KATHMANDU, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government has decided to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the primary agriculture production with certain restrictions, an official of Nepal's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply said.
Nepal's Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act 2019 has barred FDI in the areas of poultry farming, fisheries, bee-keeping, fruits, vegetables, oil seeds, pulse seeds, milk industry and other sectors of primary agro-production.
"The cabinet in late December decided to open the currently banned sectors of primary agriculture production for foreign investments with condition that at least 75 percent of products produced by them should be exported," Narayan Prasad Regmi, spokesperson at the Nepal's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply told Xinhua on Friday.
"The cabinet decided to remove the ban by amending the prohibited list incorporated in the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act 2019," the spokesperson said.
Regmi said that a 75 percent export requirement was incorporated so that Nepali producers of agriculture products would not be hurt by the inflow of foreign investment in the domestic market.
"The move is expected to help increase investment in the agriculture sector, boost production and enable the country to export agricultural goods," Regmi said.
Nepal is currently a net importer of agriculture products. In the last fiscal year 2019-20, the Himalayan country imported agricultural products worth 2.13 billion U.S. dollars while Nepal's export of all goods stood at just 834 million dollars, according to Nepal's Department of Customs. Enditem
