World Bank's Senior Managing Director Trotsenburg meets Finance Minister Pun

KATHMANDU: World Bank's Senior Managing Director, Axel van Trotsenburg, paid a courtesy call on Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun in Kathmandu today.

Trotsenburg is on a five-day official visit to Nepal to meet with the government and other stakeholders and to chair the Third Replenishment Meeting of the World Bank's fund for low-income countries, the International Development Association (IDA). The Government of Nepal is set to organise the Third IDA21 Replenishment Meeting in Kathmandu from June 18-21.

In the meeting held at the Ministry of Finance in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu today, Trotsenburg, along with the World Bank's Vice President (Development Finance), Akihiko (Aki) Nishio; Vice President for the South Asia Region, Martin Raiser; and newly appointed Country Director for Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, David Sislen; and others participated.

During the meeting, Finance Minister Pun expressed his pleasure at hosting the IDA-21 meeting in Nepal. He stated that the World Bank Group's high-level meeting in Kathmandu would enhance Nepal's reputation internationally. He thanked the World Bank management for selecting Nepal as the venue for the IDA-21 meeting and promised full support from the Government of Nepal to ensure its success. Minister Pun reflected on Nepal's six-decade-long partnership with the World Bank and commended the bank's substantial support in Nepal's development. He acknowledged the continuous interest and commitment shown by the World Bank towards constructing two major hydropower projects, Upper Arun and Dudh Koshi, which are currently in progress. He assured that Nepal is prepared to advance both projects and expressed confidence that financial management will be finalised shortly.

Minister Pun urged World Bank representatives to focus on plans that include strengthening good governance, institutional capacity building, and achieving graduation from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by 2026, tackling the impacts of climate change, enhancing public service delivery, and creating employment opportunities in Nepal. He appealed to the World Bank to prioritise not only financial assistance but also knowledge sharing and innovation through IDA-21. In a separate context, Minister Pun noted that Nepal's economy should be considered medium-sized rather than small.

In response,  World Bank's Senior Managing Director Trotsenburg congratulated and thanked the Government of Nepal for its preparations to host the Third IDA21 Replenishment Meeting.

He acknowledged the longstanding partnership between Nepal and the World Bank, affirming that Nepal has always been accorded high priority by the institution. He expressed confidence that this cooperation would continue to strengthen in future.