KATHMANDU: Vice President of the US agency for Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Fatema Sumar and Assistant Vice President Jonathan Brooks have arrived in Kathmandu. A team led by Vice President Sumar arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday on a four-day visit to Nepal.

Raj Kumar Chhetri, the spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) informed that they landed in Kathmandu via a flight of Qatar Airways at 9:25 am.

Meanwhile, the security has been tightened in the Kathmandu Valley targeting the visit of Sumar. Armed police force personnel have been deployed in the major places of the Valley including Thapathali, Naya Baneshwor, Putalisadak, Maitighar and Maharajgunj.

The MCC’s visit at this level is viewed with interest and importance after the bilateral agreement on the Millennium Challenge Compact was signed between the Government of Nepal and the Millennium Challenge Corporation of the US Government four years ago to reduce poverty and promote sustainable socio-economic development.

The agreement was signed between the MCC on behalf of the US government and the Ministry of Finance on behalf of Nepal.

The visit is being watched with interest in the political circles as well as at the grassroots level over the Rs 50 billion assistance received from the United States as a grant for the implementation of road infrastructure, power transmission line construction and other physical infrastructure development projects in Nepal.

However, they are coming to Nepal to inquire information about the procedural progress of the MCC project.

The previous government had recognized the MCC-assisted project as a project of national pride, approved an environmental impact assessment and gave priority to land acquisition and construction of transborder transmission lines.

The project, which has an agreement with the common goal of promoting Nepal’s economic development and poverty alleviation, includes the construction of a 318-kilometer-long transmission line with a capacity of 400 kilovolts and three high-capacity substations.

While in Nepal, the delegation led by Vice Chair Sumar is scheduled to hold separate meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma and Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Pampha Bhusal.