International Finance Corporation (IFC) said that it is aiming to invest $1 billion over the next four years in Nepal. Addressing a session titled International Experience Sharing at the Nepal Investment Summit 2019 on Saturday, Hans Peter Lankes, Vice President of IFC said that his agency is looking to invest $1 billion over the next four years as the government reforms are fully executed and become a reality on the ground.

 Recalling the private sector diagnostic for Nepal that IFC prepared last year, Lankes said the study showed sectors such as tourism, agri-business, health, education and IT services offer huge opportunities for the private sector as government reforms proceed and unblock obstacles to investment.

The IFC, according to Lankes is working to support the creation of markets and systematically maximising private finance, expertise, and solutions to address development challenges and ensure that scarce public resources are used where they are most needed.

Giving an example of Upper Trishuli-1 project as perfect example of IFC’s “Creating Markets” approach and the World Bank Group’s efforts to maximise finance for development, Lankes said, “IFC took equity and was mandated to arrange the debt package for this $650 million hydro investment. MIGA will provide guarantees for the equity portion up to 135 million dollars. Last week, our Board of Directors approved the deal for both IFC and MIGA.”