WELCOME REMARKS BY Mr. Narayan Bajaj, President, EEC-Nepal
REMARKS BY Ms. Juna Mathema, FNCCI, YEF
ADDRESS BY Ms. Myriam Ferran, Deputy Director General, International Partnerships, European Commission
ADDRESS BY THE CHIEF GUEST, Rt. Hon. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), Prime Minister of Nepal
Moderator: H.E. Veronique Lorenzo, Ambassador of the EU to Nepal
The first session will focus on the sectors in which Nepal has strong investment potential and has undertaken the appropriate reforms and preparatory work to facilitate investments. These include renewable energy; high-end tourism; information technology; and some niches in the agriculture sector.
Experience sharing from the investors, compared to other Asian countries. What has changed and what needs to be improved
In this plenary session, selected EU investors operating both in Nepal and in other countries in the region will provide a comparative analysis of their experiences in doing business in Nepal/Asia. Investors will be encouraged to highlight what has improved in Nepal compared to other Asian countries and what still needs to be improved upon. The session will also explore the opportunities for business expansion in Nepal for EU companies based in other neighboring countries in the region. This will also include the experience sharing of - private equity funds; the banking and financial sector in investing in Nepal; and other countries in the region. This diverse range of insights will provide a well-rounded view for participants interested in exploring and expanding their business presence in Nepal.
This thematic panel will provide an overview of Nepal’s energy sector and discuss about growing energy demand within the country and in the region and explore investment opportunities in the sector. The session will also cover legal, policy and institutional gaps and challenges, as well as solutions to those challenges in Nepal’s energy sector.
This thematic panel will explore the issues of investment and export potential in the IT related sector, along with the sectors’ potential impacts in employment, curbing out-migration of youth, and in narrowing the balance of payment crisis of the country along with the legal, regulatory, and infrastructural issues. Nepal’s IT and related services are growing rapidly, providing jobs to thousands of highly skilled professionals and contributing significantly to exports/foreign exchange earnings and overall revenue. A recent report from IIDS indicates that the IT service export (ITes) industry in Nepal is valued at approximately USD 515 million in 2022, with over 106 IT service export companies and 14,728 IT freelancers in software development and technology and 51,781 ITeS freelancers engaged in exporting IT services through various digital platforms. Both IT companies and freelancers experienced substantial growth, with IT companies with a remarkable 80.5% increase in service exports compared to the previous year, and freelancers achieving a growth of 55.2%.
Beyond Kathmandu Valley
This session will highlight investment opportunities that exist in Nepal outside of the Kathmandu Valley. Most FDIs tend to be located in Kathmandu, however there are opportunities for investment in all the priority sectors in the other provinces. The strategic location of Sudurpaschim province to India positions it to become a major center for processing foods to be exported to India. Special nutritional foods such as Marci Rice and Chino Cagono could be developed for exports if investment is available. Similarly, in the tourism sector there are opportunities for investment in Upper Dolpa, to develop Shamanism, Bon civilisation, and ecotourism; all of which have strong demand from European customers. Other opportunities also exist to develop trekking and adventure tourism in other provinces. These types of investment opportunities and others will be discussed in detail in this session.
This plenary panel will discuss opportunities for startup and engaging youth and women in innovative businesses. In Nepal, young people (age group 16-40 years) account for 40.68 percent of the population. This clearly reflects that Nepal is experiencing a demographic dividend - more specifically a ‘population dividend’ -- a phenomenon where young people account for the largest segment of the population of a country. Moreover, each year approximately 500,000 young people are estimated to enter into the labour force of the country. Similarly, participation of women in business is very low. Engaging more women in businesses is needed for inclusive development of the country, which also helps ensure broad-based sustainable growth. This session will provide an unique opportunity for Nepal - an opportunity for young people and women to know how to educate themselves, earn a sustainable living and contribute to the country. If explored rightly, Nepal’s huge untapped trade and investment potentials could create significant employment within the country. Doing so will require a proactive role of business leaders, but also the government agencies and other stakeholders like banks and financial sectors. The government is currently drafting its startup policy. A timely adoption of the policy, and its honest implementation will have a significant impact on Nepal’s private sector growth – especially young and women entrepreneurs.
This thematic panel will explore the investment opportunities in the agriculture and food processing sector, vis-à-vis its potential for engaging youth in productive enterprises and jobs in Nepal’s remote areas. Agriculture plays a key role in the Nepali economy, providing livelihoods to masses of people residing in rural areas. Out migration from rural areas has created several challenges for both rural communities and Nepal’s overall economy in recent years. To address these issues, it is essential to leverage the potential of the agriculture sector in creating productive employment opportunities in rural areas and help Nepal retain its huge rural population in productive jobs within the country. (text needs to be reviewed- look at agriculture as a modern and green sector)
In this session, investment opportunities in Nepal’s tourism, especially high-end tourism activities will be explored, addressing legal, policy and institutional gaps and challenges, as well as possible solutions to those challenges in the sector. Like other tourism destinations, Nepal’s tourism sector was also affected by the COVID-19 during 2020-22. However, there has been a positive shift in the momentum since 2023. The GON Nepal anticipates doubling the number of tourist arrivals in 2024 (projecting an increase from 1 million in 2023 to 2 million in 2024). The surge in growth has been sparking growing interest from investors’ enthusiasm in this sector. In the meantime, Nepal’s large high-end tourism potential also needs to be explored.
# of projects will be presented during this session. The IBN to be requested to provide bankable projects that can be presented for matchmaking. In addition, the project bank of private sector organizations, such as FNCCI, CNI, and entrepreneurs to be showcased during this session.
The Pitches will be arranged per sector for ease of viewing and referencing by potential investors/financiers.
Pre-arranged One to One meetings between foreign investors and local entrepreneurs will be facilitated through the online B2B platform.
This session will bring investors from Europe to meet with potential local joint venture partners on a face-to-face basis or virtually as per a pre-arranged schedule of meetings (speed dating with 30 minutes provision per meeting).
- Sewa Lamsal, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Ambassadors/Head of Delegation of EU Member States (Gemany, EU, Finland, France, Sweden
- Damodar Bhandari, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies
