Kathmandu, Mar. 16
Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Narayan Kaji Shrestha said
that Nepal expects financial support from China in the field of infrastructure
and industry development.
Addressing a seminar on 'China's
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at ten: Nepal's Experience' organised by Friends
of Silk Road Club – Nepal in the Capital on Thursday, he said that the
government had expectations for financial and other forms of support from China
in the areas of infrastructure development and industrial growth.
"Government is
committed to the implementation of BRI projects in Nepal," added DPM
Shrestha.
BRI is expected to
deliver critical infrastructure that Nepal needs for connectivity, trade,
tourism and industrial sector development. "We desperately need
infrastructure to promote trade and investment. We don't want to be in the
debt-trap and wouldn't allow any party to push us for that while at the same
time we don't buy any wrong narrative on it," he said.
Speaking on the occasion,
former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, who is also the Deputy
Secretary General of the CPN-UML, said that Nepal's preparation in terms of
project development and prioritisation is poor. "We need to be proactive
in terms of our development and economic need to make their implementation more
effective," he said.
Gyawali also suggested
that now is the time for Nepal to sit with China to finalise the funding
modality of projects under the BRI.
As a landlocked country,
Nepal is facing multiple challenges in trade, tourism and industry sectors. Its
transportation cost is about 20 per cent higher which makes goods produced here
more expensive. "The BRI can help us in reducing the transportation cost
of made in Nepal goods with the development of critical infrastructure. We need
to overcome the shortcomings in the connectivity," he said.
According to Gyawali, there
is need to making effective connection and interaction with India and China –
the economies that are making strides in the areas of economic growth and
development and are among the largest economies globally.
Ambassador of China to
Nepal, Chen Song, said that China is willing to share the development dividend
with the developing countries. He criticised the 'Chinese debt-trap' terming it
as a 'narrative-trap' in essence.
Citing the completion of China-Nepal
Optical Fibre Network, upgrading of Arniko Highway, and initiation of
Ratamate-Rasuwa-Keyrung transmission line project, and trans-Himalayan railway
project, Chen said that the cooperation between the two countries in
development and infrastructure sector has been intensified.
"China's FDI accounts
for almost half of the total FDI Nepal received and the northern neighbour has topped
the list for the last five consecutive years," he said. Ambassador Chen
also said that regular hosting of cultural activities and other events had
further solidified people-to-people relations between the two countries.
China is the second
largest trade partner of Nepal, however, in the wake of the coronavirus
pandemic, export to China has remained pathetic despite it allowing duty-free
entry of 98 per cent of goods produced in Nepal.
Stating that the two
countries need to foster synergy, Chen said that China is willing to support
Nepal in infrastructure building, establishment of industries and human
resource development.
Former Ambassador of
Nepal to China, Leela Mani Paudyal, who also served as the Chief Secretary of
the Government of Nepal, said that there is a need for Nepal to adopt an
indigenous development model in infrastructure and other areas.
"Railways should be
our strategic project in order to connect the country to the global supply and
transportation network. Nepal-China cross-border railway should be our flagship
project in order to make the two countries interdependent," said Paudyal.
He maintained that China
had promised for a common initiative for the collaborative development. Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was founded in line with the same
philosophy to finance infrastructure development.
China aims at developing
infrastructure that would ultimately facilitate trade and business in the
region so Nepal needs to reap the benefits from the initiative, said Paudyal.
In 2018, Nepal had
proposed eight projects under the BRI to China: cross-border railway, Madan
Bhandari University, Tokha-Chhahare Road and tunnel, Khutiya-Dipayal Road,
Kohalpur-Surkhet Road upgrading project, Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Multipurpose
Diversion Project, Nepal-China Cross-border Economic Zone, and Kimathanka Upper
Arun Hydroelectricity Project.
Sunkoshi-Marin is being
developed by Nepal itself and the government has allocated budget to develop
this project while Khutiya-Dipayal and Kohalpur-Surkhet road projects are not
forwarded by Nepal. It's been six years since Nepal signed a pact for BRI.
Nepal has failed to get
benefits from the AIIB while India, which is not in the BRI, has benefitted
more, said Paudyal.
He suggested that Nepal
must be aware of the purpose of the borrowing from the foreign countries as
well as bilateral and multilateral institutions like the World Bank. "It’s
our responsibility to make maximum utilisation of the loan that we obtain,"
he said.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 17 March 2023.
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