Programme Schedule

Programme Schedule

Registration Closed

15 May 2024
8:30 – 09:00Registration
09:00 – 09:30Welcoming Remarks.

Welcome remarks by [popup_anything id=”17708″] President, EEC-Nepal.

Address by [popup_anything id=”17380″] Deputy Director General, International Partnerships, European Commission.

Address by The Chief Guest,Rt. Hon. Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, Prime Minister of Nepal.

Moderator: [popup_anything id=”17389″] Ambassador of the EU to Nepal.

Guests of Honour on the stage during the opening: Hon. Barsha Man Pun, Finance Minister, Hon. Damodar Bhandari, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies. Ambassadors of European Union Member States and Global Director of European Investment Bank

09:30 – 11:00Plenary Session 1: What is possible in Nepal?

The first session will focus on the sectors in which Nepal has strong investment potential, including those where the country has undertaken the appropriate reforms and preparatory work to facilitate investments. These include sectors like renewable energy, high-end tourism, information technology (IT), and some niche areas in the agriculture sector.

Moderator: [popup_anything id=”17372″] Founder and CEO, Herveda Botanicals.

Special Speaker: [popup_anything id=”18146″] CEO, Investment Board Nepal.

Panelists:

11:00 – 11:30Networking Tea/Coffee Break – Visit of booths.
11:30 – 13:00Plenary Session 2: Investing in Nepal: Experiences of Investors.

This session will focus on the journey of individuals and businesses who have invested in Nepal. The discussions will include the motivations for investing and experiences in terms of what worked well, and the areas of policy and practice that need to be enhanced for making Nepal more competitive among its neighbours for attracting FDI. Selected investors from EU countries with investments in Nepal and in the region will talk about their experiences in different sectors, including private equity funds, banking, etc.

Moderator: [popup_anything id=”18101″] Chairperson, Rajani Star.

Special speaker: Hon. Barsha Man Pun, Minister of Finance, Nepal.

Panelists:

13:00 – 14:00Lunch.
14:00 – 15:50Parallel Session 1: Opportunities in the energy sector.

This session will discuss the growing energy demand, both in-country and in the region, and investment opportunities in renewable energy generation. The panelists will talk about both the challenges and opportunities in the sector, including gaps in policy and laws that need to be addressed.

Moderator: [popup_anything id=”17799″] Director, Center for Rural Technology Nepal.

Special speaker: [popup_anything id=”17535″] ED, Nepal Electricity Authority.

Presentation: International climate cooperation between Sweden and Nepal under the Paris Agreement: realizing higher ambition through energy projects:  [popup_anything id=”17775″] and [popup_anything id=”17770″] Swedish Energy Agency.

Panelists:

Reflections from the H.E. Didier Vanderhasselt, Ambassador of Belgium

14:00 – 15:50Parallel Session 2: Opportunities in ICT.

This session will focus on issues relating to investing in information and communication technology (ICT) and the potential for exporting IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) from Nepal. Nepal’s ICT sector has largely been driven by private businesses and is a sector with tremendous potential to grow to become the country’s major service export.

Moderator: [popup_anything id=”17731″] Founder, Xuno.

Panelists:

Special speaker: [popup_anything id=”17556″] Senior Research Fellow, IIDS.

Reflections from H.E Jan Thesleff, Ambassador of Sweden

15:50 – 16:00Networking Tea/Coffee Break/ Visit to booths.
16:00 – 17:30Plenary Session 3: Beyond Kathmandu Valley.

This session will discuss investment opportunities in projects outside the Kathmandu Valley where most FDI has been concentrated. The Madhesh and Sudurpaschim provinces, for example, provide specific opportunities for investing in agriculture and high-value processing and trade of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). Other provinces offer opportunities for investing in high-value, sustainable tourism products, in addition to projects in clean energy and food-processing.

Moderator:[popup_anything id=”17709″] Executive Director, IIDS.

Panelists: 

Reflections from H.E. Dr. Thomas Prinz, Ambassador of Germany to Nepal

17:30 – 18:30Networking/visit to booths.
19:00 – 22:00Gala Dinner (by invitation only).

Hosts: Ambassador of the European Union to Nepal and President of the European Economic Chamber of Nepal.

Guests of Honour: Deputy Director General of European Commission, Global Director European Investment Bank, Ambassadors of European Union Member States


16 May 2024
08:00-09:00Registration.
09:00-10:30Plenary Session 4: Start-ups and Engaging Youth and Women in Business.

This plenary will discuss opportunities for start-ups and ventures for engaging youth and women in business. Over 40% of Nepal’s 30 million people fall under the 16-40 years age group and this is the population that can drive economic growth and prosperity. Each year about 500,000 young people enter the job market, and many of them head abroad for work. Successful start-ups and businesses that engage youth and women have the potential to retain this young and educated workforce in Nepal to capitalise on opportunities for investing ICT-enabled and other niche businesses.

Moderator: [popup_anything id=”17664″] IPP, CNIYEF.

Special Speaker: [popup_anything id=”17657″] Honorary Consul General of Portugal.

Reflection: H.E. Riina-Riikka Heikka, Ambassador of Finland to Nepal.

Panelists:

10:30-11:00Networking Tea/Coffee Break/ Visit of booths.
11:00-12:30Parallel Session 3: Investment opportunities in Agriculture/food processing and forest-based products.

This session will explore the investment opportunities in high-value, smart, technology-enabled agriculture, and food processing to take advantage of diverse vegetations that Nepal’s varied micro-climatic zones support. Agriculture engages over 50% of Nepal’s population. Sustainable farming and use of modern technology can assist the development of agricultural products for export, which can contribute towards improving the living standards of people involved in the sector.

Moderator: [popup_anything id=”17569″] Agricultural Economist/M&E Specialist, International Food Policy Research Institute.

Special Speaker: [popup_anything id=”17636″] Business Head for Nepal and Myanmar, Dabur Nepal.

Panelists: 

Reflections from H.E. Daniela Sezonov Tane, Ambassador of Romania

11:00-12:30Parallel Session 4 – Investment opportunities in Nepal’s high-end tourism.

This session will focus on investment opportunities in high-end tourism products to add to the existing product mix of products that Nepal already offers such as mountaineering, trekking, etc. Nepal’s is already one of the most sought out travel destinations in the world, which can be further enhanced by adding products to appeal to the high-end market segment, with appropriate sustainable infrastructure and facilities Nepal’s tourism has begun recovering from the COVID-19 impact and tourist arrivals is expected to reach around 2 million in 2024.

Moderator [popup_anything id=”17594″] President, Earthbound Expeditions.

Special speaker: [popup_anything id=”17623″] Past President, FNCCI.

Panelists:

Reflections from Mr. Sebastian Domżalski, Charge d’affaires, Embassy of Poland in New Delhi

12:30-14:00Networking Lunch / Visit of booths.
14:00-14:45Pitching sessions Business meetings and networking.A number of projects will be discussed at this session, where the Investment Board Nepal, will be requested to suggest bankable projects for matchmaking. In addition, the project bank of private sector organizations, and entrepreneurs will be discussed and showcased.
The exact number of such meetings will be decided at a later date, based on the interests expressed by participants.
13:30-14:00Business networking.

EU-Nepal Business Forum will facilitate pre-arranged one-on-one meetings between foreign investors and local entrepreneurs. Registrations for this can be done online.

This session will bring together European investors and potential local joint venture partners face-to-face or virtually to discuss possibilities. All meetings will be pre-arranged and could last for up to 30 minutes to allow participants to be introduced to each other for following up with business discussions.

14:00-14:45B2B Matchmaking/ signature ceremonies.
15.00-16.00Closing ceremony.

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