the second conference is set to focus on issues such as these.

Some of the NRNs have already invested in Nepal in one way or other, but they want to make the whole process legal and transparent and more profitable. At a time when Nepal is opening up its portals to foreign direct investment (FDI) in a number of sectors, the case for making things easier for NRNs becomes all the more stronger. This calls for streamlining legal provisions and cutting bureaucratic red tape, particularly through the one-window policy, besides identifying sectors for potential investment. On the other hand, though nearly 1.5 million Nepalis are said to be living abroad, beyond the SAARC region, the vast majority of them have low savings. And it is doubtful whether the rest, with the possible exception of a couple of them, are in a position to invest in Nepal in a big way. The unenviable security environment makes matters worse. Their love of Nepal apart, it is the prospect of porfit that lures NRNs like any other investor. This is naturally reflected in their lack of interest in the government’s ‘peace bonds.’