Visiting Asian Development Bank’s director general for South Asia Kenichi Yokoyama has reaffirmed continued strong support to Nepal’s development agenda.

Yokoyama said that Asian Development Bank (ADB) is aiming to maintain support at $500–$600 million in concessional resources per year in the next three years, helping the government with its vision of sustainable and more inclusive growth.

Yokoyama had served as country director for Nepal from 2012 to 2017.

“I am very happy to be back in Kathmandu and to meet with senior government officials to discuss ADB operations in the country, our partnerships, and key strategic directions. ADB is committed to supporting Nepal in its green, resilient, and inclusive recovery from the pandemic to achieve high and sustainable economic growth, improve the lives of Nepali people and build resilience to climate change impact,” said Yokoyama.

In his four-day visit [from March 16], he said that Nepal’s focus now should be on structural reforms and quality investment in infrastructure and human capital to further stimulate private sector and foreign direct investments.

“These will raise productivity in agriculture, manufacturing, and services—prerequisites to achieving higher economic growth.”

At his meeting with Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, Yokoyama applauded the government’s efforts to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and manage its impact on public health, welfare, and the economy.

He sought the continued leadership of the ministry to accelerate timely, efficient, and quality implementation of the development programmes and reforms.

Yokoyama also met with Tourism Minister Prem Bahadur Ale; Minister of Water Supply Umakanta Chaudhari; Minister of Urban Development Ram Kumari Jhakri; Minister of Energy Pampha Bhusal; and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Renu Kumari Yadav.

He also visited the ADB-supported Kathmandu Valley Wastewater Management Project site.

The $137 million project is helping to modernise and expand the wastewater treatment facilities and systems in the Kathmandu Valley.

ADB’s lending to Nepal increased from an annual average of around $300 million during 2015–2017 to about $600 million during 2018–2020.

ADB provided a concessional loan of $250 million in May 2020 to the government for its Covid-19 pandemic response that focused on providing budgetary resources for containment and prevention, protection of economically vulnerable groups, and providing relief to small businesses.

ADB added a $165 million concessional loan in July 2021 to help Nepal procure about 15.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for about 6.8 million people.