Kathmandu, June 19: Nepal received foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments worth Rs. 47.61 billion during the first 11 months of the current fiscal year 2025/26, marking a 21.5 per cent decline compared to the same period last year.
According to the Department of Industry (DoI), FDI commitments between mid-July 2025 and mid-June 2026 comprised Rs. 7.71 billion through the automatic approval route and Rs. 39.90 billion through the approval route.
The total pledged investment is Rs. 13 billion lower than the Rs. 60.60 billion committed during the corresponding period of FY 2024/25. Nepal had received total FDI commitments of Rs. 64.96 billion in the entire previous fiscal year.
During the review period, 914 industries with foreign investment were registered, including 711 through the automatic route and 203 through the approval route. In the month of Jestha (May 15–June 14, 2026) alone, FDI commitments amounted to approximately Rs. 2.29 billion.
Foreign investment continued to flow overwhelmingly into small-scale enterprises, which accounted for 894 of the registered industries. Only 11 medium-scale and nine large-scale industries received foreign investment during the period.
ICT Leads in Number of Projects
The information and communication technology (ICT) sector attracted the highest number of foreign-invested projects, with 577 registrations, representing nearly 63 per cent of all projects.
The tourism sector ranked second with 202 projects (22 per cent), followed by:
- Service sector: 62 industries
- Manufacturing sector: 52 industries
- Agriculture sector: 16 industries
- Mineral sector: 2 industries
- Energy sector: 2 industries
- Infrastructure sector: 1 industry
Agriculture Tops Investment Value
Although ICT accounted for the largest number of projects, the agriculture sector attracted the highest investment value, securing Rs. 22.08 billion in FDI commitments.
Other sectors received:
- Tourism: Rs. 12.99 billion
- Service: Rs. 4.59 billion
- Manufacturing: Rs. 3.57 billion
- ICT: Rs. 2.36 billion
- Energy: Rs. 234 million
- Mineral: Rs. 115 million
Employment Commitment
The industries registered during the first 11 months of FY 2025/26 have pledged to create 25,450 jobs, highlighting the continued contribution of foreign investment to employment generation despite the decline in overall investment commitments. #nepal
