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Ministry of Finance
Bagh Durbar
Kathmandu, Nepal
HMG-Donors Meet in Preparation of Nepal Development Forum 2000
Kathmandu, April 7, 2000 --- The Ministry of Finance today organised a meeting between senior government officials and the donor community based in Nepal to discuss the reform and poverty reduction agenda to be discussed at the upcoming Nepal Development Forum in Paris, April 17-19, 2000.
In his keynote address to the meeting, Minister for Finance Mahesh Acharya said in order to give the people means of livelihood and a sense of justice, a fundamental change in the planning process and development outcome is required. He said foreign aid has to be linked with development strategies and priorities in order to help achieve development goals and that aid effectiveness has to be enhanced by ensuring local ownership. "In view of the country's sizable debt burden and ever increasing level of debt servicing requirements, the country is in an urgent need to reprioritize its sectors to be financed by domestic external resources," Minister Acharya said.
Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Mr. Prithivi Raj Ligal presented the government's poverty reduction strategy. He said Nepal's experience illustrates the positive impact of growth in poverty alleviation. "A development strategy that provides benefits that can be spread across all income groups including poor segments of society will have two major components - first agriculture must be targeted to grow by at least 4-5 per cent and second, private sector-led growth must be further emphasized," he said.
The World Bank Country Director for Nepal, Mr. Hans Rothenbuhler said the need of the hour is a clear, well focussed and relatively simple and straightforward action agenda, specifying the priority measures the government thinks that it should and can take over the next six to twelve months.
Mr. Henning Karcher, the UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal, stressed the need to make clear linkages between peace, security and development. "Peace and development are two sides of the same coin," he said.
The meeting then discussed the Priority Reform Actions presented by Mr. Madhav P. Ghimire, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. The agenda defines the reform actions in the areas of macro-economic and fiscal structure, private sector development, financial sector reform, decentralization, governance, civil service reform, aid effectiveness and the role of civil society. It outlines the reform actions in terms of focus, outcomes expected and status. Donor representatives present at the meeting commended His Majesty's Government for adopting an open and consultative process to define the agenda and underscored the need for further focus and prioritization in the agenda.
Ambassador of Japan Mr. Mitsuaki Kojima said Nepal's poverty reduction strategy should pay due attention to reproductive health and family planning in order not to negate economic growth.
Mr. Richard Vokes, the Asian Development Bank Resident Representative in Nepal, said that Nepal should first start with the most pressing but relatively easier reform actions in a framework that defines short-term, medium-term and long-term reform goals.
Ms. Ingrid Ofstad, Norway's Charge d'Affaires to Nepal, said reform actions are universally painful and that the government should try to forge broad partnerships to push the reform agenda forward.
Mr. Anton Hagen, Representative of the Swiss Development Cooperation in Nepal, defined good governance as the most urgent and overriding of Nepal's reform priorities. If Nepal could achieve positive results in this area, many other reform goals will have been met.
Ms. Sue Wardell, representative of the UK's Department for International Development said it would be important for Nepal to embark on it's reform programme with some symbolic measures to demonstrate that it is indeed serious about reforms. She said the role of the donor community should be one of a facilitator and purveyor of quality aid.
Wrapping up the discussion Minister Acharya said although the reform agenda outlined appears ambitious, work is already underway in many sectors. He said that the government would narrow down the agenda to give it more focus and clarity in terms of sequencing ahead of the Nepal Development Forum Meeting in Paris.
Delivering the vote of thanks, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Mr. Bimal Koirala said the preparatory process had been a productive and thoroughly engaging one for both the government and civil society contributors.
Today's meeting is a culmination of a month-long preparatory process that sought input and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders from civil society. Earlier, the Ministry of Finance hosted a kick-off meeting between HMG Secretaries inviting their input for the agenda and program to be discussed at the Nepal Development Forum. Over the month of March, the Ministry of Finance organized three separate interactions with civil society, the private sector, development professionals and academia to discuss a range of issues affecting Nepal's development agenda, including governance, decentralization, private sector development and financial sector reform and the role of civil society.
At today's meeting donors reiterated their willingness to continue support and enhance assistance for HMG programs that are results-oriented, prioritized and realistic.
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