Foreign investors have shown a strong preference for Nepal’s tourism sector in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023/24. Out of 131 foreign investment projects approved by the Department of Industry during this period, 93 (71%) were related to tourism. This marks a significant increase compared to the first quarter of the previous fiscal year when 47% of the approved projects were in tourism.
Of the 73 foreign investment projects approved through the automatic route, nine belonged to the tourism sector. The department approves foreign investments either through an automated electronic system or through physical submissions, with the automated process introduced during the recent investment summit in late April.
Foreign investment commitments totaled Rs 15.42 billion under the traditional approval system for the first quarter, while Rs 1.1 billion came through the automatic route.
After tourism, the service sector attracted the second-highest number of foreign investments, with 18 projects (14%). The manufacturing sector received 9%, while the information technology, mining, and agriculture sectors each attracted smaller shares of 4%, 1%, and 1%, respectively.
Overall, 204 industrial projects, including those approved through both the traditional and automatic systems, secured Rs 16.4 billion in foreign investment commitments during the first quarter. This is slightly lower than the Rs 16.6 billion committed during the same period in the previous fiscal year, when 151 projects were approved. Notably, out of 73 projects approved through the automatic route, 55 were related to the information technology sector.