Tamrakar tells to JICA alumni Utilise skills for development

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Kathmandu, Dec. 18: Minister of Commerce, Industry and Supplies Ram Krishna Tamrakar today said that the country’s overall development is possible only through proper utilisation of the available human resources and funds.

"Efforts of the government alone will not be sufficient to develop the nation. Those who have gained knowledge and skill abroad need to be utilised for the development of the country," Tamrakar said, while addressing the 27th annual function of JICA Alumni Association of Nepal (JAAN).

He lauded the role of Japan in the economic, social and education sectors of Nepal. He also urged the members of JAAN to contribute to the country’s development endeavours from their respective fields.

He emphasised the need to take initiative for the preservation of Nepalese culture, art and architecture.

Addressing the function, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Mitsuaki Kojima said that this year has witnessed many important events that have helped further promote bilateral relations between Nepal and Japan.

Citing the context of the first visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to Nepal in August this year, Kojima said that the visit has laid yet another stronger foundation of friendship and co-operation between the two countries.

Kojima also expressed the view that the friendly relations between Nepal and Japan will further expand in the 21st century.

"Human resources constitute one of the greatest assets of Nepal. These vital resources can be tapped only through training and education," he said.

He further said that the government of Japan has been providing training and studying opportunities to the Nepalese students in Japan.

He also asked the JAAN members to bridge their technological knowledge with their traditional skills and put it into practice to build the nation.

Ken Hasegawa, Resident Representative of JICA to Nepal, said that JAAN is a think-tank institution of the learned people having experiences and knowledge in all kinds of technological and administrative fields.

Hasegawa also urged the members of JAAN to come forward to suggest JICA and His Majesty’s Government in the matters of national interest.

Recalling a seminar on "Japanese Cooperation on Electric Power Development in Nepal" organised by JAAN in August this year, he expressed hope that the seminar would have given an inside view of the technical cooperation of Japan in areas of power development.

Delivering welcome speech, Chakra Bandhu Aryal, Vice-President of JAAN, said that JAAN has been conducting various activities that have contributed considerably to the development of the country.

Dilli Ratna Shakya, General Secretary of JAAN, presented a progress report at the function.

JAAN was established in 1973. It has now more than 700 members.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Strategies being designed

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Lalitpur, Dec. 18: Come 2002, and the government will introduce strategies to ensure sustainable development of the nation.

"The government has taken many positive initiatives in response to the national and global commitments of sustainable development," National Planning Commission (NPC) member Hari Shankar Tripathi told the inaugural session of a one-day dialogue on NSSD (National Strategies for Sustainable Development) here this morning.

Tripathi said that the NPC had initiated the formulation of NSSD in partnership with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and IUCN (The World Conservation Union) in line with 1992 Rio de Janeiro Summit’s Agenda 21 and Rio+5 meeting in 1997.

Today’s dialogue organised jointly by the NPC, IUCN and OECD is one in a series of its kind to be held during this month and the next for getting inputs to draft the NSSD that will be finalised latest by December 2001.

This dialogue will be followed by five regional dialogues and a national level wrap-up meeting before the policy makers give the NSSD a final shape. As one of the five selected countries to hold dialogues on NSSD, Nepal will present its strategies at a meeting to be held in Bolivia in February 2001.

The experts said that the national sustainable development strategies would be prepared on the basis of experiences acquired from the ongoing programmes.

NPC in co-operation with the UNDP launched Sustainable Community Development Programme (SCDP) in Surkhet, Kailali and Dang which is now extended to Humla, Myagdi and Okhaldhunga.

"Our experience has shown that a sound institutional framework, adequate financial resources and capacity building are three essential factors for sustainable development," SCDP’s national programme manager Hum Bahadur Gurung said.

The other programmes in operation are Participatory District Development Programme (PDDP) in 30 districts and Local Governance Programme in 30 other districts.

"These programmes have produced good results at the local level," UNDP’s Assistant Resident Representative Dr. Bhesh Dhamala said. "The challenge facing us is to bring the grassroots experience to the national level."

IUCN’s Country Representative Mahesh Banskota said that the NSSD should address the issue of high population growth rate and its pressure on the natural resources.

Sam Bickersteth, Natural Resource Advisor to the British government’s Department for International Development, said that the strategies should be framed in such a way that they would promote people’s participation to ensure sustainable development.

Stressing on a comprehensive and integrated development model, Bickersteth said that development priorities should have a sound budgetary base.

Various experts presented papers on land and agriculture, forestry and bio-diversity, tourism, health, population, drinking water, good governance and poverty reduction during the working session of the dialogue that aimed at reviewing the existing policies in all these sectors.

Nepal - Lanka Business Council constituted

Kathmandu, Dec. 18 (RSS): Nepal-Sri Lanka Business Council has been constituted under the chairmanship of treasurer of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Bhakta Bahadur Malla with the objective of promoting trade between the two countries, exchanging business information and exchanging visits between the business of the two countries.

Jaya Dewan and U. O. Jayaratne are the vice presidents, Balaram Rajbhandary the general secretary, Ramesh Khetan the secretary, Krishna Bahadur Basnet the treasurer and Lokmanya Golchha, Him Bahadur Rawal, Dipak Bahadur Shrestha, Ashok Agrawal and Ramesh Shrestha the members of the Nepal-Sri Lanka Business Council.

Sri Lankan Ambassador Pamela Deen, President of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce Rajesh Kaji Shrestha and Karna Shakya are advisors to the Council.

Water supply, sanitation project to be implemented

Kathmandu, Dec. 18 (RSS): Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a loan assistance of SDR 26.640 million (approximately Rs 2588.2 million) to Nepal for the implementation of small town water supply and sanitation project.

The project aims at improving the water supply and sanitation conditions of 40 to 50 small towns benefitting about 600,000 people living in those towns where water supply shortage and inadequate sanitation facilities have adversly affected the health profile and quality of life, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The six year project has four elements: public awareness and health education programme; water supply and sanitation facilities; water quality monitoring and technical support; and project implementation assistance.

Of the total US$ 53.9 million cost of the project, His Majesty’s Government will contribute US$ 10.9 million, the local bodies and water users will share US$ 8 million as capital cost of water supply systems and for regular operation and maintenance of the completed schemes and the remaining cost will be covered by the ADB loan assistance.

Of the total loan assistance from the ADB, SDR 17.512 million will be channeled through the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works to finance the expenditures under the project.

His Majesty’s Government will lend SDR 9.137 million to the Town Development Fund Board to further relend the fund to local bodies and communities to execute the water supply and sanitation schemes in those small towns.

An agreement to this effect was signed and exchanged between His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and
Asian Development Bank here today.

Dr. Bimal Prasad Koirala, secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Mr Richard Vokes, resident representative of Asian Development Bank, signed the agreement on behalf of HMG/N and ADB respectively.

His Majesty’s Government has expressed its sincere appreciation and thanks to the Asian Development Bank for its continued support for the economic development of Nepal.

Bastola stresses enhanced ties among nations
Dinner hosted in honour of Papandreou

Kathmandu, Dec. 18 (RSS): Minister for Foreign Affairs Chakra Prasad Bastola has said that in the age of globalisation and spectacular revolutions in science and technology, there is a need for an enhanced level interactions between all the countries around the world, as the concerns and opportunities are also being consistently globalised day by day.

Minister Bastola said this in his welcome speech at a dinner hosted in honour of Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs George A. Papandreou here this evening.

Mr Bastola expressed the hope that the present Nepal visit by the Greek Foreign Minister would pave the way for developing and expanding mutually beneficial relations between the two countries in the days ahead.

The efforts of Greece, a country that was the cradle of democracy and its ideals in the historical past, to look beyond the narrow confines of national interests towards regionalism and internationalism with a view to fostering democracy, stability and peace are only natural, the minister observed.

Nepal, which is following the path of democratic pluralism and economic liberalism, also concurs that a multi-culture society, respect for basic human rights and regional cooperation should form the core values today, as the country enters the new millennium with greater challenges and bigger opportunities, he said.

Nepal believes that the new international order should be evolved in such a way that it caters to the interests of all the countries around the world, he said, adding the new world order should be comprehensive and equitable, so that peace and prosperity are shared by all.

At the regional level, Nepal has pursued the path of regional cooperation through the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and it believes that such cooperation will create a regional synergy and also contribute to the promotion of trust and confidence in the region.

Minister Bastola expressed confidence that Mr Papandreou’s visit will work as a locomotive to consolidate and expand bilateral relations in economic, commercial and other areas in the days ahead.

In his reply speech, Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs Papandreou expressed his willingness to further expand and strengthen the relations between Greece and Nepal.

Speaking about various similarities between the two countries, he said Greece is looking forward to working together with Nepal in various sectors.

Appreciating Nepal’s role in SAARC, the Greek Minister expressed his commitment to help Nepal promote relations with the European Union.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Tarini Datta Chataut, Minister of State for Water Resources Ram Bahadur Gurung, ex-foreign minister Dr Ramsharan Mahat, HMG chief secretary Tirthaman Shakya, principal secretary of the Prime Minister Hari Sharma, foreign secretary Narayan Shumsher Thapa, Greek ambassador Yannis-Alexis Zepos, the members of the Greek Foreign Minister’s entourage and high ranking officers at the Foreign Ministry were also present at the dinner.

Kadirgamar briefs PM on SAARC

Kathmandu, Dec. 18 (RSS): Foreign Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Lakshman Kadirgamar called on Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter’s office in Singha Durbar today.

On the occasion Mr Kadirgamar apprised the Prime Minister of his recent visit to India prior to his visit to Nepal.

Mr Kadirgamar also briefed the Prime Minister on the ongoing activities of SAARC and the possibility of holding the meetings of the SAARC charter bodies.

The Sri Lankan minister also held talks with the Prime Minister on matters of bilateral interest during the meeting.

Present on the occasion were Mrs Pamela J. Deen, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Nepal, Mr Hari Sharma, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr Narayan Shumshere Thapa, foreign secretary and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Inspection: The Foreign Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar, paid an inspection visit to the SAARC Secretariat here today.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister was received at the Secretariat by SAARC Secretary General Nihal Rodrigo.

During the visit, Mr Kadirgamar inspected the library of the Secretariat and handed over some books to SAARC Secretary General Rodrigo.

Sri Lankan ambassador Mrs Pamela Deen Jayasekera and high officials of the SAARC Secretariat were also present on the occasion.