Kathmandu, May 11
Former prime minister and coordinator of Naya Shakti Nepal, Baburam Bhattarai, has stressed the need to build the Kathmandu-Tarai fast track and the second international airport by mobilising national capital.
Bhattarai’s remark comes after the KP Oli government’s policies and programmes vowed to develop the fast track by using domestic investment, forcing Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba to opine in the Parliament that building the fast track using domestic capital may deter foreign investors in view of an Indian company’s desire to develop the ambitious project.
“The then government formed under my premiership had declared the fast track a project of national pride,” Bhattarai recalled, expressing sadness over the lack of national consensus on the development of projects of national pride like the fast track and the second international airport.
It is not enough to leave national-pride projects to the care of line ministries, he said. Bhattarai stressed the need to form an all-powerful mechanism under the Office of the Prime Minister for policy making, project identification, effective monitoring and development of such projects.
The state should develop such projects by taking concessional loans from different sources and by mobilising Nepali and foreign technicians and managers. Our national capacity and confidence will get a boost if we manage to develop these projects, Bhattarai said. This will open the door for huge domestic and foreign investment and the country will take a quantum leap in terms of development and prosperity, the former prime minister said.
Big projects mean huge capital, modern technology and management skills, he said, adding: In the intial phase, the state or its private sector cannot handle all this. In this phase, it is difficult to attract foreign investment.
He said: The state should identify projects that it wants to build on its own, projects it wants built under public-private partnership and projects for which it wants foreign investment.
Bhattarai said: It is wrong to assume we do not have the capacity to build ambitious projects and stand in favour of their handover to foreign parties. On the other hand, it is also wrong to think that national sovereignty will be in crisis if we hand over such projects to foreign companies.
India and China are major sources of foreign investment in Nepal, he pointed, adding: We should take decisions by taking into account our national interest and their sensitivities.
Generally speaking, it will be appropriate to give priority to the southern neighbour for development projects in the south and the northern neighbour for projects located in the north, he said.
