KATHMANDU, Nov. 13 -- Nepal has seen less than half the pledged amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) materialize in each of the last five years. Data from the Department of Industry shows that Nepal received commitments for cumulative foreign investment of Rs 114.96 billion in the past five years.

However, the country was able to receive actual investment of only Rs 54.38 billion during the period, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. This is about 47% of the pledged amount.

Despite a number of reforms on the legal and administrative fronts, the realization amount remained poor in the last fiscal year also, according to government records.

In FY 2018/19, Nepal received Rs 13.07 billion in FDI against the pledged total of Rs 24.99 billi...