A Chinese foundation's plans to build a $3-billion “special development zone” to transform the town of Lumbini into a major Buddhist pilgrimage centre have been cast in further doubt after a United Nations agency thought to be backing the project stressed it had no involvement in the plan.
The Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), a China-based organisation, last month unveiled plans to build highways, hotels, tourism centres and power projects to transform Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, into a major tourist hub, as The Hindu reported on July 17.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
While the APECF had signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Beijing, the U.N. agency said in a statement this week it had “not entered into any valid contractual agreement with the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), and therefore is not involved in any activities related to the Lumbini Special Development Zone in Nepal”.
The statement said the intended MoU “was never approved by the responsible UNIDO approval bodies”, adding “any reference to a UNIDO involvement in the Lumbini Special Development Zone is thus without any legal and substantive basis”.
According to sources familiar with the plan, the MoU had been signed by a local UNIDO representative without the necessary clearances from the agency's headquarters in Vienna.
ADVERTISEMENT
The agency had been represented at the July 15 MoU signing in Beijing by Hu Yuandong, head of Investment and Technology promotion at UNIDO's China office. Mr. Hu had told The Hindu then that the agency would provide technical support in designing the project and to ensure the plan was sustainable and environmentally-friendly.
UNIDO's statement this week has, however, cast further doubt on the future of the Lumbini project after its ambitious plans were unveiled last month.
Following the signing of the MoU, officials in Kathmandu said they welcomed the plan to develop Lumbini “in principle”, but stressed they had not signed any official agreement with the APECF.
On Friday, Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav was quoted as saying by local media in Kathmandu that following the UNIDO clarification, “the APECF chapter has been closed from today”.
The APECF is known in Nepal for its powerful backers.
Its co-chairmen include Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda' and Paras Bir Bikram Shah, the former crown prince.
Xiao Wunan, the organisation's vice-chairman, told The Hindu last month its plans had backing across the spectrum of Nepal's political parties.
But even as the APECF's role in Lumbini's development remains uncertain, a number of Chinese firms have expressed interest in playing a part in developing the town in accordance with the Nepali government's plans.
Earlier this month, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan told the Nepali Times in an interview that some Chinese enterprises had shown “keen interest” in developing the town. “The Chinese side,” he said, “is willing to support the plan of Nepal for developing Lumbini.”
$3-billion “special development zone”
APECF has backers in Nepal