A press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance said that finance secretary Vidyadhar Mallik and Paul J. Heytens, Country Director of ADB, Nepal Resident Mission, signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Nepal and ADB respectively.
It said that the project would facilitate the Government of Nepal in economic and social development and reduce poverty by making ICT more accessible to remote and rural areas with the improvised delivery of government services through the ICT network.
The project comprises modernising rural communities, particularly in remote areas, by improving rural connectivity through wireless broadband networks, mobilising community socio-economic activities through village network portals, and building tele-centers to improve service access in remote rural areas.
Building a government ICT network would allow the government-to-government exchange of data and information and central management of government data information.
Besides developing various priority e-government applications, and designing and implementing human resource development programmes has been sorted out as a major focus of the project.
The government of Nepal has expressed its sincere appreciation to the Asian Development Bank for this assistance and continued support in the socio-economic development of Nepal.
The Project will be executed by Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, and completed by June 2014.
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Quelle/Source: Gorkhapatra, 23.05.2008
