Kathmandu, Apr. 18:Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has said that Nepal’s agenda for institutional improvement in the country’s state machinary and economic policy reforms have been taken very positively by the representatives of the donor countries and agencies.
Giving a telephonic interview from Paris to RSS today, Minister Acharya said promotion of understanding and cooperation among the government, civil society and the private sector is crucial to attracting more foreign assistance.
The Nepal Development Forum is meeting in Paris at present. The meeting, usually held every two years between the donors of Nepal and His Majesty’s Government, has been held at an interval of four years this time.
Political instability in Nepal was the major factor behind the delay in holding the meeting.
The agendas being discussed at this forum are a little bit different from the ones discussed in the previous meetings, Minister Acharya said replying a question.
This time, Nepal’s focus will be on winning the donors’ trust in the policies adopted by the country and its priority areas, he added.
The donor countries and agencies are concerned about Nepal’s development and the progress and prosperity of the Nepalese, he observed.
They have taken very positively Nepal’s commitment to improve its economic policy, control corruption and ensure law and order, and good governance and are of the view that these commitments should be fulfilled soon so that the people can experience some relief, the Finance Minister said.
The donors wish to see increased private sector investment in Nepal’s telecommunications and water resources sectors.
He also said that the donors have appreciated Nepal’s commitment to encourage private sector involvement in development and reform financial strategy.
This forum meeting should not be meant for demanding more foreign money, rather it should be utilized for effective mobilization of international resources through judicious utilization of available money and other resources, Minister Acharya said, replying to a question.
Finance Minister Acharya, in his address at a dinner hosted in honour of the heads of the delegations to the Nepal Development Forum being held in Paris on the evening of April 17, requested the donor community to cooperate with Nepal in its reform agenda, create safety nets to help the marginalised people and make the reform process sustainable.
The return of democracy has brought with it enormous demand and expectations of the people, who are at the same time surging ahead ventilating their expectations and frustrations, he said, adding Nepal’s institutional inadequacies and structural rigidities have failed to correctly respond to many of the voices of the people.
“Our bureaucracy needs an overhaul, the financial sector needs drastic reforms and the private sector needs to be enthused,” he said.
“We have to push ahead with a decentralized system of governance, combat corruption, ensure a clean and efficient administration, redress gender inequality and spatial imbalances in development efforts,” he added.
The present government is not disturbed by the enormity of the challenges ahead: it is committed to face up to them, he said, adding there is only one way to tackle the challenges– the path of economic reform.
“Let us all find out the reasons why despite enormous amount of aid flows to Nepal, the prosperity and prospects for the teeming millions in Nepal still remains elusive,” he said, proposing discussions on the weaknesses on Nepal’s part and the forces that are holding back Nepal and the Nepalese people.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Acharya in course of taking part in the Nepal Development Forum meeting in Paris, the capital of France had seperate meetings today with the leaders of delegations from Norway, Asian Development Bank, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States of America.
On the occasion leaders of delegation of donor countries and agencies heartly appreciated the policy of economic development and institutional reform measures adopted by Nepal and expressed committment to provide cooperation for the implementation of the proposed reform measures.
Likewise, representatives of various donor community yesterday held extensive discussion with the Nepalese delegation led by Finance Minister Acharya on the cooperation of the donor countries in Nepal’s development endeavours at the Nepal Development Forum meeting being held in Paris.
In course of the discussion, the representatives of donor countries clearly put forth their plans, suggestions and reactions regarding development assistance.
At the meeting, Finance Minister Acharya apprised the donor representatives of relevant development issues of Nepal and government efforts and commitment to enhance the effectiveness of development assistance.
Also yesterday, the Finance Minister had extensive discussions with the representatives of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank on the role of those multilateral financial institutions and Nepal’s development strategy.
The donor community representatives made Nepal’s socio-economic challenges and problems, and the reforms policy Nepal has to adopt to face up to these challenges the focal point of the discussion.
They also pledged continued support to Nepal’s development endeavours.
Finance Minister Acharya apprised the representatives of Nepal’s reform agenda and its commitment to translate it into reality.
The Nepalese delegation included National Planning Commission vice chairman Prithviraj Ligal, Royal Nepalese Ambassador to France Indra Bahadur Singh, special secretary at the Finance Ministry Bimal Prasad Koirala, senior economic advisor Tula Raj Basyal and joint secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire.