KATHMANDU, AUGUST 1

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has urged all the local levels to conduct economic development assessment.

The local levels need to conduct local economic development assessment in line with the 'Local Economic Development Assessment Procedure, 2022', which aims to promote economic development of the local levels through assessment of various thematic areas in their respective areas. It has also envisioned identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the local levels through assessment of their performance and outcomes so as to make the local units more competitive.

A notice recently published by the MoFAGA said the local levels should conduct the assessment by mid-January. The procedure has determined three thematic areas for evaluation of economic development.

They consist of economic policy and plan, economic development infrastructure, economic empowerment, entrepreneurship development and industrial promotion.

As per the MoFAGA, the procedure mandates the concerned District Coordination Committee to carry out evaluation of local economic development indicators by itself or through a third party.

The evaluation will be based on the details entered into the web-based system of the local levels. Then, the DCC will carry out evaluation on the basis of details received from the local levels before publishing the final results.

The DCC may coordinate with the representatives of industry and business sectors during the evaluation process. The procedure requires the DCC to complete the evaluation and publish its result by mid-February each fiscal through its website, in addition to submission of a report to the MoFAGA and the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of the province concerned.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.