Sunday, May 5, 2019

One-stop service centre for investors to open next week

The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies is establishing a one-stop service centre on May 15 to facilitate investments. Publishing a directive in the Nepal Gazette on April 29, the ministry has announced that the centre will be established on the premises of the Department of Industry at Tripureshwor.
The policy and programmes presented by the president on Friday also reads that the centre would start work in mid-May. "The construction of necessary infrastructure is at the final stage," the ministry said, adding that it has asked the concerned government agencies to appoint officials to the centre. "The centre will house the offices of various government agencies to streamline the legal processes that investors have to follow to transfer capital to the country."
It will provide services ranging from registration and operation to exit of an industry from a single window, also simplifying the repatriation process for foreign companies. The centre – that will serve enterprises with a capital of more than Rs 100 million to Rs 6 billion – is not only expected to help foreign investors but also domestic financiers by giving them one stop service. Foreign investments of more than Rs 6 billion will be handled by Investment Board Nepal (IBN).
The companies will receive almost all the services from approval of investment to labour permit, and visa facility, environmental impact assessment and approval of foreign exchange from under a roof.
"The centre will contain dedicated offices of 14 government agencies – Nepal Rastra Bank, Office of the Company Registrar, tax office, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry, Forests and Environment Ministry, Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Ministry, Labour, Employment and Social Security Ministry, Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ministry, Department of Customs, Department of Immigration, Department of Supply Management and Protection of Consumer Interest, Nepal Electricity Authority and Nepal Telecommunications Authority – under a roof."
The ministry has already prepared a draft working guideline to operationalise the centre and has sent it to the concerned government authorities for their consent.
The Industrial Enterprises Act 2016 has also provisioned establishing a one-stop service centre but the government moved to set it up only after the Investment Summit 2019 held in March. 

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