Nepal Infrastructure Summit from today
KATHMANDU, Nov 11:
With the objective of increasing investment in country´s infrastructure sector, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) is organizing Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2014 in Kathmandu from Tuesday.
According to the organizers, 550 delegates, including 30 foreigners, are participating in the summit.
Youth Community for Nepalese Contractors (YCNC), two line ministries and Investment Board Nepal are the co-organizer of the event which is being organized with partnership with six donor agencies.
“Most of the foreign delegates are aspiring investors who are attending the summit to explore the scopes of investment in Nepal. National delegates, however, will discuss on infrastructure problems,” Hari Bhakta Sharma, senior vice president of CNI, said.
He said the participants include policy makers, government officials, architects and engineers, contractors, diplomats, representatives of real state developing companies, banks and financial institutions, educational and research institutions, among other institutions, from Nepal, India, China and Japan, among other countries.
Sharma said different sessions will be held on thematic issues related to infrastructure during two-day summit. The summit will feature sessions on ´Coordination of Urban Investment Decisions´, ´Sustainable Infrastructure Development for Socio-Economic Growth´, ´Private Sector Investment in Air Transport Infrastructure´, ´Green Infrastructure for Biodiversity Conservation´ and ´Infrastructure Financing Mechanisms´.
Prominent speakers like Swarnim Wagle, Binod Chaudhary, Radhesh Pant, Govind Raj Pokharel, Upendra Mahato, Shankar Sharma, Yogendra Shakya, SD Muni, Rakesh Sood, Sashin Joshi, Maha Prasad Adhikari, among others, are scheduled to address the sessions.
Similarly, Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways of the Government of India, is scheduled to give a key-note speech at the opening plenary of the summit on Tuesday. According to organizer, Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat is also addressing the summit.
Sharma said CNI will organize the summit every year now onwards.
“The summit aims to specifically identify key constraints such as policy hurdles, lack of financing instruments, difficulties related to land acquisition issues, and seek undeterred commitments from all stakeholders to address those constraints,” said Sharma. “We expect the summit to be a step forward to help address the funding gap between Nepal´s demand for infrastructural services and the supply of it by building the confidence of local investors while attracting foreign investors,” he added.
According to data, private sector investment in infrastructure in Nepal stood at 0.66 percent of GDP during 2007-12.
Source: Republica
