Kathmandu, March 28

Though Nepal has huge investment potential, the country needs to address a few challenges regarding structural reforms and adoption of technology in a bid to lure foreign investors, as per Akhil Bansal, deputy chief executive officer of KPMG, India.

Bansal, who is here to participate in the Nepal Investment Summit 2019, which kicks off from Friday, said that though the government in recent times has initiated structural reform works, Nepal still has a long way to go in terms of easing the doing business climate, which is crucial for investments to come in and the economy to grow.

“Nepal has immense untapped potential for investors in sectors like tourism, agriculture and hydropower. Along with this, Nepal also should promote investment in the manufacturing and technology sector,” said Bansal, adding that adoption of technology will be crucial in bringing down the production cost in Nepal, which is relatively high.

According to him, adoption of technology along with low labour cost will help bring down the cost of doing business in Nepal. “Any investor first looks at the rate of return before investing and the rate of return is determined by the cost of doing business,” he added.

Similarly, political stability, easy administrative procedures, easy entry and business operation are the other aspects that investors look for, Bansal mentioned.

Citing that one of the critical reasons why investors were reluctant to come to Nepal in the past was the political instability, Bansal said that it is high time for Nepal to promote itself as a business-friendly country following the formation of a stable government and the end of political transition.

“The investment summit has been organised at the right time and provides an opportunity for the country to encourage potential investors towards investing here,” said Bansal.