Monday, November 19, 2018

EIB to support Nepal in energy, transport and forestry

European Investment Bank is supporting Nepal for energy, transport and forestry.
"Nepal has shown how investment in renewable energy can both transform access to electricity and harness clean power sources to benefit rural communities," said vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) responsible for South Asia and global energy activity Andrew McDowell, ahead of his arrival in Kathmandu.
The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting transformational climate related investment across Asia and my team and I look forward to discussing how the European Union’s Bank can strengthen engagement in Nepal in the years ahead," said McDowell, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation for a four-day visit to Nepal at the start of a South Asia regional visit this week.
Whilst in Nepal McDowell will meet Prime Minister KP Oli and government ministers, diplomats and business representatives to discuss future European Investment Bank engagement in Nepal. He will also attend a ground-breaking ceremony to formally mark the start of construction of the Chilime-Trishuli transmission line by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). The project is part financed by the European Investment Bank under its largest single project in Nepal.
The European Investment Bank has provided more than Euro190 million for energy investment across Nepal over the last five years.
Following Nepal McDowell will visit India to highlight support for improving access to clean energy and enabling expansion of renewable power generation.
The high-level delegation led by McDowell – for the first time in five years – is also expected to address financial crunch for physical infrastructure development of Nepal to some extent. The delegation will also hold consultations with politicians and industrialists to identify areas of the cooperation in energy, transport and forest sectors.
"This week’s visit by McDowell and colleagues from the European Investment Bank, the EU Bank, will allow future investment to be considered and recent support for rural electrification in Trishuli to be seen at first hand," ambassador and Head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Nepal Veronica Cody said, adding that the EU and Nepal recognise the challenges of a changing climate and the importance of new climate related investment.
The European Investment Bank is the world’s largest international public bank and owned directly by the 28 European Union (EU) member states. The EIB supports investment in 160 countries worldwide and activity in Asia focuses on support for climate related investment.

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