Announcement of World Bank Transport Study in Nepal on October 1, 1964

---. ' . • j Ni\L 81-\l'~t< FOR 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. c. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 U'l Gi ,~ For Release Subject: World Bank Transport Study October 1, 1964 in Nepal The World Bank has agreed ,,to conduct and help finance a survey of transport facilities in Nepal as a first step toward the formulation of a coordinated tJ:ians- port investment :program within Nepal's next Five-Year Plan, beginning in July 1965. T"ne Bank will pay foreign currency costs of the survey, estimated at $100,000, while local currency expenses will be borne by the Government of Nepal. A transport mission from the Bank will go to Nepal toward the end of September and is expected to complete its report in about five months. The miss ion will be • headed by a transport economist and will include a highway engineer, a civil avia- tion expert, a general economist and an agricultural economist. A group of Nepalese officials will work with the mission as associates. Until 1951, mec.hanical transport in Nepal was limited to a narrow-gauge rail- road, a few stretches of motorable road, and a ropeway leading from the Terai Plains into the Kathmandu Valley. Since then several hundred miles of motorable roads have been constructed, the old ropeway has been replaced by a new one, and internal air transport services have been developed. by the Royal Nepa1 J\irlines Corporation. There is now need to work out an integrated program of transport investment for the country as a whole. The further improvement of both transport and communications is one of the essential conditions for acceleration of the country's economic development. The survey 1-r.i.ll consider transport needs from the po:Lnt of view of national unification, the provision of supplies and the opening of markets, especially for agricultural  '!! ., ( .: - 2 - l:o • products, possibilities for industrial development, the exploitation of tourism and forest resources, and the development of social services such as health and education. The survey will be concerned with f:tnding ·the most economical ways of meeting the nation's requirements for mechanized transport. It will concentrate mainly on road transport and civil aviation, but will also cover ropeways and railways • • • fl,