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The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 14. 44 points to close at 1,938.62 points on Wednesday. Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 3. 03 points to close at 365. 29 points. A total of 3,716,684 unit shares of 253 companies were traded for Rs 1. 20 billion. Meanwhile, Unique Nepal Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited and Shuvam Power Limited were the top gainers today with their price surging by 9. 99 percent. Likewise, Kisan Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 5. 90 percent. At the end of the day, the total market capitalization stood at Rs 2. 80 trillion.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the government is seriously working on further simplifying the procedures, fully operationalizing the one-stop service, and developing necessary rules for the automatic approval of foreign direct investments (FDIs) applications. Addressing the Nepal China Business Forum 2023 organized by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and China Council for the promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Dahal said that the government stands ready to offer all legitimate assistance to Chinese companies interested in investing in Nepal. "Nepal counts on Chinese investment in filling its financial and technological gaps in priority areas," he said. Prime Minister Dahal also called for reducing the growing trade deficit with China while presenting Nepal as an attractive investment destination for Chinese enterprises. Dahal urged China to do more in allowing duty-free market access to Nepali goods and ensure investments promised by the Chinese investors turn into reality. “Nepal’s growing trade deficit with China and the apparent gaps in commitment and actual FDI from China are some of the issues that a forum like this should try to address with a practical solution,” said Dahal. Nepal imported goods worth Rs 265bn from China during the fiscal year 2021/22 whereas Nepal’s exports to China stood at a meager Rs 810m, according to Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TPEC). “We have also requested the Chinese side to help enhance productive capacity in a range of products of our comparative advantage and enlist vegetables, meat products, tea, and herbal products in the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC),” said Dahal. He said that Nepal has also requested the Chinese side to include some 512 tradable Nepali products in the list of duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) facilities on a preferential basis. “These measures will be important to reduce Nepal’s trade deficit with China,” he added. Though China has accorded the DFQF facility for over 8,000 Nepali goods to enter China, Nepal has hardly been able to export those goods. Nepali exporters have long been complaining about non-tariff hurdles from the Chinese authorities. In the last three years, China didn’t open its border for the exports of Nepali goods citing the risk of Covid-19 as the northern neighbor adopted a strict zero Covid policy. Beijing allowed Nepal's exports to pass into China through the Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border only in late December 2022 after keeping it shut to two-way traffic for three years. Chinese goods have been entering Nepal intermittently through Kerung, one of the two international border points on the Nepal-China border, but it was no go in the other direction. As a result, Nepal’s exports to China suffered badly. Nepal’s private sector highlighted the massive trade deficit of Nepal with China during the event. “The growing trade deficit is becoming a challenge for Nepal. It is unlikely that the trade balance between the two countries will be achieved immediately. However, it can be reduced,” said Vishnu Kumar Agarwal, president of CNI. “We are also looking for Chinese investment for that (reducing trade deficit).” The Chinese side also appeared to acknowledge this fact. Zhang Shaogang, vice chairperson of CCPIT said despite having many attractive products in Nepal, their visibility is yet to be enhanced among Chinese consumers. “As China’s largest trade and investment promotion agency, CCPIT will continue to host more trade and investment promotion events, in order to boost imports of Nepal’s premium products, including artworks, wool products, garments, agricultural products, tea, and Chinese herbs,” he said. Despite being a neighbor next door, China does not even fall into the top 10 export destinations of Nepal. In the last fiscal year, China was the 12 largest export destination for Nepal, according to TEPC. During the event, the Nepali side called for the realization of Chinese investment commitments into actual investment. Though China has been topping the list in terms of FDI commitments in the last seven fiscal years, there have been gaps in commitment and actual investment. Prime Minister Dahal highlighted the apparent gaps in commitment and actual investment of FDI from China. He also highlighted the number of measures the government was adopting to attract foreign investment in Nepal while also assuring policy stability. Dahal claimed that Nepal has made major reforms in its investment regime that encourage, promote and protect FDIs. “Our tax slabs are one of the lowest and our position is fairly good in ease of doing business. Investment in any sector is profitable in our country given the nascent stage of our industrial development,” he added. Zhang said that Chinese enterprises could mainly invest in the areas of infrastructure. “Nepal has a huge demand for infrastructure development and investment in a wide range of areas like power stations, communications, and road construction,” he said, adding, “China has a sound industrial system and advantages in capital and technology.”

The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) and Suryatara Cement Udhyog are preparing to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the proposed project development of a cement industry in Surkhet district. Both sides are readying to sign the deal a year after the approval of the investment proposal for the project. Suryatara has planned to establish a cement industry in Surkhet of Karnali province. The company on March 31, 2022) received approval for investing Rs 14.27bn from IBN. According to an IBN official, the draft of the MoU has been prepared and will be finalized soon before the deal is signed. According to Ramesh Adhikari, Assistant Spokesperson of IBN, the company did not contact the board for a long time after getting the investment approval. "Now as the company has come in contact, the process of MoU has moved ahead," he said. After the MoU, IBN and Suryatara will have to sign the project implementation agreement. For this purpose, the company has to complete the financial closure. As per the rules, the company is required to sign the project implementation agreement with the board within two years of the approval of the investment. Suryatara received approval for investment from IBN to operate a cement plant in Surkhet as a domestic investment. According to the company, Nepali banks have already committed to invest in the project and loans will be sought at the ratio of 80 percent of the total investment. According to the company, the financial closure of the project will be done after completing the necessary procedures. If this project is successful, it will become the first cement industry in the Karnali province. The production capacity of the proposed cement plant has been estimated at 3,000 tons (60,000 sacks) daily. The company has planned to supply the cement to districts in Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces. Suryatara has already purchased nearly 40 bighas of land to set up the cement plant. Similarly, it has been confirmed that limestone will be brought to Barahtal of Surkhet for the processing of the raw material. Mukund Timilsina, Ajay Sumargi and other businesspersons will invest in the proposed cement industry. Suryatara Cement aims to bring the plant into operation within two years of starting the construction of infrastructure. Timilsina was earlier the chairman of Samrat Cement in Dang. However, he sold his shares to Binod Chaudhary after a dispute. There is road access to the location where the cement plant will be set up. However, electricity lines are yet to be connected to the area. It has been estimated that about 20MW of electricity will be required to run the plant, which will require constructing a 26 km-long, 132 KV transmission line from Lamki Chuha in Kailali. The company says that the necessary work is currently being carried out in collaboration with the Nepal Electricity Authority.

After two years and two months since the commencement of the development of the Nagdhunga Tunnel, half of the construction of Nepal's first modern tunnel road project has been completed. The progress report provided by the Japanese contractor Hazma Ando Corporation for the month of February shows the physical progress of the project so far has reached 50.15 percent. The company started the construction work of the tunnel in December 2020. According to the report, the financing progress of the project has reached 70.50 percent. The Nagdhunga Tunnel road project is being built with a subsidized loan of Rs 16.63bn from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and an investment of Rs 5.85bn from the Nepal government. The government and Hazma Ando signed the contract agreement for the development of the project in September 2019. The Japanese contractor started the construction work 14 months later in December 2020. After the completion of the highway tunnel, it will connect Nagdhunga in Kathmandu to Sisnekhola in Dhading. As part of this project, two parallel tunnels are being constructed in Nagdhunga to facilitate vehicles entering the capital from the western parts of the country. The physical progress of the tunnel under the project has reached 79.20 percent. The length of the main tunnel in the project is 2,688 meters. So far, 1,869 meters of tunnels have been constructed. 893 meters from east (Kathmandu) and 976 meters from west (Nagdhunga) tunnels have been excavated. Similarly, the total length of the auxiliary (evacuation) tunnel is 2,557 meters. So far, 2,127 meters of tunnels have been dug. 1,147 meters from the east and 980 meters from the west tunnel have been dug. The project has targeted to break through the tunnel within the coming June. As for the working audit, 100 percent i.e. 126 meters has been completed, while 74 meters of cross-passage has been constructed which has a total length of 128 meters. Remaining work to be completed in a year The Nagdhunga Tunnel road project is obliged to complete the remaining half of the project in a year. The initial deadline for the project was set for April 2023 which was extended by 86 days due to the Covid-19 pandemic obstructions. After the time was added, the project should have been completed by July 2023. However, as it appeared that the project will not be completed within the period, the deadline has recently been extended by nine months as per the company's demand. Madhav Adhikari, Information Officer of the project said that now the company will complete the rest of the work by April 25, 2024. However, the latest progress report has shown that it will be a challenge to complete the rest of the project within the new deadline. The construction of 11 out of 12 structures to be built under the project has been completed. According to the details provided by the project office, the construction of three underpasses and four box culverts (structures where water flows under vehicles) has been completed. Also, the construction of one overpass and three bridges has been completed and only the flyover is under construction. Besides, two foundations and two auxiliary structures which will be under the flyover have been prepared. Besides, the design of the flyover is also in the final stage and the construction will start after the design is ready. The total cost of the Nagdhunga Tunnel road project has been estimated at Rs 22.14bn. Contractor seeks compensation for the damages due to closure of crushers Hazma Ando, the contractor of the project, is seeking compensation from the government for the losses it incurred when the project work halted after the government shut down the illegal crushers. The work related to the digging of the tunnel stopped for almost two weeks in January. The ballast needed for the project comes from the stones that come out of the tunnel. However, sand is brought from outside. There was a shortage of sand and the digging of tunnels was halted when the government took action against illegal crushers. It has been known that Hazma Ando has already sent a message to the project office to ask for compensation. A senior official of the project said that the project will submit a claim for compensation soon.