Network for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC) training centre in Bangkok have organized a second country specific training program on Project Appraisal for Lending Institutions in partnership with National Cooperative Bank Limited, Nepal through video conferencing on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperative and Poverty Alleviation Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey was the chief guest and keynote speaker. On the occasion the NCBL Nepal board members, Nepal’s Cooperative Development board, National Cooperative Federation, Primary Cooperatives, FAO representative, Nedac Vice-Chairman M S M Riyas and others took part in the training program.
The event was streamed live on YouTube and several people were connected through Zoom. Welcoming the participants, NEDAC Chairman Sundeep Nayak who is the current Managing Director informed about the Nedac and its role. “In Covid time Nedac has been active in organizing online training programs. We will assist all types of cooperatives in Nepal”, he added.
In his keynote address, Tek Narayan Pandey said, “The commercialization, modernization and mechanization of agriculture has been enhanced through the cooperatives. The Constitution of Nepal presents the cooperative sector as one of the three pillars of the economy. The state and local level government can regulate the cooperatives within their respective jurisdictions. A new cooperative Act has been framed at the federal level”, he added.
“There are around 35,000 cooperatives in the country. The share of savings and credit cooperatives is 74 percent. Cooperatives are playing an important role in poverty alleviation. The contribution of co-ops in the need-based community services like health, education, women empowerment has been crucial to sustainable development of the community”, he remarked.
He further added that, the Government of Nepal has established the National Cooperative Development Board for the development and promotion of cooperatives.
In his opening remarks, NCBL, Nepal Chairman and NEDAC Vice-Chairman K.B.Upreti said the current scenario of Covid-19 has created a challenge for the cooperative sector to manage and monitor the risks.
The one technical session on Elements of Project Proposal & its Preparation was addressed by Ashwani Kumar, Consultant, LINAC, India. He talked about the formulation of the project and the major elements which must go into the proposal.
The second session on Technical, Commercial and Organizational Appraisal of Projects was taken by S K Tuker, Advisor, LINAC, NCDC. A representative from NCBL, Nepal Badri Kumar Guargain was the moderator.