Investment Board’s strategic plan: 11 projects to be taken into operation and 14 into construction phase in four years

KATHMANDU: Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has approved its ‘Strategy and Business Plan 2081-86’ to achieve the ambitious target in the field of infrastructure development under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The IBN’s meeting last Sunday approved the document.

Spokesperson of the Board Pradyumna Prasad Upadhyay said that the plan and strategy has been prepared for the works to be carried out in various projects within the next four years.

“The topics included in the strategy are very ambitious. The target has been set as to bring in the possible minimum and maximum investment. We believe that if there is a good environment for investment, human resources are managed and necessary laws made, then this much investment can be mobilized,” Upadhyay said.

According to him, this document will be important for changing the institutional structure of the board, strengthening the organization and managing human resources.

According to the IBN’s Strategic and Business Plan, 11 projects worth 8.95 billion US dollars are targeted to be completed by the fiscal year 2085-86 BS. However, even if all the 11 projects are not completed as per the target, the goal is to bring into operation at least five projects worth at least 4.7 billion US dollars.

Similarly, by the fiscal year 2085/86, seven projects costing at least 2.83 billion US dollars will reach the construction stage. The Board has set the target of taking the construction of 14 projects worth a maximum of 5.55 billion US dollars to the final stage of construction by this period.

A total of 57 projects worth a maximum of 24.3 billion US dollars have been proposed to be put in the pipeline and their feasibility study carried out in the next four years. Likewise, 52 projects worth 23.5 billion US dollars will be taken to the procurement stage.

According to the Board, 42 projects worth 17.95 billion US dollars will be in the negotiation stage of project development agreement (PDA) and project implementation agreement (PIA) by this period.

Furthermore, the Strategy states that 32 projects, with a total estimated cost of 15.7 billion US dollars, will be advanced to the stages of financial management and pre-development activities.

Based on the current status of projects to be implemented by the private sector and other bodies, it is likely that over the next four years, the Board will grant approvals to investments totaling up to USD 7.45 billion for a maximum of 67 private sector-led projects, and USD 3.15 billion for 25 projects to be implemented by other entities.

The Board has also prepared a draft of the organogram with various directorates to support the effective implementation of this investment plans.

Such directorates have been named as the Directorate of Planning Administration and Financial Management, the Public-Private Partnership Directorate, the Investment Promotion and Facilitation Directorate, and the Project Development and Management Directorate.

The Strategy warrants that these Directorates shall require, at least, the presence of a joint-secretary-level employee.

The Board has already decided to carry out the Organization and Management Survey of the Investment Board.

Amidst this latest strategy of the Board featuring ambitious goals, its achievements in the past one and half decades are not exceptional.

Since its establishment, it has accepted the investment of Rs 1200 billion for 38 projects. There is a huge gap in its accomplishments and its latest strategic plans.

An operation of the one-stop service centre established within the Investment Board Office has so far remained non-effective.

This facility has been grappling with the shortage of adequate workforce resources, and the promptness is lacking in the implementation of the Board’s decisions. Despite the provision to establish a separate fund for the Investment Board, it has not been possible yet in the past 12 years.

Similarly, the establishment of the Land Acquisition Fund and the Viability Gap Funding mechanism is still awaited. It continues to depend on donor agencies for the management of experts and employees