January 15: Foreign investors will now onward have to invest 5 to 25 percent of their total investment within a year of getting approval from the government to invest in Nepal.

The government made such arrangement by introducing the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer  (FITTA) Regulation 2077.

The new provision has come into effect from last Monday (January 11) following the endorsement of the act two years.

As per the new arrangement, foreign investors who have been granted permission to invest more than Rs 1 billion in Nepal need to invest at least 5 percent of the total investment within the first year. Similarly, investors who have pledged to  invest more than Rs 250 million need to invest at least 10 percent within a year after getting approval from the government.

Likewise, investors who have been approved to invest up to Rs 250 million have to invest at least 25 percent of the total investment within a year. 

Although the government has not included the threshold for foreign investment in the Act itself, it has been adding the threshold time and again by amending the law and publishing it in the Nepal Gazette.

As per the latest amendment, the threshold for foreign investment in Nepal is minimum Rs 50 million, informed Narayan Prasad Regmi, spokesperson at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.