Asia

Nepal seeks foreign investment to help recovery from quake

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun, applauds as Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, lights an oil lamp to inaugurate the Nepal Investment Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Nepal has gathered investors from some 30 countries hoping to reel in foreign investment for development of the nation still recovering from devastating earthquake and struggling with political instability. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) (The Associated Press)

Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, center, greets the audience as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun, fourth right, and others attend the Nepal Investment Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Nepal has gathered investors from some 30 countries hoping to reel in foreign investment for development of the nation still recovering from devastating earthquake and struggling with political instability. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) (The Associated Press)

Nepalese Prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, left, talks with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun, during Nepal Investment Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Nepal has gathered investors from some 30 countries hoping to reel in foreign investment for development of the nation still recovering from devastating earthquake and struggling with political instability. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) (The Associated Press)

Nepal has gathered investors from some 30 countries hoping to attract foreign investment to support its recovery from a devastating earthquake in 2015.

The government hopes to attract at least $1 billion in new foreign investment during the two-day conference in the capital, Kathmandu, and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal promised Thursday to foster a good business environment.

Jin Liqun of the China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said it would work with the government to promote social and economic development in the country, one of the poorest in the region.

A decade-long communist insurgency put development on hold and was followed by years of political instability. The 2015 earthquake killed 9,000 people and damaged nearly 1 million houses.