Fiscal 2012/13 witnessed soaring commitment of foreign direct investment from different countries.

In the review year, the number of joint venture projects and investment amount increased significantly by 32.2 percent and 171.7 percent respectively.

During the review period, Department of Industry granted approval to 300 joint venture projects with the foreign direct investment commitment of Rs. 19.39 billion. In the previous year, 227 joint venture projects were approved with a total amount of Rs. 7.14 billion.

Out of 300 projects approved in the review year, 87 are tourism related, 85 service, 77 manufacturing, 42 agriculture, 4 energy, 4 mineral and 1 construction related project. In the previous year, there were 106 service related, 64 tourism, 31 manufacturing, 15 agriculture, 7 mineral and 4 energy related projects.

In the review year, both the number and total amount on investment of agriculture, manufacturing and tourism related projects have increased considerably whereas the number of service related projects has decreased even increase in investment.

Of the total 300 projects approved in the review year, the country wise analysis depicts the largest number were from China (96) followed by India (37), South Korea (24), USA (22) and 121 from other countries. The approved projects were expected to generate direct employment opportunities for 14,895 people.
In 2012/13, the Government of Nepal, Department of Foreign Employment granted final approval to 4,53,543 workers for foreign employment registering a growth of 17.9 percent compared to the previous year.

As in the past, Malaysia and the Gulf countries appeared to be the major destinations for Nepalese workers in 2012/13. Of the total workers granted final approval for foreign employment in the review year, 34.6 percent were for Malaysia, 20.0 percent for Qatar, 19.0 percent for Saudi Arab and 11.5 percent for U.A.E. In the review year, the number of workers approved for Qatar declined by 14.0 percent whereas that for Malaysia significantly increased by 59.4 percent.

© Corporate News Syndicate