Nepal will focus on digital economy, says PM Dahal

Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that his government had prioritised the development of the digital economy and digital services to improve the service delivery to people.

"The government has allocated one per cent of the total development budget for innovation and start-up for the next 2023-24 fiscal year," Dahal said on Friday at a digital conference held by Huawei Nepal in Kathmandu.

Dahal noted that the budgetary allocation was increased to encourage Nepali youth to focus on innovation and work to develop hardware and software to meet needs at home.Nepal has also lowered the threshold of foreign direct investment in information and communication technologies to about $153,000 as against $384,000 for other sectors, Xinhua news agency reported. Dahal stressed that the government is focusing on improving digital governance.

"We have moved to introduce One Stop Solution and Data Exchange Platform to integrate all the digital services of the government," he said.

Huawei Nepal is holding a two-day Huawei MNC Digital Nepal Conclave with a view to bringing together various stakeholders in Nepal`s digital ecosystem to discuss and showcase the country`s progress and potential in the field of digital technology.

Pan Junfeng, president of Huawei South Asia, said Huawei would continue to make its contributions to a digital Nepal and smart Nepal.