Work on new airport in Nepal to start soon

Construction of Pokhara International Airport in Kaski district of central Nepal, is all set to begin from this weekend, a senior Nepali official said.Pradip Adhikari, chief of Pokhara International Airport project, said on Thursday that the process of contractor mobilisation for the construction has begun, Xinhua news agency reported.“We are in the process of providing financial resources to the contractor,” he said.The airport, being developed with the Chinese assistance will be constructed in the country’s premier tourist city Pokhara. It is one of the three new international airports planned in the Himalayan country.Currently, Nepal has only operating the sole international airport Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu which is overcrowded, often forcing the airlines to wait up to 45 minutes for landing particularly during the tourist season.China Export-Import Bank has pledged a soft loan of $215.96mn for the construction of the project.“The full-fledged ground works will begin after the monsoon is over,” Adhikari said.China CAMC Engineering won the construction contract in May 2014 to construct the project under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model.“The construction of international airport in the country’s key tourist hub will help increase the tourist arrivals many folds,” said Adhikari.Nepal has felt the urgent need for development of more international airports for the emergency situation like the deadly earthquake in April 2015 and to manage the increasing international air travellers.After Nepal opened door for foreign investors to establish special economic zones (SEZs), a growing number of Chinese investors have shown interest in setting up such areas in the Himalayan country, a senior government official said.Nepal’s SEZ Act introduced in August 2016 has opened the door for foreign direct investment for the development of SEZ in the country with the provision that such zones could be established under public-private partnership as well as sole investment of private sector only.The Nepal government is considering allowing foreign investors to establish SEZs under joint venture arrangement.“Four Chinese groups of investors have approached us so far regarding the establishment of SEZ in northern bordering districts,” Chandika Prasad Bhatta, executive director of SEZ Development Committee, a government office overseeing the SEZ affairs, said yesterday.A year ago, Ping An Insurance Group of China in partnership with Lhasa SEZ had sought permission to conduct feasibility study of potential areas where a SEZ could be established and run.“Three more Chinese groups have approached us in the last few weeks,” said Bhatta, declining to name them because formal proposals are yet to be submitted.“They have shown interest in developing SEZ particularly in Nuwakot, a district in central Nepal which borders China.”Nepal and China had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop cross border SEZs last month.Nepal has planned to develop SEZs in 17 locations. Nepal specifically aims to attract export industries inside SEZs and more foreign investment.