Japan on Monday signed an agreement with Nepal to provide Rs 26.19 billion (Japanese Yen 30 billion) for the post-earthquake reconstruction, becoming the first bilateral donor to formalise the largest aid pledged during a donors’ conference in Kathmandu in June.Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Minoru Kiuchi in June had pledged the amount.In an emotional speech during the conference, State Minister Kiuchi had pledged to provide as much cooperation as possible while recalling that the people of Nepal had provided 5,000 blankets for the Japanese people when Japan was struck by an earthquake and tsunami disaster four years ago.
The Japanese aid consists of a loan assistance of Japanese Yen 14 billion for the Emergency School Reconstruction Project, Japanese Yen 12 billion for Emergency Housing Reconstruction Project and Japanese Yen 4 billion grant assistance for reconstruction of Paropkar Maternity and Women’s Hospital, rehabilitation of water supply system in Sindhupalchowk and construction of a bridge along Barhakilo Barpak road in Gorkha district, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) stated in a press release.
Finance Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi and Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Masashi Ogawa signed the exchange of notes regarding loan and grant agreement on Monday at the Ministry of Finance. Similarly, Joint Secretary Madhu Marasini at the Ministry of Finance and Tsutomu Shimizu, chief representative of Jica Nepal office signed the loan agreement on the behalf of the respective governments.
Jica President Shinichi Kitaoka had arrived in Nepal on Sunday to oversee the signing of the agreement among other things. Marasini said it is the largest loan agreement for Nepal’s rebuilding efforts so far from among the bilateral donors.
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