Nepal and Germany on Thursday signed a financial cooperation agreement of Euro 24.3 million (equivalent NPR 3.02 billion) of grant assistance.

The agreement was signed by Secretary Rajan Khanal at the Ministry of Finance and German Ambassador Roland Sch?fer on behalf of their respective governments.

The total volume of bilateral technical and financial cooperation from Germany since cooperation began in 1959 amounts to around Euro 979.6 million of grant assistance, German Embassy in Kathmandu said in a press statement.

The grant assistance committed by Germany in September 2018 will be used for the following projects implemented by the German Development Bank KfW on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ):

-“Promotion of Solar Energy in Rural Areas” to support solar energy technologies such as solar pumping systems for drinking water and for irrigation, solar systems for public institutions like schools, health centers and government offices.

-“Improvement of Mother and Child Care in Urban Areas – Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital Kathmandu” to construct and rehabilitate the extension of health facilities to up to four satellite centers.These satellite centers will provide both in-patient and out-patient services to women and children closer to their residencies. The satellite centers will be run and managed under the well-established label of Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital.

-“Sustainable Economic Development in Rural and Semi-Urban Areas–MSME Finance/Phase 2”. The project is a continuation of earlier support to improve access to sustainable and target-group oriented loans, predominantly in rural and semi-urban Nepal and in particular for loan sizes which go beyond microfinance but remain below traditional corporate finance (so-called ‘missing middle’).

Both governments expressed their commitment to ensuring a successful and timely implementation of these key projects.