FNCCI urges French businesses to invest in Nepal

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has urged the French business community to invest in Nepal. During a virtual meeting of the Nepal-France Business Forum, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha mentioned that Nepal was ready to welcome foreign investment and urged French investors to invest in Nepal and reap the benefits that the country has to provide.

Golchha added that Nepal was already on the path towards development and prosperity and apprised the French business community of the opportunities that the country has to offer on infrastructure development, tourism, digitalization of the economy, and agricultural products processing industry.

He also informed the forum of the National Economic Transformation (NET), 2030, a concept paper that has been prepared by FNCCI for the economic development of Nepal. Golchha stated that the concept paper has clearly mentioned the sectors that have the potential for investment. He added the NET is a plan to increase the country’s economy to $1 billion dollars by 2030 and also provide employment opportunities to an additional 23 lakh Nepalis. The concept paper also has the vision to halve the country’s trade deficit by 2030, he mentioned.

Till date, Nepal has received investment commitment worth Rs one billion from French investors for 107 different projects. According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, Nepal had a trade deficit of nearly Rs 8.5 billion with France in the last fiscal year.

The virtual meeting of Nepal-France Business Forum, which was organised by FNCCI and MEDEF International of France, was supported by the French Embassy in Kathmandu and the Nepali Embassy in Paris. A total of 50 business people of Nepal and France participated in the meeting.

During the meeting both Francois-Xavier Leger, Ambassador of France to Nepal, and Dipak Adhikari, Ambassador of Nepal to France, urged French investors to look at the investment potential of Nepal and reap the benefits of the opportunities present in Nepal.