Nepal Aims to Transform Economy Towards Digital and Service-Oriented Model

Kathmandu. The government has put forward an ambitious plan to transform Nepal from a traditional labor-based economy towards a digital, service, and technology-oriented economy.

While presenting the policy and program for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84, President Ram Chandra Paudel announced that 'borderless economy and weightless trade' will be kept at the center of the national economic strategy.

The government's new policy has displaced the economy dependent on foreign employment and emphasized knowledge, digital services, remote work, and information technology export. Specifically, by declaring information technology as a 'national strategic industry', President Paudel stated that software development, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI) computing will be developed as export-oriented industries.

Towards digital infrastructure, the government aims to make Nepal a regional 'tech hub' through the construction of digital parks, high-capacity data centers, and public digital infrastructure. The government plans to provide financial concessions, investment facilitation, and tax incentives for research to industries exporting technology. Furthermore, by giving legal recognition to international payment gateways, foreign currency earnings and tax management will be made easier.

For economic reform, public expenditure reduction, institutional reform, and efficient service delivery have been prioritized. The government has also publicized a policy to classify public enterprises, merge unnecessary ones, collaborate with the private sector, and bring in strategic partners. Hydropower, tourism, and green industrialization will also be made the main basis of economic transformation in the policy and program.