It seems that no news is good news for Nepal these days. Political violence has plagued the country and brought the country to a stand still in the last 3-4 days. Pro-democracy protestors are demonstrating against King Gyanendra. The coniditon has become so violent that The United States Embassy has closed its consular section. USA has also cancelled the visit of a Congress delegation to Nepal. Even United Nations has expressed its concern over extreme use of force by Nepalese police on the protesters.
The only consolation for Nepal at this moment is that foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased in the last one year. In the website of Nepal Eyes I found this information, "According to the Department of Industries (DoI), altogether 76 FDI projects, valued at Rs. 2,146 million, were registered in 2005, compared to 35 projects worth Rs 546 million registered the previous year." The investment has been mainly heading towards the service sector- hotels, restaurants and IT sector. Especially, Nepal is becoming an attractive destination for outsourcing of software development. Political and social stability is a must for the service sector to grow in any country.
I hope that due to the political violence flow of FDI does not stop or slow down because then the only casualty will be working people.
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