KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 29
National Planning Commission Vice-chairman Biswo Nath Poudel addressed the opening session of the Third Ministerial Conference on Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration in Asia and the Pacific today.
Poudel highlighted the current state of the world economy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges posed by the global crisis, the Embassy of Nepal in Bangkok, said.
The NPC vice-chairman said the impact of the pandemic on different sectors of the economy in the Asia Pacific region had exposed vulnerabilities, especially in the agriculture sector, manufacturing, and service sectors in different proportions and scales. He stated that economic resilience was crucial for recovery and the countries with strong social protection programmes, quality infrastructure, policy stability, strong export base and safeguards against climate events had fared well.
Vice-chair Poudel said implementation of several initiatives towards digitisation of governance and adoption of inclusive Civil Registration and Vital Statistics would be useful in enhancing economic resiliency. He mentioned that resiliency in the manufacturing sector could be improved by investing in building seamless connectivity in transportation, energy, and ICT sectors. He also called for regional initiatives to build resiliency against challenges posed by extreme climate events. Poudel underlined the need to increase investment in transportation infrastructure and renewable energies and urged the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to push initiatives such as Regional Road Map for Power System Connectivity and promoting Cross-Border Electricity Connectivity for sustainable development. He said the integration of sustainable development goals through regional cooperation in several priority areas was very important to support and complement national efforts and mechanisms.
While highlighting several measures adopted by the Government of Nepal to cope with the pandemic and its aftermath effects, the vice-chairman mentioned several policies, priorities and measures in trade and foreign direct investment sectors initiated by the Government of Nepal in a bid to build an inclusive and resilient economy. He shared that Nepal was implementing various programmes to achieve the SDGs and mainstreaming it at all levels in the budgeting and planning process with the spirit of leaving no one behind. Poudel mentioned that Nepal had been preparing a graduation strategy along with country-specific trade integration policies and stressed the need for more supportive measures from development partners on ODA, FDI, trade facilitation, and technology transfer in a bid to achieve smooth, sustainable, and irreversible graduation.
The NPC vice-chair expressed belief that the Asia-Pacific region could improve its collective resiliency by working together and collaborating on trade and investment issues. Later today, Poudel held a meeting with Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the ESCAP on the sideline of the conference.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 30, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
