NCC urges Japanese government to consider investment in Nepal

KATHMANDU: The Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) has urged the government of Japan to consider industrial investment in Nepal.

In a meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Yutaka Kikuta by the Chamber’s delegation today, Chamber’s President Rajendra Malla urged the Japanese government to create enabling environment for Japanese investment in Nepal’s hydropower, road and tourism sector.

President Malla shared, “Nepal has recently made a number of policy reforms to provide security to foreign investment. The government of Nepal has announced in its recently unveiled budget for upcoming fiscal year that it would provide land on lease for 50 years. We are committed towards providing security to Japan’s investment in Nepal.”

He urged the Japanese envoy to Nepal to set up industries in Nepal to manufacture products that were high in demand abroad and are used domestically to help reduce trade deficit with between Nepal and Japan.

Stating that the land price and labour cost were less costly in Nepal, Malla appealed with the Japanese Ambassador to consider setting up factories in Nepal and to trade with India and China among others.

“We would like to further advance ties between Nepal and Japan through commercial activities,” he said.

It’s been 66 years since Nepal and Japan entered diplomatic relations. Japanese government has been extending its financial and technical support to Nepal through various donor agencies such as JICA and others.

Furthermore, Malla appraised Japanese envoy Yutaka that the government of Nepal had highly prioritized agriculture sector in the forthcoming budget and requested the Japanese Ambassador to take initiative to introduce Japanese technology to Nepal’s agriculture sector.

During the meeting, Japanese envoy Yutaka said that the bilateral ties between Japan and Nepal was ‘historic’ and ‘strong’ and the Japanese government wanted to bring it further closer at people-to-people level.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to continuation of collaboration with Nepal in socio-economic level. (RSS)