Nepali, foreign companies sign 15 deals in investment summit

KATHMANDU, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Nepali and foreign companies signed a total of 15 Investment deals and Memorandum of Understandings during the Nepal Investment summit held on Friday and Saturday in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, authorities said.

The Himalayan country also received 17 applications for other 10 projects showcased during the two-day event, according to Investment Board Nepal (IBN).

The participating investors included China, India, the United States, South Korea, Britain, among others, as well as multilateral donor agencies such as International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group which signed separate Investment and cooperation agreements during the summit.

The applications received for the projects during the summit were related to transport, hydropower, hospital, airport, convention center and agriculture infrastructure, according to IBN.

"Investors interested in these projects look serious as they have already paid fees to the IBN for further negotiation," IBN's Chief Executive Officer Maha Prasad Adhikari said during the concluding ceremony.

Nepali officials said they were encouraged by the presence of the investors and active participation during the summit.

"Prime Minister and I held more than 30 sideline bilateral meetings with the investors and delegates from different agencies. These meetings were extremely useful to carry forward our Investment agenda," Nepali Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada said in his concluding remark.

According to IBN, more than 1,300 participants including over 735 foreign delegates from more than 300 companies participated in the summit, which the Nepali officials described as overwhelming.

During the event, Nepali officials vowed to deepen ongoing policy and legal reforms to make the country more Investment-friendly. The last Investment summit was held in March 2017 in Kathmandu when the Himalayan country received the pledged Investment of 13.52 billion U.S. dollars.