Nepal

Strong Development Partnership with ADB

I am very happy that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is celebrating its 37th anniversary on 19 December 2003.

It is a matter of great pride for Nepal that it was a founding member of ADB back in 1966, and that Nepal has enjoyed a strong development partnership with ADB ever since. The relationship has been further strengthened with the establishment of ADB's Nepal Resident Mission in 1989.

ADB is a very dependable development partner, supporting Nepal's development efforts since 1968 through concessional loans, technical assistance grants, and policy advice. In its 35 years of development assistance to Nepal, ADB has provided US$2 billion in concessional loans from the Asian Development Fund (ADF) for public sector projects, loans of US$59 million for private sector projects, and US$109 million in grants for technical assistance projects. ADB continues to provide valuable development assistance to Nepal with an average of US$90 - 100 million in ADF loans and US$4 million in TA grants annually. ADB's assistance focuses on agriculture, social sectors such as education and water supply and sanitation, infrastructure development including energy, roads, and airports, and public and corporate governance, all key for Nepal's development and poverty reduction objective. ADB's assistance to promote sub-regional cooperation in South Asia is also notable.

Nepal aims to achieve significant and sustainable reduction of poverty over the next five years as envisaged in the Tenth Five-Year Plan. We look forward to ADB's continued support in implementing the Tenth Plan, the national poverty reduction strategy. We are also actively interacting with ADB in preparation of its new Country Strategy and Program for Nepal which will further strengthen the focus of ADB's assistance on poverty reduction and guide its operations in the country over the medium term.

On this auspicious occasion, I wish to thank ADB for the support provided to Nepal over the past four decades. Nepal has greatly benefited from it and I remain confident that Nepal's development partnership with ADB will grow.

Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani
Minister of Finance