Announcement of a World Bank Meeting in Paris to Discuss Aid to Nepal

\l\ f.OR .IMM~_DIATE . RELEASE • . •World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BA~K NEWS RELEASE Contact: Pushpa Schwartz December 7, 1981 (202) 477-5306 NEPAL AID GROUP MEETING The following announcement was issued today at the World Bank's European Of fi ce i n Par i s : Governments and institutions concerned with development assistance to Nepal met in Paris on December 1 and 2, 1981, under the chairmanship of the World Bank. The•meeting was attended by representatives of the Governments of Austria, Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the United ~ingdom, the United States and by representatives of the Asian Development Bank, the European Economic Co111T1unity, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Develop- ment Programme. Representatives of the Government of Australia and from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Fund for Population Activities and the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD also • attended the meeting as observers • The Nepalese delegation was led by Dr. Y.P. Pant, Minister of Finance, His Majesty's Government of Nepal. He was accompanied by H.E. Mr. Krishna Raj Aryal, Ambassador of Nepal in France, Mr. K.D. Adhikary, Secretary of Finance, Messrs. L.B. Shrestha, Special Officer and H.S. Shrestha, Additional Secretary, both of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. T..-N. Pant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Food and Agri- culture, and Mr. N.O. Shrestha, Counsellor, Royal Nepalese Embassy in Paris. The head of the Nepalese delegation out1ined the important political develop- ments of the past three years and noted that the government was devoting full attention to the development process. The government is concentrating on speeding up project implementation and to this end is embarking on various reforms in public administration. Increased efforts are being made to mobilize domestic resources to support the expanded investment program necessary for faster economic growth. He indicated that the Sixth Plan emphasizes the directly productive and the social sectors, and confirmed that priority attention will be given to those projects which complement existing anc; ongoing investments in order to accelerate economic growth in the short to mediu,n term. The members of the group commented on.the extreme difficulties Nepal faces in its development task and welcomed the measures which the Government of Nepal had recently introduced or was proposing in order to address these difficulties. I • ••  - 2 - The group also noted that Nepal's development efforts were being jeopardized by the rapid growth in population, and the strateBie~ needed to control population growth were discussed; Well-focussed p~ograms b health and education, as well • as family planning per se, can greatly assist in addressing the population issue by helping to reduce fertility and thereby slowing population growth. The discus- sion dealt with ways of expanding existing family planning programs and making them function more effectively. Reviewing Nepal's aid requirements, the members of the group once again confirme~ their expectation that Nepal would take decisive action towards mobiliziE11g increased domestic resources and strengthening project preparation and implementation. The members of the group assured the government that they would continue to respond to Nepal's need for financial and technical assistance. Aid indication, including specific support for the proposed Marsyangdi Hydroelectric Power Project, exceeded the levels of indications made at the previous Aid Group meeting. 0 - • •