Parliament briefed about government's achievements in 100 days
The government has informed the House of Representatives' meeting today about its 100-day achievements under Prime Minister Balendran Shah's leadership.
Government spokesperson and Minister for Education and Sports, Sasmit Pokharel, informed the meeting about the government's 100-day progress.
Spokesperson Pokharel informed the general public about the government's 100-day achievements through a press conference on July 4.
UAE Foreign Trade Minister Calls on Nepal's Foreign Minister
Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), accompanied by a high-level delegation, paid a courtesy call on Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shisir Khanal, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.
During the meeting, the two ministers held comprehensive discussions on further strengthening Nepal-UAE bilateral relations across a wide range of sectors. They explored opportunities to enhance cooperation in trade and investment, artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, tourism, labour migration, infrastructure development, renewable energy, and increased investment by the UAE's Sovereign Wealth Fund in Nepal's priority sectors.
Foreign Minister Khanal highlighted the longstanding friendship and steadily growing partnership between Nepal and the UAE. He emphasized the Government of Nepal's commitment to making the upcoming Golden Jubilee of diplomatic relations between the two countries a significant milestone by attracting greater UAE investment in key development projects.
The Foreign Minister also requested the UAE Government to waive the requirement for additional verification of Police Reports after they have already been attested by Nepal's Department of Consular Services, noting that such a move would simplify procedures for Nepali citizens seeking employment and other opportunities in the UAE.
The meeting reaffirmed both countries' commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation and exploring new avenues of partnership for mutual benefit.
DFC steps up investment drive across Asia
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has announced plans to significantly expand its investment pipeline across Southeast Asia, identifying the Philippines as one of its priority destinations for future financing in critical infrastructure, energy, digital connectivity, and critical mineral supply chains.
Speaking during an on-the-record media briefing hosted by the U.S. Department of State's Asia Pacific Media Hub, DFC Chief Policy Officer Caroline Vik outlined the agency's strategy following a multi-country mission to the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The visit focused on identifying commercially viable projects that align with both U.S. strategic interests and the development priorities of partner countries.
Vik described the DFC as the U.S. government's international strategic investment arm, working with the private sector to promote economic growth while advancing American diplomatic and economic objectives. She said the agency currently has $205 billion available to deploy globally through a range of financial instruments, including loans, equity investments, political risk insurance, loan guarantees, and project development funding.
"Our goal is to be the region's best partner and first call so that if there are high-priority projects that governments want to do, we want to hear about them and we want to try to support wherever possible," Vik said.
During the Southeast Asia tour, the DFC delegation held meetings with Philippine government agencies, including Maharlika Investment Corporation, the National Security Council, and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority. Discussions focused on major infrastructure and energy projects as well as opportunities in digital connectivity and critical minerals.
According to Vik, the DFC also met with private sector representatives to discuss projects involving mineral processing, subsea cables, grid modernization, bridges, ports, airports, and other strategic infrastructure.
She highlighted two initiatives receiving considerable attention in the Philippines: the Luzon Economic Corridor and Pax Silica.
The Luzon Economic Corridor is expected to become a major driver of infrastructure and industrial development, and Vik said the DFC has already identified several potential projects for financing.
"In terms of the Luzon Corridor, I think we've identified a bunch of potential projects for financing, and are looking for more," she said.
Regarding Pax Silica, a planned economic zone intended to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing and critical mineral processing, Vik confirmed that the DFC is coordinating closely with the U.S. State Department.
"When the time is ready, the DFC stands ready to help the State Department advance the Pax Silica economic zone," she said.
However, she declined to disclose specific investment commitments, saying further details would be shared at a later stage.
Responding to questions from Philippine journalists, Vik clarified that the DFC does not allocate country-specific investment quotas or lend directly to governments.
Instead, financing decisions are based on commercially viable projects undertaken by private sector entities or, in some cases, state-owned enterprises.
"We don't have any sort of quota or cap," she explained. "Provided we can find bankable deals that align with both of our governments' priorities, there's no cap to how much we can invest."
She emphasized that while government consultations help determine national priorities, DFC investments ultimately depend on projects that satisfy commercial standards while advancing shared strategic interests.
Beyond the Philippines, Vik said each country visited presented opportunities across the DFC's seven priority sectors: energy, critical minerals, transport infrastructure, digital infrastructure, financial services, healthcare, and agriculture.
In Vietnam, discussions centered on semiconductor manufacturing, critical minerals, energy modernization, and trusted telecommunications networks.
Cambodia highlighted major infrastructure ambitions, including ports, maritime connectivity, power generation, telecommunications, fiber-optic networks, and data centers. Vik also attended the signing ceremony for DFC financing supporting Phnom Penh's new international airport, describing it as one of the most impressive airports she has seen.
Laos presented investment prospects involving transportation infrastructure, railways, expressways, electricity generation, and mining.
Malaysia emphasized semiconductors, agricultural security, critical mineral processing, energy security, and the ongoing privatization of its national 5G network.
Indonesia focused on energy security, upstream exploration, energy storage infrastructure, port construction, nuclear energy opportunities, and critical mineral processing.
According to Vik, the recent mission substantially expanded the agency's regional investment pipeline.
"I think this trip really jumpstarted our pipeline," she said. "We've come back with many, many leads that we'll need to continue to develop."
She expressed optimism that some investments could be announced within the next year, while expecting a broader portfolio of projects to move forward over the next two years.
Much of the briefing focused on critical minerals, reflecting growing international competition over supply chains needed for electric vehicles, batteries, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing.
Vik described the development of diversified supply chains—from mining and transportation to processing and manufacturing—as one of the DFC's principal objectives.
"Building more diversified supply chains for critical minerals—from pit to port to processing to product—is one of our top goals," she said.
She noted that governments across Southeast Asia are increasingly interested in moving beyond raw mineral exports by developing domestic processing industries.
"I think we see a lot of emphasis from countries that want to move up the value chain and want to build out their midstream capabilities so that they can process their own minerals," Vik said.
She stressed that the DFC is interested in supporting these efforts through strategic investment.
Nevertheless, Vik emphasized that critical minerals represent only one component of the agency's broader investment strategy.
"Our priorities also include healthcare, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, transport infrastructure, digital infrastructure, financial services, and energy," she said.
Vik also addressed questions regarding competition in artificial intelligence, particularly amid the growing presence of lower-cost Chinese AI technologies in the region.
She said the DFC continues to see significant demand for American AI capabilities and trusted digital infrastructure.
"We are seeing enormous demand for American AI and stand ready to help finance projects where needed," she said.
She added that governments and telecommunications companies throughout Southeast Asia have also expressed strong interest in working with trusted vendors to build secure telecommunications networks and digital infrastructure.
In response to questions from Malaysian media, Vik said discussions with potential investment partners remain in the early stages but expressed confidence that DFC-backed projects could be announced within the next 12 months.
"Our intention is to quickly build our pipeline so that we have a wide range of projects across our priority sectors," she said.
Similarly, she described meetings with Cambodian officials as highly productive, citing opportunities involving logistics, expressways, energy, and infrastructure development.
Closing the briefing, Vik reiterated that the Southeast Asia visit marked the beginning of a longer-term engagement strategy rather than a one-time initiative. Nepal could benefit from DFC financing by attracting private investment in clean energy, transport infrastructure, digital connectivity, and critical mineral development, helping boost economic growth and regional trade.
PM Shah commits to cooperate with private sector for development of country's economy
Prime Minister Balendra Shah held a meeting with the representatives of the private sector on the issues of industry, investment environment and economic reforms.
During the meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers today, PM Shah held extensive discussions on the issues of making country's economic activities vibrant and strong, making the operation of industries and businesses further easier, creating investment-friendly environment, removing policy and procedural obstacles, boosting morale of private sector, job creation and increasing production.
Stating that the private sector is an important partner of the government in the country's economic development, investment expansion, employment creation and production growth, the Prime Minister mentioned that the government was ready to resolve practical problems facing industrialists and entrepreneurs.
Prime Minister Shah expressed commitment to forward necessary policy, legal and administrative reforms for building industry and private sector friendly environment with priority.
On the occasion, representatives of the private sector suggested promotion of industry-business, investment expansion, policy-level stability, simplification in service delivery as well as the necessity of regular and result-oriented dialogue between the government and the private sector.
PM Shah underlined that activities related to necessary facilitation and reforms would be forwarded through concerned bodies taking the received suggestions seriously.
He clarified that the government would move ahead collaborating with the private sector in the campaign of economic reforms.
President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Anjan Shrestha, President of Industry Committee, Ujjawal Kumar Shrestha, outgoing President of Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Rajesh Kumar Agrawal and Director General Dr Ghan Shyam Ojha, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce, Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal and senior Vice-President Dipak Malhotra were present in the meeting, according to PM Shah's Secretariat.
Similarly, Chief Advisor at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Kumar Byanjankar, Information and Communications Technology Advisor Bibek Mishra, Chief Personal Secretary Subas Sharma, a member of House of Representatives, Bidushi Rana, were also present.
It is believed that the high-level discussion with the heads and office-bearers of private organizations would help formulate private sector-friendly policies along with promotion of the country's industry, business, and improve the environment for investment and cooperation between the government and the private sector.
