KATHMANDU: Nepal has secured foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments worth Rs 33.092 billion for 236 projects in the current fiscal year up to mid-September.

According to the Department of Industry’s report covering the months of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August) and Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), the investment pledges include in 225 small-scale, four medium-scale, and seven large-scale projects.

As per the sector-wise investment highlights, by number of projects, the Information Technology (IT) sector has attracted the highest number of investment commitments, with 120 projects totaling Rs 562.754 million.

Similarly, by promised investment amount, the agricultural sector is in the topmost position with Rs 21.598 billion pledged for nine projects.

Other sectors receiving investment commitments include manufacturing (Rs 1.24 billion for 12 projects), energy (Rs 182.55 million for one project), services (Rs 2.815 billion for 15 projects) and tourism (Rs 6.692 billion for 79 projects).

Meantime, in the past two months alone, the Department has facilitated visa arrangements for 409 foreign investors, 60 investor representatives and 107 dependents.

To date, the Department of Industry has approved a total of 7,475 projects, with a cumulative foreign investment commitment of Rs 684.51 billion.