KATHMANDU: Swiss Ambassador to Nepal Elisabeth von Capeller on Friday paid a courtesy call on Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Poudel at the latter’s office.
During the meeting, Minister Poudel said that Nepal and Switzerland always enjoyed a good tie and he had prioritized further deepening the bilateral ties through mutual trust and collaboration, Minister Poudel’s Secretariat stated.
Underscoring the global collaboration and unity to offset the COVID-19 challenge, Minister Poudel had lauded the measures taken by the European countries to stem the second wave of COVID-19 infection.
The Minister also extended his gratitude to the Swiss government for its continued support to Nepal for its development efforts and practices.
In response, Swiss Ambassador Capeller congratulated the newly-appointed Minister Poudel for taking up his office and opined that the role of the Finance Minister was paramount for the stability and growth of the country.
Stating that many positive changes were institutionalized in Nepal in the last 10 years, Ambassador Capeller pledged Swiss government’s support for the sustainable development envisioned by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the government’s development efforts set on a priority basis.
During the meeting, an agreement was signed between the Government of Nepal and Government of Switzerland for providing technical assistance worth over Rs 1.26 billion for the Motorable Local Bridges Programme.
Under this Programme, 200 motorable bridges would be built on provincial roads in the next four years.
The agreement was inked by Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Shree Krishna Nepal on behalf of the Government of Nepal and Ambassador Capeller representing the Swiss Government, according to the Ministry of Finance.
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