Kathmandu: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, who is in Marrakesh of Morocco to participate in the World Bank (WB)’s annual meeting, has urged the Korean companies to invest in Nepal. In a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Korea, Choo Kyung-ho, Finance Minister Mahat urged the Korean companies also to mobilize their capital in investments in Nepal as it is an appropriate opportunity for them, the Ministry of Finance stated. “Not only the Indian multinational company Dabur, the American multinationals Coca-cola and Pepsi, and Indian company ITC India have been earning profits by investing in Nepal, the Malaysian telecom company has also been making profit,” Minister Mahat said. He informed his Korean counterpart that the government is making efforts to facilitate the private sector investment through the current fiscal year’s budget, adding that it plans to provide such facility to the private sector in the coming days as well. “We are eager to welcome Korean investors to Nepal,” he said.
Stating that the trade and investment climate is improving in Nepal, Finance Minister assured that the Korean investors will not have any hassles investing in Nepal. He also informed that the Government of India has already decided to buy 10,000 megawatts electricity from Nepal. He suggested that investing in the hydropower production, construction of transmission and distribution line, digital, agriculture and tourism sectors in Nepal would pay off well. The Finance Minister urged the Korean government to support Nepal in capacity development through concessional loans and grants for building the tourism infrastructures. The Korean deputy prime minister and finance minister said that Korea is ready to provide assistance for the development of infrastructure in Nepal. Stating that there was the problem of dual taxation in some Korean investments, he urged Minister Mahat to address this problem. Finance Minister Mahat said he was ready to resolve the problem related to double taxation and also expressed commitment to protect the Korean investment. Finance Minister Mahat also invited his Korean counterpart to visit Nepal. The Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister said he was eager to visit Nepal and urged Minister Mahat to set the agenda of the visit at the earliest. Minister Mahat lauded the Korean government for providing employment opportunity to 12,000 Nepalis in South Korea. He also requested the Korean Minister to take initiation for providing permission to Nepal Airlines to operate direct flights to Korea.
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