The Nepali delegation comprising Joint Secretary Arjun Bahadur Thapa and Under Secretary Nirmal Kafle of the foreign ministry and Joint Secretary Lal Shanker Ghimire of the finance ministry will also have separate meetings with the officials of foreign ministries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg and EU Investment Bank on the sidelines of the event. [break]
Foreign ministry officials said Nepal´s ambassador to Belgium Ram Mani Pokharel and Deputy Chief of Mission Kumar Kharel will also join the joint commission meeting in Brussels.
"The joint commission meeting will review EU´s assistance to Nepal in various areas, including economic development, peace process, election and human rights," said foreign ministry Spokesperson Arjun Bahadur Thapa.
Thapa said both the sides will give updates of the ongoing projects and set areas of priority for future projects in Nepal. Nearly 60 different projects are currently being run in Nepal with support from EU.
The EU had allocated 120 million euro in support to Nepal for the period between 2007 to 2013. The assistance amount is being used for three broad areas, including education, peace building and trade and capacity development in Nepal. As a current chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the Nepali delegation is expected ask the EU to make a separate structural arrangement to support LDCs.
Ever since the EU and Nepal reached a framework agreement in 1996, the two sides have been holding joint commission meeting every two years. The last such meeting was held in Kathmandu in 2010.
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