“If the country failed to end the impasse, it will face serious problems on foreign aid. [break]
Failure will slowdown disbursement and also halt the new projects,” said visiting Director General of ADB´s South Asia Department Sultan H Rahman. Rahman reiterated ADB´s commitment to work closely with the government and stakeholders in helping to reduce poverty and promote inclusive growth.
But talking to the press on Friday, he stressed for early conclusion of constitution drafting and peace process.
“Nepal has problems that Nepalis alone can work out. And Nepal has no luxury of time. It must consolidate the peace process and focus on effective implementation of development projects,” he said, referring to low economic growth rate and wider poverty prevalence.
During his visit, Rahman met with the ministers, senior government officials and leaders of major political parties. He also met with development partners and discussed the current situation in Nepal and how best development partners can work together for Nepal´s development.
Referring to his meeting with the political leaders, Rahman said that he was impressed with the confidence they showed in addressing the country´s problems. He also expressed satisfaction over country´s macro-economic management.
But he spelled out concerns over internal instability and scar it has left on country´s manufacturing sector and power sector development. “Manufacturing and power are crucial sectors, but Nepal faces severe constraints in these sectors. Unless the country manages to garner significant investment in these sectors, the growth will be hit,” he said.
As for West Seti, a power project moved ahead with ADB´s support, he said ADB was still in the project. “But as the project is essentially a private sector project, unless the main sponsor makes financial commitment, it will be very difficult for us to continue,” said Rahman.
Rahman also said that supporting Nepal to develop North-South corridor was one of the strategic view of ADB, as this will create economic opportunities and benefits for people living in the northern mountainous parts of the country, where dividends of development barely reach.
In this connection, he stated that ADB under the South Asia Sub-regional Project has identified a number of corridors. “We hope countries in the region will work to translate those in reality,” he said.
Related story
52% of country's foreign aid went to province 3
