Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal received foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments totalling Rs 60.60 billion over the first 11 months of the current fiscal year.
According to the recent data released by the Department of Industry, the pledged investments are for 717 projects, which are expected to generate approximately 17,255 new jobs across the country.
In the month of Jestha alone (mid-May to mid-June), Nepal received FDI commitments worth Rs 3.54 billion for 141 projects.
Of the total committed projects, 702 were for small-scale industries, nine for medium-scale and six for large-scale industries.
The service sector attracted the largest share of the committed investment, receiving nearly 50%, or Rs 30.44 billion, of the total FDI. The tourism sector followed with a 30% share (Rs 23.94 billion), while the manufacturing, information and communications technology (ICT), and agriculture sectors received 5.5%, 3% and 2% of total FDI commitments, respectively.
In terms of the number of projects, the ICT sector topped the list with 313 projects, followed by tourism (266), service (76), manufacturing (48), agriculture (11), industry (2), and energy (1).
There, however, is a significant gap between committed and realized FDI. While investment commitments continue to pour, a much smaller portion materializes as inflows. For example, only about 13.59% of the committed FDI was realized in 2023/24.
While FDI commitment totaled Rs 61.78 billion in 2023/24, net inflows were limited to only Rs 8.4 billion.
Meanwhile, foreign investors repatriated Rs 9.6 billion in dividends over the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2024/25, slightly down from Rs 9.97 billion during the same period last year.
