Kathmandu, June 23: The government of Finland has agreed to support the Western Nepal Topographic Mapping Project phase two with a grant assistance of Finnish Merk (FIM) 7.5 million (approximately Rs. 93,700,000) out of the estimated cost of FIM 8.644 million for this phase.

The balance (Rs.l4,300,000) will be met by His Majesty’s Government.

Phase two is the continuation and final phase, which was initiated in 1995 with the Eastern Nepal Topographic Mapping Project and Western Nepal Topographic Mapping Project (WNTMP) phase one, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The present phase aims to produce 79 sheets of 1:50,000 scale up-to-date topographical maps.

The project will be completed by December 2001. Another objective of the project is to create sustainable capacity for the national mapping operations of the survey department.

Completion of this phase will be the last part to create uniform up-to-date topographical maps series covering the whole country.

An agreement on the grant assistance was signed and exchanged today between His Majesty’s Government and the government of Finland at the Ministry of Finance by joint secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire and acting charge d’affaires at the Embassy of Finland Maria Susi.

His Majesty’s Government has expressed its overall appreciation and thanks to the government of Finland for helping in the production of up-to-date multipurpose and immensely useful base maps of the kingdom.