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While Nepal received the highest foreign direct investment (FDI) pledge of the year in Falgun, the overall FDI commitment is still down by 18.20 percent in FY 2022/23. The Department of Industry (DoI) has registered around 200 industries/firms that committed to investing Rs 28.129 billion in the nine months of the current fiscal year. FDI commitments worth Rs 34.388 billion were registered in the same period of FY 2021/22. According to the department, a total of 192 companies and firms have been registered in the first nine months of this fiscal. The department has also approved 53 technology transfer agreements. The majority of industries approved by the department are small-scale industries. The DoI approved 166 small-scale industries, 22 medium-level, and four large-scale industries in the current fiscal year. The service sector topped the chart in terms of FDI pledges. According to DoI, 45 percent of the registered industries are in the service sector category. The tourism sector is the second most preferred sector with 36 percent of industries registered in this category. Government officials point out the global economic downturn and the tightening of visa rules for foreign investors by the Nepal government for the decline in FDI pledges. "The FDI flow has decreased not only in Nepal but globally," said a DoI official. Nepal falls among the countries that receive the lowest FDI in the world. Despite many talks on attracting FDI in the country, the country has failed to attract foreign investors as expected. In November last year, the government lowered the minimum threshold for FDI to Rs 20 million from Rs 50 million to attract even the small foreign investors in the country. While the decision is expected to encourage FDI in the information and communication sector which does not need big investments in physical infrastructure, not many foreign investors have pledged to invest in this sector so far. FDI inflow declined this fiscal mainly due to a slowdown in investment commitment from China. The investors from the northern neighbor have been committing the largest amount of FDI in the last several years to Nepal. With China facing economic problems due to renewed Covid-19 crisis, and supply chain disruptions, investment pledges from the northern neighbor have also been affected. Tightening the visa rules for foreign investors, DoI in November last year, decided to recommend business visas for foreign investors only for three months at a time. As per the new rules, the department now recommends a business visa for three months by which time the investor has to submit a certificate of company registration. After the registration certificate has been received, DoI will recommend an extension of the business visa for another three months. Within this period, investors need to submit proof of having registered at the tax office and opened a bank account. However, DoI officials claim the new provision has helped in the screening of genuine foreign investors and that the results have been seen as reduced FDI pledges. Month wise FDI commitment

The price of gold has increased by Rs 300 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association, the precious yellow metal is being traded at Rs 110, 300 per tola today. The gold was traded at Rs 110, 000 per tola on Tuesday. Meanwhile, tejabi gold is being traded at Rs 109, 750 per tola. It was traded at Rs 109, 500 per tola. Similarly, the price of silver has increased by Rs 10 and is being traded at Rs 1,445 per tola today.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 3. 07 points to close at 1,904.98 points on Tuesday. Similarly, the sensitive index increased by 0. 17 points to close at 363. 04 points. A total of 2,975,920-unit shares of 266 companies were traded for Rs 870 billion. Meanwhile, Kalinchowk Darshan Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 10. 00 percent. Likewise, Khaptad Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 05 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 77 trillion.

Smart Telecom has lost its telecom license after failing to clear the dues and renewal fees it owes to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). The embattled telco's license got revoked automatically as it failed to pay the dues within the stipulated time of Sunday. Smart Telecom has to clear Rs 28bn in dues to NTA to renew its license. With the company losing its operating permit, NTA has advanced the process of asset management of Smart Telecom. A board meeting of the telecommunications sector regulator on Monday decided on the takeover of the company by the government on the basis of Property Management Regulations, 2079 BS. The government on the second week of December last year issued the Regulations for managing the property of telecommunications services providers who do not have valid licenses. The NTA board meeting decided to instruct Smart Telecom to hand over its telecommunication infrastructure, systems and network in accordance with Rule 9 of Sub-rule 1 of the Regulations. The company is required to pay Rs 23bn for license renewal and Rs 5bn as dues. According to NTA Co-spokesperson Achyutananda Mishra, the license of Smart Telecom was automatically revoked following non-payment of renewal fees and dues. After the cancellation of the license, the NTA has written a letter to Smart Telecom to hand over the property within 15 days. According to Mishra, a committee led by NTA board member Gokarna Sitaula will oversee the takeover of Smart Telecom. In the first phase, the authority has planned to proceed with the property evaluation of the company. Smart Telecom received the basic telephone services operating license on April 15, 2013, and had to renew the license by paying dues and renewal fees before the permit term expires. However, the company had defaulted in clearing the dues in the past and had sought an extension from the government several times. The then KP Sharma Oli-led government had allowed the company to clear the dues in five installments. Even then, Smart Telecom was not able to clear the outstanding amount. The Singapore-based Lal Sahu Distribution Pte. Ltd. has a majority stake of 70 percent in Smart Telecom. By using political influence, the company in the past had been successful in getting extensions to pay dues as well as securing its license even when the regulator revoked it. This time also, the promoters of the company did intense political lobbying to secure the license, but to no avail. On July 29, 2019, NTA revoked the license of Smart Telecom. However, the company succeeded in rolling back the authority's decision after it filed a review application at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology within five months. Smart Telecom moves court While the NTA has set a deadline of 15 days for the transfer of assets, Smart Telecom has gone to court to safeguard its license. The company had filed a case at the Patan High Court demanding to reserve the license. On behalf of Smart Telecom, Ramnath Bantha Tharu filed a case in the Patan High Court on Thursday making the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, NTA, and its chairman the defendants. However, the Patan High Court has issued only a show cause notice in the case filed by Smart Telecom not the interim order. A bench of Justice Dipendra Bahadur Bam's bench issued a show cause order on Monday and called for a discussion on the interim order. Only after the discussion, the court will decide whether or not to issue an interim order. The show cause order of the court will not stop NTA to proceed with work related to the takeover of Smart Telecom.