Nepal Foreign Affairs (KATHMANDU, 10 September 2018) – The first meeting of the joint steering committee formed for energy cooperation between Nepal and China is scheduled to take place in Kathmandu on September 27-28.
The venue and date were set by a recently held meeting of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation after China agreed to the meeting proposal, said the Ministry.
The power agreement was signed between Nepal and China during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s official visit to China on June 19-24. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Energy Minister of Nepal Barshman Pun and China’s Energy Minister Nur Bekri.
As per the agreement, Nepal has formed a seven-member joint steering committee. The Nepali team will be co-chaired by Anup Kumar Upadhyay, secretary at MoEWRI, and represented by two joint secretaries and an under-secretary from the same ministry, Director General of Department of Electricity Development, a power licensing body, Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, the state-owned power utility body and a representative from Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Minister Pun shared that the decision was taken to call the joint meeting to implement the agreement held with China on energy cooperation.
The Chinese side has asked the agendas prior to the meeting. The Nepalese team has prepared the agendas for the meeting.
It is stated that the Nepali side has prepared the agendas on possible hydro projects to be constructed jointly, cross border transmission lines among others.