World Bank and Government of Nepal launch $150m infrastructure projects
The Secretary of Ministry of Urban Development in Nepal, Dr. Ramesh Prasad Singh, and Lada Strelkova, World Bank Operations Manager for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka jointly launched the four year Nepal Urban Governance and Infrastructure Project.
The project is being financed by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to support post-COVID-19 economic recovery in 17 secondary cities and to promote sustainable urban development.
The project follows Nepal’s federalism principles and their National Urban Development Strategy.
The municipalities at the forefront of project will benefit from the $150 million project by focusing on building up the service delivery and institutional capacities of strategic secondary cities and supporting labour-intensive public works.
Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka: said: “As part of the World Bank’s COVID-19 response, the project will support over 20,000 of the most vulnerable and unemployed people at the local level to earn at least 50 days of wages through the creation of temporary employment opportunities in the maintenance and upgrading of public infrastructure. Working together with the government, development partners, and the private sector, the World Bank will aim to deliver results to strengthen federalism and capacity of the targeted municipalities to the benefit of the local population.”
The municipalities in the project are located in two urban clusters in the eastern region and Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces in the western region.
Nepal’s economic development is dependant on the selected municipalities, which are centres for both commercial and administrative activities.
The World Bank project will also support 12 additional municipalities in Nepal’s seven provinces to promote labour intensive public works activities,
