KATHMANDU, October 1, 2012—World Bank Country Director for Nepal and Bangladesh Ms. Ellen Goldstein wrapped up a week-long visit to Nepal today. During her visit, she took stock of the implementation of World Bank supported projects at meetings with senior government officials, including the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Education. She also met with civil society representatives, development partners as well as with community leaders during extensive project visits to the Mid-Western Region of Nepal.
During these meetings, Goldstein also initiated discussions on the World Bank’s next assistance strategy for Nepal beginning in July 2013. Despite the prolonged transition, she noted that the Government of Nepal has managed to achieve stable development results. She encouraged the authorities not to lose sight of Nepal’s longer term development goals and to effectively utilize the 1.3 billion US dollars currently allocated to Nepal across 17 ongoing projects.
“Visible development results will underpin the direction and volume of finances the World Bank can bring to Nepal in the new cycle of assistance,” Goldstein said. “Nepal has made good progress in the areas of health, education and livelihoods. The breakthrough we look forward to achieving in the coming days is in the areas of infrastructure that contribute to growth and jobs.” World Bank Country Manager for Nepal Tahseen Sayed and other Bank officials accompanied Goldstein during the meetings.
During her meeting with the Minister for Education, Goldstein appreciated the government’s commitment to improving governance and transparency in the implementation of key activities. They agreed to periodically review the impact of these on development results.
Goldstein visited project sites related to education, health, agriculture productivity, irrigation, targeted poverty reduction and urban development in Rupandehi, Kapilvastu and Palpa districts where she was welcomed by community leaders and project beneficiaries. In her discussions she noted that good progress had been achieved on the ground, particularly in the outreach to vulnerable communities and the positive impact on the lives of women.
