Nepal will focus on infrastructure development: PM Prachanda

Nepal's Prime Minister Prachanda vowed to ramp up the country's infrastructure as India pledged support to the Himalayan nation in its developmental drive.

Nepal is lagging behind in the area of development mainly due to the lack of adequate infrastructure which is the backbone of economic development, Prachand said while addressing the second 'Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017' here.

As the infrastructure gap has directly hurt the developmental activities, Nepal government has accorded top- most priority to its development with the aim of becoming a middle-income country by 2030, he said.

"Aware of this, Government of Nepal is committed to work in partnership with the private sector to bridge the infrastructure gap," Prachanda said.

"We have adopted the policy of Public Private-Partnership (PPP). Necessary acts, regulations and guidelines have been streamlined," he said.

Welcoming Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu at the conference, the Prime Minister said, "Our close neighbour India is very much committed to supporting our efforts in infrastructure development." "Lack of basic infrastructure has forced us to witness an average of below 4 percent economc growth over the last decade," he noted.

Speaking as the guest of honour, Prabhu said, "India would be interested in investing money in infrastructure sector of Nepal so as to forge (a) partnership with its development activities." Nepal with its abundant natural resources and manpower, has all the potential to develop itself economically in a rapid way and India is ready to offer support and assistance in this regard, he said.

India under the BJP-led government is making huge investment in its railway network and this would also help Nepal in its efforts towards expanding connectivity, he said.

Asian Development Bank Vice President Wencai Zhang lauded Nepal for achieving success in the area of social development but noted the "poor economic performance" of the country.

"Economic growth has lagged behind, with an average annual growth rate of about 4 percent in the past decade. Growth has to increase to a sustained rate of 7-8 percent to achieve the government's goal of reaching that level by 2022," Wenchai said.

"Building quality and resilient physical infrastructure is deemed as one of the most important pillar," he noted.