A senior Japanese embassy official today said that Japan government has placed priority on boosting Nepals socio-economic development.

Hiroshi Jingu, minister counsellor embassy of Japan, said that development of hydropower is key to overall socio-economic development, a matter to which Japan has given importance.

He was addressing at a programme organised by JICA Alumni Association of Nepal on Japanese Cooperation for Power System Development in Nepal. He said that Japan has been supporting Nepal in power transmission and distribution, Kulekhani hydropower, Kali-Gandaki hydropower and transfer of technology to make Nepal self-sufficient in power generation.

Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, state minister for Water resources, admitted at the same programme that Nepal has failed to exploit its hydropower potentials for which serious efforts are required. Karki appreciated the cooperation extended by Japan to the hydropower sector in Nepal. He said that it is like a dream for rural people to have access to electricity, which we need to fulfil at any cost.

Chandi Shrestha, president of JICA Alumni Association of Nepal, said in the programme that it would make an assessment of Japans support to Nepals power sector development and also work out strategies as to how hydropower sector can be exploited to a greater extent. Shrestha said that goods and policies alongwith politics are needed to move effectively.

As per the paper presented by Pushpa Raj Khadka, manager, Nepal Electricity Authority, Japan has further increased its support to Nepal by providing non-profit grants for electrification of rural village development committees in Ilam district equivalent to Rs 70 million in the fiscal year 2006-07.

The governments grant for electrification, which amounts to only Rs 200,000 to one million rupees to a single district, is not a sufficient amount, said Khadka.