FNCCI officials leave for Europe to lure investors

A team of business leaders left for European countries, including France, Italy and Switzerland, on Sunday with the aim of bringing in investment for highly prioritized projects such as chemical fertilizer plant, international airports in different regions and food processing centre in Kathmandu, among others.
“We will have various business to business meetings with private sector representatives from those countries,” Bhawani Rana, vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said. “We will request them to invest in different projects.”
Rana, who is leading a 29-member team of business leaders on a two-week tour, said that meetings with different business groups in those countries would be solely focused on promoting the Investment Year and seeking investors for different projects.
The FNCCI, which coined the idea of celebrating the Investment Year, has started visiting different countries in order to lure foreign investors in the country. “This is a step toward promoting the Investment Year and encouraging international investors to come here with investment,” Rana told mediapersons before departing for Europe. “We will try to spread the message that the investment environment has not been disturbed even though the political situation is fragile and uncertain.”
According to Rana, the visiting team will hold meetings with officials of Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and International Chambers of Commerce (ICC), and non-resident Nepalis in Paris, brief them about the actual situation in Nepal and request them to invest in different projects ranging from tourism to infrastructure.
Additionally, the team will ask investors from France to invest in the country´s food processing centre and tourism sector. “I think investors from France will be interested to invest in the food processing centre,” Rana expressed hope.
“There are many areas in which we need foreign investment and we are working on spreading a message that the government of Nepal is ready to ensure a basic environment for investment,” she said.
The visiting team will also propose European investors to invest in the hydropower sector of the country. “We will ask investors from the private sector of the European countries to make investment in projects such as Arun III and Upper Karnali,” Rana said. “Additionally, we will also seek investment for Kathmandu-Terai fast track.”