Nepal is keen to achieve close economic relations with India, particularly with South Indian States to attract investment and promote joint ventures in tourism, information and communication technology, and hydro power, which would boost local employment opportunities.

Delivering the Chief Guest Address at the Session on Business Opportunities in Nepal, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Dr Aryal, Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Nepal said that his country enjoys a stable policy environment for economic development. The Government is working on to evolve a new constitutional framework and announce exclusive industry policies for sectors like hydro power in the near future.

Talking about business opportunities in Tourism, Mr Kedar Bahadur Adhikari, Minister (Economic), Embassy of Nepal, New Delhi, said that tourism is the most promising industry for joint ventures between India and south India. “By the end of this year we are expecting to attract 1 million tourists, and the number is expected to cross 2 millions by 2020,” he said.

He said that the tourism sector, which contributes about 2.4% to the GDP, is growing at 4.5%. In 2009, and 2010, India’s share in the country’s tourism revenue has been 18.3% and 19.3% respectively. Nepal has 103 star hotels and 686 standard non-star hotels. It has a road network of 20,138 kms, 44 airports, out of which 12 are all-wealther. Currently, there are six airlines that provide connectivity from six Indian metro cities, transporting 30,000 passengers every week.