Jumla set to host investment promotion summit

Kathmandu, August 26

At a time when the local level governments are being criticised for collecting taxes beyond their jurisdiction and overlooking the capacity of taxpayers, Chandannath Municipality in Jumla district has come to the forefront by announcing an ‘investment promotion summit’ in Jumla to attract investment to unleash the unexplored opportunities of business and investment in the remote far-west region of the country.

Organising a press meet in Kathmandu today, Kantika Sejuwal, mayor of Chandannath Municipality, said that she was in the Capital to invite the federal ministers, high-ranking government officials, industrialists, leaders of the business chambers, diplomats and development partners in Nepal, among others to participate in the investment promotion summit going to be held at Karnali Technical School, in Chandannath Municipality of Jumla, on September 14.

Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada has given consent to be the chief guest of the event, according to Sejuwal.

As per Sejuwal, Finance Minister Khatiwada will deliver the keynote speech in the summit, which will be followed by a thematic paper presentation on investment potential in agriculture, tourism and non-timber forest products.

Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Professor Pushpa Raj Kandel and member Min Bahadur Shahi, leaders of the various business chambers and industries, bankers, diplomats and representative of the development partners have also given consent to participate in the investment promotion summit. Ministers and lawmakers from Karnali province have also been invited to address the investment summit.

Mayor Sejuwal expressed commitment to provide tax incentive as per the jurisdiction of the municipality and also provide adequate protection for the investment. Moreover, the Municipality Development Masterplan has also envisioned attracting investment and providing adequate protection to them.

Chandannath Municipality has listed out some priority projects that have the potential to attract investment namely, apple orchards, cold storage facilities, herbs and herbal processing units, poultry farming, hotel and hospitality business, and technical education institute, among others.

She further said that Jumla has huge potential for high-value organic agro products, herbs and other non-timber forest products that have a niche market advantage for export. “Jumla district has a lot of unexplored potential and investors have not been attracted so far due to its geological remoteness, however, there are plans to open the checkpost from Yari of Humla district to connect this region with China,” said Sejuwal.

“We are looking forward to investors carrying out baseline surveys to invest in Jumla during the investment summit.”