Preparation for the investment conference: eight laws are being amended by ordinance, investors from 36 countries are coming

According to the investment board, more than 462 investors from 36 countries will participate in the

conference. The board is preparing to showcase more than 148 projects worth 9 billion rupees including private sector, state and local level.

Nepal is going to hold its third investment conference on May 16 and 17. Targeting the conference, the government is going to bring an ordinance to 'amend some Nepal Acts related to investment facilitation'. Various provisions of 8 Acts are going to be amended through the Ordinance. After the government announced the investment conference and started preparations, even though one session of the federal parliament was over, neither the government moved forward to make a law from there, nor did the parliament pressurize to make a law targeting the investment conference. As a result, the government has accelerated preparations to bring the ordinance by ending the session of the federal parliament on May 2.

The Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday was preparing to recommend President Ramchandra Paudel to issue the ordinance. But since the draft of the ordinance is yet to be finalized, it is said that preparations are being made to bring the ordinance to Sheetal Niwas in the next meeting. From the cabinet meeting held on November 23, 2018, it was said that an investment conference would be held on May 9 and 10. Last December, it was decided to postpone the date of the investment conference by one week and organize it on 16 and 17 May 2018.

It is clear that the government is going to bring an ordinance as it is desirable to amend some Nepal Acts to promote investment promotion. Through this Ordinance, Land Act, 021, Land Acquisition Act, 034, Electronic Business Act, 063, Special Economic Zone Act, 073, Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, 075, Public Private Partnership and Investment Act, 075, Forest Act, 076 And the Industrial Business Act, 076 is going to be amended.

Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Padam Giri said that the law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister is going to amend the law through an ordinance to make it easier to bring investment into the country. He said that the preparation of the ordinance has been brought to the final stage by the government through discussions and consultations with various ministries and agencies as well as the private sector. We have discussed with the relevant ministries to make the necessary laws. Since there is no parliament session, Minister Giri said, 'We are going to bring an ordinance to amend the law by including suggestions from entrepreneurs.'

In the Act on Land, 021, a provision has been added on what to do if an industry, establishment, company or organization needs to take more land than the limit. A provision has been added that an application can be submitted to the Government of Nepal through the Ministry for approval within one year of opening due to the justification of the need for more land than the limit. If the public institution, industry, establishment, company, project, educational institution or any other institution that owns more land than the maximum limit does not reduce the employment and production and can continue to operate, the land within the limits specified in the law to pay off the debt and liability is subject to the conditions set by the Ministry with the approval of the Ministry. A legal arrangement has been made to not hinder sales and distribution for the time being.

The government has added a provision to recommend foreign exchange payments in the Electronic Transactions Act, 063. If any software, hardware or computer or information technology-related materials or services used in computer networks or computer systems are imported from abroad, and the relevant investor requests foreign currency facilities to bring such materials or services into Nepal, the information technology department shall, in accordance with the prevailing laws, require payment in foreign currency. It is said in the arrangement that Nepal Rastra Bank should be recommended for currency exchange.

In this Act, if it is necessary for a person, firm, industry or company based on information technology established in Nepal to open a branch office or unit abroad for the purpose of exporting the software or services related to information technology related to the subject of export and bringing the earned money into the country, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Arrangements have been made to allow the opening of such a branch office or unit. There is a provision that the National Bank should provide adequate facilities to open such a branch or unit.

By amending the Special Economic Zone Act, 073, the Ordinance has added a provision that industries can be relocated to Special Economic Zones and operated. For that purpose, a provision has been proposed that the investor of the industry which has been registered in accordance with the existing laws or has been operating with a permit at the time of commencement of this section can transfer the machines, tools or equipment to the special economic zone and operate the industry.

Keeping a new provision in the Forest Act, 070, 'If excavation is required to find out the presence of minerals within the national forest, after conducting an environmental study according to the prevailing law, if such excavation does not have a significant adverse effect on the environment, then the government of Nepal should approve the use of the forest area for the extraction of such minerals. It is arranged that it will be possible.

By amending the Industrial Business Act, 076, the government has made arrangements for the promotion of start-up enterprises or businesses. It has been arranged that three levels of government can establish and operate enterprise development centers. The startup enterprise or business registration body is going to make a legal provision to prepare a separate record of the related details.

By amending the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, 075, the government has granted patents, designs, trademarks, goodwill, technical specifications, between industries and foreign investors or between industries or companies established and operating in Nepal and industries, firms or companies located abroad. It is mentioned that the use of technical knowledge (franchise), formula (formula), process, usage license (user license) or provision of technical information (know how sharing), management and technical services, reverse engineering will be transferred.

"Despite what is written in the current law, an industry or company established and operating in Nepal can transfer technology to an industry, firm or company located abroad," the ordinance proposes, "Foreign currency received for technology transfer in Nepal with the permission of Nepal Rastra Bank." Must enter. An industry, firm or company can open its branch office or unit in the respective country with the permission of the department to transfer technology. The ordinance that the government is going to bring will be implemented as a law after it is issued by the president. There is a constitutional provision that the ordinance must be passed by both houses within 60 days of the beginning of the session of the Federal Parliament.

According to the investment board, heads of various delegations, officials of the Chamber of Commerce, officials of international financial institutions will participate in the investment conference. 1355 people from different countries have been invited to participate in the investment conference, the spokesperson of the board Pradyumna Prasad Upadhyay informed that it has been confirmed that the number of investors and officials will come. 161 are the largest number of indigenous businessmen participating in the

conference. It has been decided that 64 investors and representatives from China and 57 from India will come. 60 people from various organizations including the UN will participate. It has been decided that 12 people from Germany, 11 people from UK, 10 people from America and 10 people from Bangladesh will participate. 8 will come from UAE, 8 from Japan, 7 from Korea, 6 each from Pakistan and Australia. 4/4 will come from Singapore and Malaysia. Russia, Finland, Colombia and Canada will participate at the rate of 3/3 people. 2/2 representatives will come from Qatar, European Union (EU), Belgium, Bahrain, Austria. 1/1 representative is scheduled to come from Vietnam, Vanuatu, Turkey, Thailand, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Morocco, Mauritius, Cyprus. According to the

board, there are 20 project letter of intent, marketing sounding 7, identification stage 11, financial management 18, presentation 27, investment search 14, private sector selected 31 projects. In the first 'Investment Conference-2017', domestic and foreign investors have submitted letters of intent worth 14 trillion 46 billion 64 billion rupees, but so far only 3 trillion 354 million rupees have been received, according to the Investment Board.

In the second 'Investment Conference-2019', domestic and foreign investors committed investments worth around 17 trillion 30 billion rupees, but only 1.18 billion rupees have been received. In the second conference, 77 projects, both government and private, were 'showcased'. The Investment Board, which celebrated its 12th establishment day last August, has approved 12 trillion 50 billion investments. The board has approved investment equal to that amount in 42 projects. According to the board, there are 28 projects in the energy sector and 14 in the non-energy sector. According to the board, investments worth 5 trillion 25 billion rupees have been mobilized so far. During this period, 1 trillion 37 billion 86 million rupees of investment has been received.