Nepal's Investment Board Launches One-Stop Service Center

Kathmandu. The Investment Board Nepal has launched a one-stop service center. The board has started the one-stop service center with the objective of providing a more conducive environment for investors.

The board has launched a portal for the one-stop service center. After logging into this portal, investors can submit investment proposals. Similarly, investors can also log in through the one-stop service center of .......

After the IT system is prepared, 14 government agencies will be involved in the system in coordination with the one-stop service center. The Office of the Company Registrar, the Department of Revenue, the Department of Customs, and the Department of Immigration are in the process of digital system integration.

The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has already corresponded with other relevant ministries and agencies to join the system. According to the Investment Board, 14 government agencies have designated focal persons with authorization for the one-stop service center.

These agencies include the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal Rastra Bank, the Department of Immigration, and the Inland Revenue Department.

Similarly, the Department of Industry, the Department of Mines and Geology, the Department of Customs, the Department of Labor and Occupational Safety, the Department of Electricity Development, the Office of the Company Registrar, and the Nepal Telecommunications Authority are included. Other agencies designated by the board may also be included as needed.

There is a legal provision that ministries, departments, and agencies whose digital systems have not yet been developed must send authorized employees to the one-stop service center established under the Investment Board.

The board will expand its network and move forward by coordinating with the focal persons in the ministries and agencies that are yet to join this system.

Sushil Gyawali, Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board, stated that the implementation of the one-stop service center will facilitate tasks related to investors. He mentioned that the one-stop service was started because information technology is important for fast and easy service delivery, and informed that other agencies are also preparing and will gradually join the one-stop service center through the digital system.

He stated that physical tasks will be phased out once the digital process begins. 'Agencies that are not internally connected to the IT system will be able to join the one-stop service center through the digital system after the necessary budget is arranged and preparations are made. After that, we can go fully automated,' said CEO Gyawali.

Once the one-stop service center is fully operational, it will be able to evaluate investment proposals and advance the necessary procedures for approval, provide company registration, tax registration, industry registration, foreign exchange permits, and other registrations, permits, and approvals. It will also be able to coordinate and facilitate the provision of labor permits, visas, and permits.

Similarly, through the center, it will be possible to facilitate the acquisition of private land required for projects, provide land or forest land required for projects on lease after completing the procedures according to prevailing laws, and arrange for the provision of environmental study approvals.

The Investment Board held a discussion today with the focal persons of the relevant ministries and agencies regarding the one-stop service center. According to the Public-Private Partnership and Investment Act 2075, there is a provision to establish and operate a one-stop service center in the office for carrying out tasks such as project survey permits, memorandum of understanding, investment permits, or agreements for projects to be implemented, and for supporting and facilitating the project.

The current government's one hundred-point list of governance reforms, published on Chaitra 14, mentioned the establishment and operation of a one-door approval system under the Investment Board Nepal to provide investors, both domestic and foreign, with the services specified within the stipulated time frame in an integrated and convenient manner.

The board has already established an investor facilitation and grievance hearing desk, which was included in the list of governance reform items.