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KATHMANDU: Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, who is in Marrakesh, Morocco to participate in the annual meeting of the World Bank, urged the Korean companies to invest in Nepal.
Minister Mahat, held a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Korea, Choo Kyung-ho, on Thursday and urged for Korean investment in Nepal citing that foreign companies investing in Nepal have been making earnings.
Finance Minister Mahat also urged the Korean companies to mobilise their capital in investments in Nepal stating that it is an appropriate opportunity for them, according to the Ministry of Finance.
"The Indian multinational company Dabur, the American multinationals Coca-cola and Pepsi, and Indian company ITC India have been earning profits by investing in Nepal, the Malaysian telecom company has also been making profit," Minister Mahat shared on the occasion.
He informed his Korean counterpart that the government is effortful to further facilitate the private sector investment through the current fiscal year's budget, adding that it plans to provide such facility to the private sector in the coming days as well. "We are eager to welcome Korean investors to Nepal," he reiterated.
Stating that the trade and investment climate is continuously improving in Nepal, the finance minister assured that Korean investors will not have any hassles investing in Nepal. He also mentioned that the Government of India has already decided to buy 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal.
Mahat suggested that investing in the hydropower production, construction of transmission and distribution lines, digital, agriculture and tourism sectors in Nepal would pay off well.
The Finance Minister urged the Korean government to support Nepal in capacity development through concessional loans and grants for building tourism infrastructure.
The Korean minister said Korea is ready to assist in the development of infrastructure in Nepal. He stated that there was a problem of dual taxation in some Korean investments and urged Minister Mahat to address this problem. Minister Mahat said he was ready to resolve the problem related to double taxation and also expressed commitment to protect Korean investment.
Finance Minister Mahat also invited his Korean counterpart to visit Nepal. The Korean Minister said he was eager to visit Nepal and urged Minister Mahat to set the agenda for the visit at the earliest.
Minister Mahat lauded the Korean government for providing employment opportunities to 12,000 Nepalis in South Korea. He also appealed to his Korean counterpart to stake initiation for providing permission to Nepal Airlines Corporation to operate direct flights to Korea.
