Visiting Norwegian Deputy Minister for International Development Hakon A. Gulbrandsen has said Norway is ready to continue its assistance in Nepal for peace, development and democratisation process.

Informing the press about his meetings with political leaders, at the Norwegian Embassy on Wednesday, Gulbrandsen said, “I have said that Norway is ready to assist the peace and democratisation process in way that the Nepali actors themselves find most appropriate.” He said Norway “prefers to listen first than act.”

The Norwegian minister further metioned that he told the Nepali political leaders that maintaining the “spirit of the interim constitution of consensus and cooperation” in the ongoing political negotiations is very important.

While in Nepal, Gulbrandsen’s programme included meetings with key political leaders including Prime Minister GP Koirala, Maoist chairman Prachanda and CPN-UML leader Jhal Nath Khanal. He also inspected some development projects funded by the Norwegian government.

Informing that the possibility of Norwegian support in utilising the hydropower potentiality was one of the issues discussed with political leaders, Gulbrandsen assured that he would try to encourage Norwegian investors to invest in the hydropower in Nepal. The Norwegian minister arrived in Kathmandu on Monday and is wrapping up his tour on Thursday. nepalnews.com mk May 07 08