KATHMANDU, Sept 24: Foreign direct investments (FDI) worth around Rs 5.50 billion has been pledged in tourism businesses of Nepal in the first two months of the current fiscal year. This positive development comes even as this sector is hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic effect.
According to the Department of Industry, the FDI commitment in the tourism sector that Nepal received during mid-July and mid-September is almost similar to that of the review period last year.
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Of the total amount pledged in tourism, Chinese investors looked for pouring Rs 5.35 billion, largest of all. They have proposed to open 30 hotels and restaurants and to provide jobs to 618 people.
China has been topping in FDI pledges to Nepal, particularly in the tourism businesses, for the last few years. With an increasing number of Chinese tourists visiting Nepal in the recent year, the investors from northern neighbors have been showing interest in opening hotels and restaurants mainly in Kathmandu Valley, Chitwan and Pokhara.
The department’s record shows that a total of Rs 32.80 billion foreign investment has been pledged in the tourism sector in the past five years. Of the total, Chinese investors have expressed commitment for Rs 23.23 billion, which is around 71 percent of the total proposed amount.
In 2019/20, the country received a foreign investment commitment totaling Rs25.79 billion, out of which Chinese investors proposed to invest Rs 11.66 billion in tourism alone.
