Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said on Friday that economic integration was the key to the progress of the backward South Asian countries, and pointed out that in spite of abundant natural resources, the Himalayan nation remained among the most backward regions in the world today.
Delivering the inaugural address at the second edition of the Global Bihar Summit — a meeting designed to showcase a resurgent Bihar — here, Dr. Bhattarai said democratic process was the best solution.
The senior Maoist leader, who led an 18-member delegation to the State, said his country needed to “leapfrog from poverty to prosperity” if it were to ensure double-digit economic growth in the near future.
Dr. Bhattarai rebutted a gradualist approach to transformation of the economy, underscoring the need for massive investments in key sectors.
Nepal, he commented, had “failed to move towards the new industrial and capitalist transition.” He laid immediacy on the need to hasten this “historic transition” from past glory to future prosperity. He acknowledged that his country lagged behind in health, education and infrastructure owing to several endogenous and exogenous factors
Key sectors
While clearly delineating transformation in Nepal's agricultural sector as one of the government's top priorities, he charted tourism, hydropower and agro-forestry as the key sectors in his country that could attract massive investments
“Besides sharing a common border, the ties between Nepal and Bihar transcend political boundaries,” he said noting that a huge volume of international trade was plied on the road and rail infrastructure of Bihar and Nepal.
Sidestepping the contentious water-sharing issues between Bihar and Nepal, the Nepalese Premier called for the best use of water between the two regions, arguing that Nepal and Bihar shared the same ecosystem.
Dr. Bhattarai said Nepal's political scenario was not one of “lingering instability” and added that a constitution would soon replace the current interim one and it would strive for equitable representation of people from all castes and classes.
“Efforts are on to develop a new model of participatory democracy in Nepal,” he said. Nepal decided to observe 2012-13 as its ‘Investment Year,' while formulation of a government Reform Action Plan had been recently announced.
Efforts were also under way to curb the rampant political corruption by developing a system of political financing, he stated.
Lessons from Bihar
Stating that his country had been keenly observing the economic and social transformation in neighbouring Bihar, Dr. Bhattarai said there was much that Nepal could learn from its renascence.
“Bihar has dramatically whipped up its security systems and has improved its performance in the key sectors of health and education. Its progress makes us envious. So, let the lands of the Buddha and Emperor Ashoka join hands and strive for regional integration.”
Emphasising the strong bond between Bihar and Nepal, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remarked that there was natural symbiosis between people of the two regions.
“Our problems are interlinked and despite some issues at the administrative level, the feeling among the people of Bihar and Nepal is one of intense amity,” he said.
