Nepal PM predicts sooner than later political and development breakthroughs

Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has said the country will soon achieve a breakthrough on the political and development fronts.

Receiving the annual report of the Nepal Trust at Baluwater, his official residence, over the weekend, Prime Minister Koirala said that Nepal has entered a new phase and a breakthrough would be achieved now by enacting a new constitution.

"This is favorable time for Nepal to attain peace and stability. Therefore, this time is favorable for development activities, too."

Citing the example of China, he said its development was possible through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Koirala, however, said that development will become sustainable if the nation's citizens are empowered.

In Nepal too, new concepts of development including BOT (Build-Own-Operate), BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) have already been introduced, the PM said expressing his belief that Nepal's development efforts would bring significant changes in about a decade with the help of private sector and people's participation.

He also stressed that there was a need to bring the properties of late king Birendra, queen Aishwarya, crown prince Dipendra and prince Nirajan under the ownership of the trust.

He said that the property of the trust has to be utilized in sectors such as education and health.