Kathmandu, 26 June 2019.
Mrs. Caroline T. Nguyen, Managing Director for Europe, Asia and Pacific, and Latin America (EAPLA) programs for the Millennium Challenge Corporation(MCC) has stated ‘Nepal Compact’ as an ambitious and a model program in the context of uplifting the economy of a developing country like Nepal.
She was interacting with the team of Millennium Challenge Account Nepal (MCA-Nepal), the accountable entity to implement the US $ 630 million Nepal Compact program in Nepal, on Wednesday before leaving Nepal concluding her two-day visit. The program is going to construct 313 KM of 400 kV electricity transmission line and renovate 300 KM of strategically important road of Nepal.
Mrs. Nguyen mentioned, “MCA-Nepal has an opportunity to create a new identity for itself to implement a complex project on budget and on time within a span of 5 years. The project will ensure transformative changes in the power sector in Nepal that has immense potential to transform the way development is done in Nepal, and generate confidence and spur private sector investment.”
Mrs. Nguyen, an experienced hand in providing oversight and guidance for the development and implementation of nearly US $ two billion worth of programs focused on capital investments and policy reforms, expressed her belief that the successful implementation of the program was going to be a message and a model to the international community.
She uplifted the team spirit of MCA-Nepal colleagues who have shouldered the responsibility to implement a time-bound, complex and ambitious program in Nepal, and stated, “You are on the frontline as a catalyst for change.”
“While the Electricity Transmission Project is opening power sector for new investments, the Road Maintenance Project is going to be a model as a higher partnership”, she added.
Mr. Khadga Bahadur Bisht, the Executive Director, MCA-Nepal, welcomed her in Nepal and reinforced his commitment to complete the program successfully.
She was in Nepal from 25 to 26 June 2019 in a mission to support the compact. She attended strategically significant meetings with senior government representatives of Nepal.
MCA-N is in a preparatory phase of building a 400 kV transmission line from Lapsephedi, Kathmandu to Sunwal, Nawalparasi, further augmented by a cross-border interconnection to the transmission network to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India in order to improve the availability and reliability of electricity in Nepal. The Government of Nepal has designated the project as a Project of National Pride. The program is also going to facilitate the maintenance of up to 305 km of roads in Nepal’s Strategic Roads Network and provide a matching fund to encourage the expansion of Nepal’s road maintenance budget. The roads maintenance project will also test new pavement recycling technologies in Nepal for the first time.
