KATHMANDU, April 17: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun held a meeting with the vice president of the World Bank, Akihiko Nishio and the World Bank's Vice President for Infrastructure, Guangzhe Chen.

The meeting took place at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC on Tuesday evening.

Finance Minister Pun also met with the vice president of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Riccardo Puliti.

He expressed gratitude to World Bank Vice President Akihiko Nishio for accepting Nepal's proposal to hold the International Development Association (IDA)-21 meeting under the World Bank Group in Kathmandu next June.

He said that the preparations are underway for the IDA meeting in coordination with the country office of the World Bank in Kathmandu.

Finance Minister Pun urged for further exploration of investment opportunities in Nepal through subsidized loans or grants.

He said that the Government of Nepal and 16 development partners jointly approved the Kathmandu Declaration, which includes a strategic action plan for Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID), in 2021. 

Minister Pun also praised the willingness of the World Bank to invest in the 1,063MW Upper Arun Hydro Electric Project and the 635MW Dudhkoshi Reservoir Project.

During the meeting with World Bank's Vice President for the infrastructure sector, Guangzhe Chen, Minister Pun emphasized Nepal's prioritization of infrastructure development, particularly in the energy, transport, and urban sectors.

He assured the WB official that the financial management of the Upper Arun Hydropower Project will be done within mid-June.

He said that the works such as distribution of compensation, construction of access road and acquisition of land by compensating the affected people of Upper Arun project area are under stage of completion.

He said that Nepal has also ensured the regional market for hydroelectricity, and made it clear that India has signed an agreement to import 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years and that Bangladesh has also started the process of buying electricity from Nepal.

In the meeting with IFC Vice President Puliti, Minister Pun expressed his belief that the cooperation between the IFC and Nepal will be further strengthened in the coming days.

Recalling the five-decade-long cooperation between Nepal and IFC, Minister Pun said that IFC invested for the first time in Nepal's tourism sector.

Pun also reiterated plans for the IDA-21 meeting in June under the World Bank Group.

In all the three meetings, Pun said that the third international investment summit is being organized on April 28 and 29 in Kathmandu, aiming to attract foreign investment. He said he expected a high level of participation in the investment summit.

Fin Min Pun embarked on his trip to the United States on Monday morning to attend the joint spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

 
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