Context
Nepal's economic development in recent years has been marred by labour migration, low economic growth and a strong infrastructure deficit, partly triggered by the consequences of the two earthquakes in 2015 and ensuing slow reconstruction. These economic structural deficits have hampered Nepal's sustainable development and competitiveness.
Objective
Framework conditions for local economic development in selected municipalities and value chains at local and provincial levels in Nepal are improved.
Approach
Focusing on eleven municipalities of Province 5, Karnali Province and Sudurpashchim Province, the project works with the municipal governments, the private and cooperative sectors to promote local economic development. It focuses on four fields of action.
1 Enhance the capacities of public, private and cooperative actors to work together to elaborate economic development strategies.
2 Improve the conditions for the implementation of intervention measures to strengthen the local and provincial economy. The aim is to strengthen the relevant administrative structures, support enterprise development in selected value chains, introduce business and economic networks and market approaches.
3 Exchange experiences on economic development between actors at the federal, provincial and municipal levels through mechanisms such as Public-Private-Cooperative Dialogues (PPCD). The exchanges help ensure coherence of measures, enable learning on successful implementation and generation of additional ideas for improving measures.
4 Improve the conditions for and provide capacity development of public, private and cooperative actors to promote the local economy. The improved analysis and implementation capacities of local administrations, private associations and cooperatives lead to a medium to long term local anchoring of the local economic development approach.