The Ministry of Finance and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday signed two project agreements worth $165 million (Rs 25.175 billion) on the first day of ADB President Masato Kanda’s official visit to Nepal. The visit is Kanda’s first to the country since he assumed office as ADB president last year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the ADB will provide concessional loans of $115 million for the Integrated Water Supply and Sewerage Management (Sector) Project and $50 million for the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation and Logistics Reforms Programme (Subprogramme 2). The agreements were signed by Finance Secretary Ghanshyam Upadhyaya and ADB Nepal Country Director Arnaud Cauchois in the presence of Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and ADB President Kanda.

The water project will improve climate-resilient drinking water supply, sewerage and urban sanitation services in 12 municipalities, while the policy-based loan will support customs modernisation, logistics reforms and trade facilitation.

Wagle thanked the ADB for its continued support to Nepal’s development, while Kanda reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to strengthening its six-decade partnership with Nepal and supporting the country’s development priorities.

Upon arrival in Kathmandu on Sunday night, Kanda said that the country has shown remarkable resilience through repeated shocks and periods of major change.

“As Nepal’s largest development partner, with an active portfolio of $3.9 billion, we will support Nepal in turning that resilience into sustained progress, creating more opportunity and building the foundations for long-term growth,” Kanda wrote in social media platform X.

During his visit, Kanda toured the ADB-supported Viswa Niketan Secondary School, where he and Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel launched an AI literacy and teachers’ digital skills module. He also visited the Nepal Electricity Authority’s Distribution Command and Control Centre and virtually inaugurated the Markichowk and Mulpani substations with Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha and Norway’s Ambassador Dagny Mjøs. Kanda said the investments would strengthen Nepal’s power system and support future cross-border electricity trade.

“Together with Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha and Norway’s Ambassador Dagny Mjøs, we virtually inaugurated the Markichowk and Mulpani substations, which will help strengthen electricity supply in Kathmandu and other major demand centers”, Kanda wrote in his social media platform, X. “These investments are helping lay the foundations for cross-border power trade.” ADB will continue supporting Nepal in harnessing clean energy as a driver of growth and deeper regional integration across South Asia, he added.

Kanda is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Tuesday before concluding his visit.