HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Japan's support to Nepal to continue

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KATHMANDU, Dec. 22: Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Zenji Kaminaga has said that government of Japan will continue to support the development efforts of Nepal, wherever possible, in line with the priority areas which have been identified through mutual dialogues between the two countries.

In an interview to Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) on the occasion of the 69th Birth Day of Emperor Akihito of Japan Kaminaga said as a close friend and development partner of Nepal, Japan has been assisting His Majesty's Government of Nepal in its efforts to alleviate poverty and achieve sustainable economic development through economic and technical co-operation for over three decades.
"Our intention of continued assistance to Nepal has also been clearly spelled out during the Nepal Development Forum, which was held in February this year" he said.

"The assistance extended by Japan, however, is the fund entrusted to us by the taxpayers of my country, who are becoming more and more conscious of the effectiveness as well as efficiency of the ODA programmes abroad. Therefore, Japan places more importance on the effectiveness and efficiency of ODA programmes and expects accelerated self-help efforts, or ownership, as well as good governance to ensure efficiency, on the part of His Majesty's Government of Nepal."

Ambassador Kaminaga said, "basically, Japan's assistance is designed to support Nepal's democratisation process and socio-economic development under the market oriented economic system. Based on this basic policy, the aid resources under Japan's ODA have been utilised by Nepal in the priority areas identified mutually by the two countries. "

The Japanese ambassador said, "the grant assistance has made possible many projects such as construction of primary schools under BPEP 1st & 2nd (5,498 classrooms by government of Japan), construction of Teaching Hospital, expansion of Kanti Children's Hospital, construction of National Tuberculosis Centre, Kathmandu Water Supply facilities improvement (Japan shares 1/2 of the total water supply in Kathmandu Valley after completion of the ongoing project), construction of Sindhuli Road, improvement of intersections in Kathmandu city, expansion of Rural Telecommunication Network, National Radio Broadcasting Project, modernisation of Tribhuvan International Airport, river training, increase of food production, debt relief measures, improvement of storage facilities of iodised salt (in 6 places), to name but a few."

''In addition, JICA/Nepal has been involved in implementing some projects by itself. The local authorities such as Municipalities, VDCs, and NGOs, are utilising small grants from the Embassy of Japan for the implementation of grassroots level projects.

The projects and programmes under Japanese ODA have been successful in achieving their targets and in addressing the basic human needs of the people in Nepal and, therefore, Japan is satisfied with the performance of the projects,'' he added.

The ambassador said, the basic roles of a reliable government in a democratic system in the present context are to ensure security and good governance through control of corruption. In this regard, the government of Japan welcomes and praises the anti-corruption drive initiated by the government of Nepal and hopes that this will continue in the future.

In reply to a question about the political situation of Nepal, envoy Kaminaga remarked, "I hope that the current political crisis will be solved soon within the framework of the constitution and that peace and stability is maintained in the country."

"And I hope that Nepali government, based upon democracy and Constitutional monarchy, will conduct a free and fair election as soon as possible."

The envoy of the Nepal's major donor country said, "political stability, peace and security are the prerequisites for the progress of any country, including Nepal. In fact, maintenance of security and peace are the main foundations on which a democratic society can be built. Peace and development are interdependent. Even the most convincing project may not be able to produce desirable results if it cannot be implemented in a peaceful atmosphere."

"I may also add here that it is absolutely necessary that our ODA personnel are able to work in this country without any concern for their safety. I therefore would like to take this opportunity to emphasise the importance of making further efforts to restore peace so that the socio-economic development activities in Nepal can be carried out without any obstacles."

Shedding light on the Japanese co-operation in Nepal he said, "there are five priority areas of Japanese co-operation in the development of Nepal which have been identified through mutual dialogues in the high level policy consultation meetings between the two countries. The five areas are: Human Resources Development; social sectors such as education, health and medical care; agricultural development; basic economic and social infrastructure; and environmental conservation."

"Specifically, the government of Japan will continue to support the development of the basic social and economic infrastructures through general grant aid like the construction of Sindhuli Road, water facilities, medical as well as educational facilities and small grant assistance for participatory grassroots projects with local governments and NGOs. In addition, there will also be support for a new project related with community bridges. "

Replying a question about the new Japanese project in Nepal, the envoy noted, "I believe that tourism, environment and Human Resources Development should be given importance in our future co-operation."

Why Japanese investors are not interested to invest in Nepal envoy Kaminaga remarked, "of the total 767 joint venture industries registered in Nepal by the end of fiscal year 2001/02, 81 of them were Japanese joint ventures. This is the second highest number, next only to India. This is an indication of the fact that Japanese investors are interested in investing in Nepal."

"In order to attract more Japanese investment into Nepal, the government needs to further facilitate the legal and administrative system. As the government is currently drafting a new foreign investment policy, it should incorporate more attractive provisions into it with more concessions and facilities. Emphasis should be given on further simplifying the visa issuing procedure and a provision for foreign investors' opening a liaison office in Nepal should be incorporated. Equally important is to fix the proper socio-economic environment for investors, which the government should focus on."

Speaking on the tourism development in Nepal, Kaminaga said," more than 41,000 Japanese tourists visited Nepal in the year 2000. The number decreased to 28,000 in 2001, constituting however, the third largest third-country visitors to Nepal. Furthermore, Japanese tourist arrivals show a tendency of growing this year, as the number in November has registered growth of three per cent."

"Japanese people love to visit Nepal because of its natural beauty and cultural similarities between the two countries. Japanese people are also attracted to Nepal because of the scenic Himalayas, its rich cultural heritage, exotic wildlife and hospitable people, " he added.

Kaminaga added, "in order to invite more Japanese tourists into the country, Nepal should continue to make serious efforts in the areas of basic tourism infrastructure such as airport safety, clean sanitary conditions, healthy waste disposal system, and better tourism services. Another area of emphasis should be tourism marketing - such as opening up a tourism information centre in Japan. The private sector should gear up its marketing activities in a more serious and focussed way."

In reply to another question he said, "long-time poverty and economic stagnation could increase people's frustration toward the government. I, therefore, believe that the Nepali government's efforts on social and economic development is as important as its efforts on restoration of peace and security."
"From this view point, Japanese government extended assistance amounting to NRs. 832mil as non-project grant aid for the purpose of assisting Nepali government to carry out different programmes, particularly taking into account the budgetary difficulties of Nepal'' the ambassador added.

The Japanese envoy said, "I am extremely pleased with the ever-growing relations of friendship and co-operation between Japan and Nepal. It widely ranges from the close ties between the imperial family of Japan and the Royal Family of Nepal as I mentioned earlier, the frequent exchanges of personnel both at a governmental and private level and to economic and technical co-operation."
"I am happy to say that Japan and Nepal have enjoyed a century old unblemished friendly ties. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Nepal in 1956, the government of Japan has been extending various types of co-operation to Nepal for its socio-economic development. Recently, the Japanese government is supporting the efforts made by the government of Nepal towards the restoration of peace in the country."

Shedding light on the friendly relations, the Japanese envoy remarked, "Japan and Nepal have also been enjoying cordial relations at people to people level which is based on the basis of social and cultural similarities. Ekai Kawaguchi, the first recorded Japanese who ever visited Nepal in 1899, is characterised as the founder of such relations between the two countries. Just three years after his visit, the government of Nepal sent eight Nepali students to Japan in 1902 for studies and I am very grateful to say that this year also marks the 100th anniversary of their visit to Japan."

Japan is the major donor country of Nepal and it has provided over 263.8 billion Japanese yen since 1969 as grant for the socio-economic development of Nepal in addition to the grass root development programmes and technical assistance.

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