Speaking at the 26th conference of Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) on Thursday Pando Lakhiyalov, president and CEO of Aerovista Group, a aviation firm based in the United Arab Emirates, said, “Having a local partner with confidence and caliber is always crucial for an international investor.” [break]
The three-day event, which is being attended by around 300 business leaders from 21 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, has been organized ahead of Nepal´s planned investment year campaign to lure foreign investment in the country.
“We are optimistic and outward looking and very much ready to take advantage of the global economic platform by strengthening our engagements with our regional partners,” Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said.
In a bid to win the confidence of the potential investors, Bhattarai informed the meeting about the government´s efforts in formulating favorable policies and strategies to create favorable investment climate in the country.
“We have recently taken several measures to make Nepal a promising investment destination for private investors,” said Bhattarai.
On the occasion, presentations on the opportunities to invest in eight key sectors of economy -- hydropower, tourism, infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, mining and information and technology -- were made on behalf of the Nepal government before the forum of regional investors.
Highlighting the business opportunities in Nepal, Rameshwar Prasad Khanal, economic advisor to the prime minister, assured that the government was ready to make necessary arrangements to attract foreign investment in the country.
" We need international investment to expand our economy and achieve a double digit growth in the year to come," said Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota.
Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada highlighting the importance of the region in the global economy said it is high time for Nepal to take benefits from the prosperous countries in the region.
The three-day forum that kicked off in Kathmandu on Wednesday mostly featured discussions on business potentialities that could be exploited in the days to come.
“This region is surely going to be a hub of the global economy. And, Nepal should be able to benefit from this emerging opportunity,” KK Modi, chairman of the Modi Enterprises.
Modi also underscored the importance of having a strong local partner in order to make an investment in Nepal.
Upendra Mahato, founding president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) said that the domestic investors as well as NRNs were interested to become local partners for international investors in Nepal. “Obviously, it is difficult to run a business without a local partner. We are ready to be local partner,” Mahato said.
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