Nepal Association for Software and IT Services Companies (NAS-IT) has welcomed the policy decision to open a legal way for information technology companies to invest abroad.
This initiative has also been described as a 'historic success for the technology industry'. According to the statement of NAS-IT, this decision will pave the way to expand the presence of Nepali information technology companies abroad.
In the context of the demand for policy reforms for the past few years, Nepal Rastra Bank has introduced such a policy by amending the foreign investment and foreign debt management regulations for the year 2078. The new regulations published on June 4 opened the legal way for Nepal's information technology industry to invest abroad.
According to the new arrangement, under paragraph 5(a) of the regulation, companies that have been earning foreign currency from the export of information technology services continuously for the past three financial years will be allowed to use the necessary foreign currency to invest abroad. The said investment limit can be maintained up to 50 percent of the company's average foreign exchange earnings of the last three years or a maximum of one million US dollars (or equivalent foreign currency), whichever is less.
NAS-IT and technology sector has been pointing out the need for such a policy for Nepali companies to expand their presence in the international market, increase operational capacity and establish Nepal as a reliable IT hub. NAS-IT thanked the Rashtra Bank and the government and said that this decision will move Nepal towards a reliable IT destination. NAS-IT believes that this has removed a long-standing obstacle for Nepali technology companies that want to establish a presence in the international market.
