Nepal: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has signed a project investment agreement worth US$359m with China’s Hongshi-Shivam Cement in connection with a cement plant being built at Nawalparasi. The agreement is the first of its kind signed by the IBN with a private sector company and it will last 15 years, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper. The investment deal is the biggest made by a foreign company in the country’s manufacturing sector.
Hongshi-Shivam Cement is a joint venture between Nepal’s Shivam Holdings, which also produces Shivam brand of cement, and Hong Kong Red Lion Cement No 3, a subsidiary of China’s Hongshi Group. The Chinese company owns a 70% stake in the joint venture. Commercial production of cement is planned to start at the plant in 2018.