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Remarks by Mr. Mahesh Acharya, Hon. Minister of Finance
Address by Hon. Mahesh Acharya, Minister for Finance,
His Majesty's Government of Nepal
Heads of Delegation Dinner
Nepal Development Forum 2000
April 17, 2000, Paris France
Madam Vice President, Excellencies, Heads of the Missions and Friends,
Let me first of all extend my heartfelt thanks to you Madam for kindly inviting us this evening and for providing me an opportunity to touch upon some of the pertinent policy issues that we intend to take up over the next two days. Tonight, I feel quite happy to be amidst the distinguished representatives of donor community, who are so important for Nepal's development.
Ever since I have known you, Madam Vice President, I have found in you a tremendous amount of sympathy and affection for the people of Nepal and also a sincere desire to find ways to help develop Nepal. I wish to express my special thanks and would like to congratulate you Madam as you are preparing yourself to guide us in our deliberations tomorrow and the day after, at the first ever meeting of the Nepal Development Forum. These meetings assume special significance to all of us in the sense that apart from inevitable discussions on future resource requirements for Nepal, we intend to discuss many policy and institutional problems which have hindered our development efforts. I take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all our friends and heads of delegations of bilateral and multilateral donor agencies.
This evening, when almost all our important development partners are assembled here, I would like to ask one serious question to all of you --- Are you happy with your aid efforts and are you satisfied with the outcomes and effects of your assistance in Nepal? If you ask me the same question, my routine answer as a Finance Minister would be --- "Yes, foreign aid has helped us build important socio-economic infrastructure in the country". But my identity stretches well beyond that of a Minister for Finance; I fundamentally identify myself with one of many conscientious Nepali citizens, who remain restless and annoyed to find Nepal still entrapped in economic backwardness and poverty cycle. And, as an ordinary citizen - I have to confess that more than four decades of development efforts has, at best, created a small island of development and prosperity in the mainland of poverty. It has failed to erect a pillar of hope to millions of our poverty-stricken people.
Distinguished heads of delegations, I have become rather blunt in raising straightforward questions for soul-searching. Let us all find out the reasons why despite enormous amount of aid flows to Nepal, the prosperity and prospects for the teeming millions in Nepal still remains elusive. What are our weaknesses and what are the forces that are holding back Nepal and the Nepali people? As a democratic government, we are prepared to do the introspection and as our trusted friends, I invite you to do the same in this years' Nepal Development Forum. I have come to raise these questions and collectively we will find appropriate answers. We know exactly which way should we march ahead for the prosperity of our country and our people. I also know that it is not easy to march along this path. It is a difficult and slippery path. I am equally aware of the fact that many of our development partners are increasingly becoming restless on account of the enormity of our institutional and structural impediments to development. The return of democracy has brought with it enormous demand and expectations of our people. The voices of the people are getting louder and louder. People are surging ahead - pushing hard and ventilating their expectations and frustrations. But our institutional inadequacies and structural rigidities have failed to correctly respond to many of these voices and development of our people. Our bureaucracy needs an overhaul - our financial sector needs drastic reforms; we need to enthuse our private sector by creating an enabling environment. We have to push ahead with a decentralized system of governance - we have to combat corruption and ensure a clean and efficient administration. We have to redress gender inequality and spatial imbalances in our development efforts. The tasks ahead of us are complex and daunting.
To tell you frankly, Distinguished Head of delegations, I am not disturbed by the enormity of the challenges ahead. Because I know we will be able to tackle and overcome them. There is only one way to tackle this challenge - the path of economic reform, which we intend to propose and discuss with you at these meetings. I see no other alternative except to proceed with the reform agenda. I know all other alternatives will entrap us in a low level growth cycle and violent social unrest. We cannot afford to roll back the reform process. Rather, we have to further intensify and consolidate.
You may ask us what instruments we have with us to march ahead on this path. I can tell you frankly the necessary political commitment at the highest level is the major instrument we have at our command. The emerging consensus among political parties with regard to the reform, the ever increasing participation of civil society and our preparedness to involve them in the reform process and above all, our participatory approach to mobilize people and rally them behind the reform path guarantee the success of our reform agenda.
Finally, let me ask and request you all - Are you prepared to move along with us on this reform agenda, with Nepal's best interests at heart? Are you ready to support us to create safety nets to help the marginalized people and make the reform process sustainable? Are you prepared to redesign and improve your approach to Nepal? Are you prepared to enhance the volume of aid commitments and be flexible in your lending terms? May I also request you to link your development assistance to our development priorities and, above all, may I request you to give special attention to the issues of using more Nepali expertise to enhance institutional capability building efforts.
We are not here to preach and to be preached about development and democracy and then depart. We are here to forge and build an enduring and effective partnership with our valued development partners. On behalf of my government let me assure, come what may, we will march ahead with the reform agenda. I am sure our friends will not lag behind.
I thank you Madam Vice President for hosting this wonderful dinner and to all of you here tonight for taking time to attend.
I thank you all.
Opening Address by Mr. Mahesh Acharya,
Hon. Minister of Finance, His Majesty's Government of Nepal
Nepal Development Forum 2000
Paris, April 18, 2000
Madam Chairperson, Excellencies and Distinguished Representatives of the Donor Community.
I have great pleasure in participating in this long-awaited Nepal Development Forum. I am happy to have this occasion of meeting you all in this beautiful city of Paris. The hectic preparations on the part of the government as well as that of the donors has finally led us to assemble here to conduct discussions on important themes underlying Nepal's development. At the outset, I, on behalf of His Majesty's Government of Nepal, my delegation and on my own, take the pleasure to extend a warm welcome to you all in these meetings.
On behalf of His Majesty's Government, I would like to express sincere appreciation to the World Bank for organizing these important meetings and to other donors for their participation in the spirit of further strengthening the partnership and collaboration for Nepal's development endeavor. As you all are quite aware, in preparing for these meetings, a series of interactive sessions were organized in Kathmandu among the government representatives, development partners, civil society organizations, experts, opinion-builders, and professionals aimed at boiling down to the key issues and action agenda. I believe that this process, by ensuring consultations with the people at large in the critical issues of reform engineering, has certainly widened the constituency of reform proposals. Since the government believes in greater involvement of the people in the speedy implementation of the reform process, their participation in the early stages should ensure their ownership and leadership to make the reforms sustainable, meaningful and effective in the long-run.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the donors for their enthusiasm and support in making the subsequent Nepal Development Forum preparatory meetings between the government and donor community representatives based in Kathmandu successful. I also feel that the candid discussions on the reform policy agenda and actions two days over here would be a milestone in further crystallizing the policy framework of Nepal's priority reform actions. Indeed, your support and assistance will be immensely valuable in accomplishing our development agenda for poverty reduction.
During the dinner yesterday with heads of delegations, I took the chance to touch upon a couple of issues related to external resource mobilization and its effectiveness and outcomes in realizing the development goals of Nepal. I am greatly encouraged by your enthusiastic response and I am impressed to see how eager you are to sincerely help mobilize aid resources for the cause of Nepal's progress.
The present government, as you are aware, is formed less than a month ago; many things are still in the process of making, designing and initiating. The commitment to reform, however, is real and sincere. The present leadership is credited with initiating the process of liberalizing the economy in the early nineties, especially toward making the government roles more focussed and removing the impediments to private sector participation, thus unleashing the forces of growth and development. As Finance Minister, I had had the privilege of sharing the major features of the then reform initiatives at the Nepal Aid Group meetings in 1992. I am happy to note that, once again, the same leadership has assumed responsibilities, which is committed to consolidating the gains of the earlier reforms and push through the reforms to a second phase.
Beginning with the task of good housekeeping in the state affairs, particularly maintaining law and order, promoting good governance and combating corruption in public life are, among others, the government's immediate promises to be delivered to the people. Without addressing these areas as a matter of urgency, we cannot see how the state can be governed effectively. Nor can we see private investment and foreign aid flows promoting economic activities without having a stable and reliable environment.
Let me also briefly explain how the government intends to go about addressing these challenges. The law and order situation in some parts of the country, as you all know, has been affected mainly due to organized terrorist activities. The government will pursue a three-pronged strategy to restore normalcy in the affected areas. Firstly, we will employ effective administrative instruments to meet our mandate of upholding the law of the land and attempt simultaneously to engage them in a dialogue to end the violence. Secondly, the government will intensify its relief and development outreach to the affected people. And, thirdly, we will embark on an awareness-building and mass opinion campaign designed to instill a better understanding of democratic norms, principles and values in order to help people understand that violent transgressions have no place in a democratic polity. In our strategy to contain the terrorists, we will also remain extra vigilant to human rights considerations. This aspect will benefit from the appointment of a Human Rights Commission, which will be formalized shortly.
The policy pronouncements of the government have opened new vistas for reforms in the statecraft. It is believed that the agenda of the improvement of the state apparatus, enhancement of good governance and the process of devolution would create a sound environment for policy implementation, whereas macroeconomic and financial reforms would contribute to sustained growth.
The government strongly feels that the reform process should focus on materializing the scope of a sound state for sustained growth and tangible progress in poverty reduction. The policy matrix presented here attempts to encompass all these crucial elements of development. I believe that these are essential elements to carry out the core state functions effectively, including creating a reliable and stable environment to expand economic activities by attracting private investments, mobilizing foreign aid, and removing many anomalies surrounding the economy. In recognition of this, the present government, within a period of four weeks in the office, has already taken important decisions in the priority areas.
I have a feeling that the ineffectiveness of the development efforts of the past was mainly the result of excluding the ordinary people from the development mainstream. Due to such exclusion, people did not feel that they are an essential ingredient of the development process. Our main effort, therefore, is to rejuvenate the process to make people the center-piece of development endeavors. For this, we have no choices other than to implement policy reforms with greater focus, priority and commitment. We cannot afford to ignore this reality any longer or retreat from the process.
Perhaps, to many of us, given the enormity of the existing structural and institutional deficiencies, the management of policy change in Nepal looks like an impossible task. This phenomenon of expectations and pessimism has always been a natural trend in young democracies worldwide. There are strong reasons to be optimistic about making Nepal's reform management up to the expectations of people. To cope with the challenges of the day, the government is fully committed to implement reform measures. The government's eagerness to make introspection of the past and move ahead with the reform process is testimony to the fact that there is a strong determination at the highest levels to pursue policy and institutional reforms.
It is well-recognized that good governance is the collateral for both domestic and foreign investors as is good economic performance and stability. Without them, it would be difficult to attract investments to the economy. As part of the civil service reform to enhance good governance, the government has already decided to reduce the number of ministries. The government has also decided to follow specified guidelines in making political appointments to the top positions of public enterprises. A cabinet committee has been set up to review the size, structure, functions and work environment of the government offices and suggest appropriate measures. The purpose of the civil service reform is to establish a clean, efficient, result-oriented and right-sized civil service. The government will take necessary measures to depoliticize civil service. A well-structured reward and punishment system will be made an integral part of the civil service code.
The recent devolution of economic, administrative and judicial powers to local entities has created new spaces to launch and steer development activities. A fresh approach to providing leadership and support from the top and obtaining full commitment from the bottom will be adopted to translate the spirit of decentralization into practice. Capacity building at the local level is an urgent agenda of the government.
Of course, the dimension of good governance is quite wide ranging. From providing development vision and leadership to the nation and to improving service delivery and ensuring fair justice, good governance holds the key to Nepal's progress. As such, the government is initiating works in every aspect of governance. This will include reviewing the development plan to reflect need, interest, concern and aspiration of the Nepalese people, particularly the poor. This would also be essential to establish linkages among social, structural, human, environmental, economic and financial factors. In the planning process, economically feasible and socially sound projects and programs have to be identified within limitations that we have been facing. We cannot continue to blame externalities always, our landlocked situation, uncertain monsoon, poor resource base, and difficult geographical terrain for the poor economic performance. The Ninth Plan has accorded priority to five areas of development, viz., agriculture and forestry; water resources; human resource and social development; industrialization; tourism development; export promotion and physical infrastructure building. In view of the need for efficient and effective use of resources to expedite growth, reduce poverty and ensure sustainability of development, it is necessary to identify the key areas of investment in each priority sector and sequence them properly. The key area must posses the feature of spawning development or providing vital support to other activities. A clear distinction of public, private or joint areas of involvement in the priority sectors would become necessary for the optimal use of resources to expedite development.
In our effort to eliminate corruption, we are making appropriate alignment of existing organizations to effectively control irregularities, conduct surveillance and prosecute the culprits. The independence of judiciary will be safeguarded. Strong commitment is already there to eliminate corruption. Let me reaffirm, on behalf of the government, that no excuse will be granted if there is corruption at any level and place in the government. The government will act immediately on public grievances and complaints. The grievance and complaint handling authority has been delegated to district administration offices. The cumbersome administrative procedures will be further simplified. Amendments to the laws, regulations and procedures are being made to reduce monopoly and discretionary authority of decision-makers. An exercise is underway to prepare the action plan and necessary legal changes as per the recommendations made by various committees. A bill that requires transparency in the activities of public offices and political parties is being presented in the Parliament. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority will be adequately empowered and strengthened. An effective monitoring as well as evaluation system will be put into operation to ensure compliance with prescribed standards, guidelines, rules and laws. The code of conduct of civil servants will be strictly observed and further improvement will be carried out to make it ideal. A comprehensive guideline for the prevention of corruption will be prepared and implemented. Provisions will be made to establish surveillance unit in all public offices and for regular reporting. Accountability and authority of each officer will be clearly defined and observed.
Let me now turn briefly to state some indicators of the current economic situation along with the highlights of the policies and actions of the government in important areas of the socio-economic development.
The growth rate of GDP during 1998-2000 averaged 4 percent against the target of 6 percent per annum set forth by the Ninth Plan. The agricultural sector did not perform as expected mainly due to the adverse climate. The growth of the non-agricultural sector also remained modest. The gross domestic saving and investment levels in relation to GDP are still very low. The fiscal performance also lagged behind expectations as a result of less than expected outcome in revenue growth, and surge in regular expenditure mainly due to the increased expenditures for debt servicing and maintaining the law and order situation. The balance of payments situation, however, has improved. The foreign exchange reserve at present stands at US$ 1.28 billion. The rate of inflation has been brought down and contained at a rate below 5 percent. In a country with an average per capita income of US$ 210 and social indicators like the rate of literacy, life expectancy, infant and child mortality and access to safe drinking water are not at satisfactory levels.
The reforms undertaken during the early 1990s had created, to some extent, an enabling environment for private sector development. In fact, encouraging results in economic growth and macroeconomic management had then begun to surface. The momentum, however, could not be sustained due to the instability in government that infused differing development priorities, during the previous parliaments tenure. The government is now preparing a new package of second generation of reform measures in order to revitalize the earlier efforts and introduce further policy steps deemed necessary to achieve development goals. The spirit of government to increasingly discharge its role as catalyst and facilitator for the promotion of economic activities in the private sector will be the guiding pillar for new policy steps. In doing so, we, however, should keep in mind that the role of the public sector in implementing projects that are instrumental to foster economic development is still very important. Alternatives to carry out these tasks from within the country are either small or at infant stage.
The government is attempting to build consensus on major issues of development and national importance. To this end, a cabinet committee is negotiating with opposition political parties. Measures to address the development problems are also being discussed with major political parties.
The implementation of liberal policies alone was not sufficient to bring desired changes in the economy. It was increasingly felt that the lack of leadership and ownership in development activities by the government and people of Nepal, lack of focus on use of resources, and less attention to the important aspects like governance, corruption and institutional capacity were the other reasons for the poor economic performance in the past. The budget formulation process, which is the single most important instrument of translating government's priorities and policies into reality, needs to be overhauled. In addition, the absorptive capacity of the public sector has always been weak as reflected by the level of resource use each year.
In order to address these issues and improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the use of resources, the government will announce Foreign Aid Policy shortly. The policy while addressing the issues relating to the utilization of foreign aid will also help enhance the returns on public investment.
The overall objective of the policy will be to gradually attain self-reliance in resource mobilization by means of sustained, accelerated growth and poverty alleviation through the efficient and effective utilization of foreign aid. The mobilization of foreign aid will be based on the principle of neutrality and guided by the national interest. The policy will entail elements such as creating an enabling environment, developing effective partnership, launching broad-based sustainable development, balancing development in public and private domain and across geographical regions, harmonizing development partners in tackling national priorities and cross-cutting issues.
The basic consideration of the policy is to link resources with development priorities, maximize aid benefits, enhance national leadership, ownership and governance in aid management, include stakeholders, eliminate corruption, ensure transparency and accountability, build public private partnership and national capacity, secure sustainability, strengthen project implementation and aid coordination, make judicious use of loans and optimal use of technical assistance, and intensify policy dialogue with donors. The policy once implemented by the government, I hope, will enhance the effectiveness of resource use in the country. I would also like to express my sincere hope that development partners will assume more responsible role in assisting our development efforts.
The problem of poverty is massive that still traps 42 percent of our population in a miserable economic condition. It has also entailed undesirable political and social ramifications. The high rate of population growth, high illiteracy, weak economic status of women, social and cultural rigidities and the dependency of agriculture on monsoon tend to further aggravate the situation of poverty. In addition, people's development expectations are enormously rising, particularly after the restoration of democracy. Notwithstanding the enormity of the task ahead, we ought to come forward with all means and the sense of urgency to address this problem.
Taking stock of the lessons of the past and building on previous efforts, His Majesty's Government is in its way to redesign and implement a comprehensive, yet coherent strategy for poverty reduction. This strategy will aim to spell out program and policies to raise the income of the poor, enable the poor to take advantage of opportunities created in the economy and provide targeted programs for the very poor and the vulnerable groups. The strategy will seek to address other roadblocks that have hindered the achievement of poverty reduction targets. In the documentation prepared for this meeting, you will find what we have called a "pathway" for this redesigned strategy. In order to integrate all poverty-related programs and to create synergy by creating linkages, a Poverty Alleviation Fund has already been created. Your assistance to make this sizable is solicited with a quick disbursing funds and flexible conditionalities. We look forward to discussing this with you over the next two days.
Many activities ranging from special area development programs, credits for women and ultra poor, scholarships for girls and children, health and nutrition, provision of infrastructure and service facilities, inclusion of the poor in decision-making as well as program formulation and implementation are in operation. The 20-year Agriculture Perspective Plan is also primarily focused on the poor. Yet, the impact on the poors' lives is not visible. Obviously, the main answer may lie on the low growth performance of the economy. The low level of economic achievement in the past was not sufficient to address the issues of poverty against the backdrop of high population growth. The weightage for economic growth in reducing poverty has proved very strong. In this context, there is a reason to be worried that we have so far been substantially lagging behind the growth target of the Ninth Five-Year Plan. Despite this scenario at hand, I strongly feel that Nepal has to aim for much higher rate of growth than envisaged in the current plan if we are to bring vivid change in the lives of our people. Achieving the rate of growth of even above 8 percent and sustain it for a considerable period of time may not be impossible for Nepal where tremendous development opportunities exist. The most important thing in this respect, I believe, would be the determination of the government to strive for such aim and strategic utilization of the power of persuasion to mobilize the potential contribution of stakeholders for national development.
As indicated above, the government is implementing a comprehensive policy in order to promote the lead role of the private sector in economic development. Works to provide the legal framework for the private sector governance and simplify tax structure and administration are being initiated. Privatization rules as stipulated in the Privatization Act will be formulated and implemented. The functions and responsibilities of institutions dealing with the private sector will be made more simple and transparent. Privatization of public enterprises will continue. For the enterprises that remain in the public sector, transitory measures to improve their governance and management effectiveness will be immediately implemented. Such measures will help control further deterioration in their standing and make them attractive for private sector takeover.
The government will increasingly channel resources to build supporting facilities for the private sector development. Private sector investment will be attracted to the areas of comparative advantage like hydropower, tourism, agro-industry, and so on. Administrative procedures will be simplified to remove administrative barriers to enter into the market.
The role of the financial sector in expanding development activities in the private sector has been crucial. However, the quality of financial services has not been very satisfactory due to the poor corporate governance in the banking and financial sector. Many financial institutions are not in sound condition. To address these issues, the government is formulating legislation on merger and acquisition, debt recovery, bankruptcy and business closure. The Foreign Exchange Act is also being amended. Likewise, the Company Act will be amended to improve the governance of joint-stock companies. The efficiency, credibility, competency and effectiveness in the financial sector will be improved by strengthening management of financial institutions. Private ownership and operation of financial institutions will be encouraged.
The restructuring of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), the government owned bank will be initiated shortly. Competition in financial and insurance businesses will be fostered. The institutional capability of the central bank in monitoring and supervising banking and financial institutions and transactions will be strengthened.
There is no dispute that domestic revenue mobilization must be enhanced in order to finance increasing development requirements and gradually reduce the dependency on foreign aid. It is, however, difficult to stretch too far without substantially raising economic growth and income. The efforts to collect revenue at an incremental proportion of GDP have been centered on widening the tax base, introducing new tax measures and strengthening the revenue administration. The implementation of the value added tax would be broadened and strengthened. The Income Tax Act is being amended to make it simpler and more transparent. Customs valuation will be increasingly based on actual transaction value. A plan is underway for the integration of Income Tax and VAT Departments. The revenue investigation and monitoring system will be strengthened to curb smuggling and tax avoidance as well as its evasion.
Increased emphasis would be given to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of resource use and curtail unproductive expenses. Regular expenditure would be further rationalized. More attention will be drawn to maximize the utilization of investments made in the past. The on-going effort multi-year expenditure programming would be made more systematic as well as effective.
An analysis of the internal and external balance for the period through FY2001/02 shows that the foreign exchange gap would be a constraint to finance the economic development of Nepal. It shows that the external assistance required for the period would be around US $ 2.1 billion. The foreign assistance, therefore, will be critical in achieving our goals of alleviating poverty and accelerating economic growth rate. On the domestic front, we are fully committed to launch a new package of reform measures in order to effectively mobilize human, natural and financial resources, and thus to pave the way for gradually reducing our dependency on foreign aid.
His Majesty's Government of Nepal expects that valuable contributions from this gathering would help in fulfilling Nepal's development goals by mobilizing necessary support and resources required for poverty reduction, raising economic growth, employment generation, human development, rural infrastructure development, enhancing governance in its entirety and improving institutional capability to effectively manage our development portfolio.
What I am saying now may sound like an overly ambitious plan of action. In fact it is not so. My vision is plain and simple. We have three alternatives: first, go ahead with reform process with time-bound action plan; second, do nothing; and third, roll-back the reform process. Though it may be painful for short-run, we choose the first altenative. With such decisive actions, I am sure, Nepal will be able to achieve desired results.
Finally, I request all our donors to enhance their commitment to meet the financing requirement of Nepal's development and institutional reforms. Once again, I express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your valuable support to our development endeavors.
I thank you.
NEPAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM
April 18-19, 2000, Paris
Concluding Remarks by Honorable Mahesh Acharya, Minister for Finance, Nepal
Madam Chairperson , Excellencies, Heads and Members of Delegations and Friends,
Four days ago when I left Kathmandu for Paris, I was alone with my Reform Agenda For Poverty Reduction. I had with me my determination and economic reform strategy with the help of which I wanted to change the destiny of my country and millions of my poverty-stricken people. Today, when I am leaving Paris for Kathmandu, I am not alone. My enthusiasm and my determination has doubled as I find you, our Development Partners, willing to help Nepal and support fully and strongly our reform agenda.
Madam Chairperson,
Now, when I return to Nepal, my country and my people will ask me what message have you brought from Paris? I will answer them with pride that our trusted and valued friends of Nepal do not intend to leave Nepal and Nepali people alone at their critical juncture of economic reform and development; rather they are prepared to support Nepal and her people more actively and intensively.
I must admit it frankly that I was a little hesitant and there was some degree of uncertainty in my mind on my way to Paris. I thought perhaps, our growing challenges and enormity of tasks could have engulfed our partners and that they might not come out of their shell of frustrations. But you have proved me wrong.
Dear Colleagues,
I question myself as to what would have I done - had you remained hesitant in supporting my Reform Agenda. An answer always kept coming from my heart - I would have marched ahead on this reform path alone; because this is our Agenda of Reform - Agenda of my people and my country. This Reform Agenda is not designed to muster donor support in the first place, it is fundamentally designed to drastically improve our institutions, and change the quality of life of our people and enhance human dignity.
I ask myself - how has it become possible to create a complete rapport and understanding within our Reform Agenda. There is only one answer to this - you have always been a most trusted and reliable friend of Nepal. And today, when Nepal is in a state of urgency to move ahead, when Nepal needs your support more than ever before, I had this faith that you would not leave us alone and that you would rally behind us in our effort to develop Nepal.
Madam Chairperson, I express my special thanks to you. You have been instrumental in engineering a new and positive approach to look at Nepal and the potentiality of our people.
Dear friends,
During our two days of discussions, you have repeatedly raised the issue of effective implementation. I want to emphasize once again - under the leadership of our Prime Minister, the new Government is fully committed to implement this agenda. Our people at large and civil society organizations stand strongly behind this agenda. There is emerging consensus among political parties and partners on these issues. The commitment of the Government and emerging consensus within Nepal is the guarantee for effective implementation.
You have referred to the need for regularly monitoring the progress on reform action plan. We take this as our primary responsibility - to monitor the effective implementation of our own proposal. We have an institutional arrangement under which the Prime Minister reviews various development promises and commitments of the Government. Apart from this we will periodically share with you our progress and status of the reform action plan.
There is yet another issue which I need to monitor. The task of monitoring whether your support and commitment has been translated into action or not is equally important to our Reform Agenda.
One of the major elements of our Reform Agenda is to incorporate and include the needs and expectations of our people. That is why I request our each and every Development Partner to contribute to the Poverty Alleviation Fund so that through this fund, local representatives of the people, members of civil society and the Government can together oversee the channeling and use of funds at the grass root levels.
Your observations on strong interlinkages between peace, development and human rights have been encouraging and I respect your sentiments. I come from the country where the Constitution guarantees the Human Rights, I am proud to claim that our commitment to Human Rights is second to none. I also represent a nation which is currently chairing the International Human Rights Commission. The need for upholding human liberty and dignity and the basic tenets of human rights will be further consolidated in Nepal after the constitution of the National Human Rights Commission.
Finally, I once again thank you for your support and assistance. May I propose that the next meeting of Nepal Development Forum be held in Kathmandu.
Namaste & Jai Nepal
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