From road construction to agriculture and from health to communication, JICA and JOCV have worked together in the uplift of the life of Nepalese people. Thanks to their efforts, Nepalese have made significant progress in some of these areas.

The Japanese help to Nepal is visible all over the country. Whether it is in the improvement of Koteshwor-Surya Binayak Road or Banepa-Sindhuli Road, there is JICA. Be it hydropower sector or drinking water, Japan government has supported Nepal. Kulekhani project is a model storage project.

In the agriculture sector, the Japanese have helped Nepalese to grow junar in Sindhuli and Ramechhap and coffee in Syangja and trout fish in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. All these products aim to uplift the life of poor people in Nepal.

Similarly, JICA supported to build the TUTH hospital as well as a number of schools in various parts of Nepal. JOCV volunteers worked in remote parts of Nepal in various forms. The expansion of Radio Nepal and technical support to Nepal Television helped to modernize Nepal’s media sector.

The government of Japan, through JICA, has been providing development assistance to Nepal since the 1970s, mainly in the areas of social and economic infrastructure, democratization and peace-building and improvement of rural living standards.

Aiming at the promotion of Japan, its traditional as well as contemporary cultures in Nepal, the Embassy of Japan, in association with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Nepal Office, organized a one day Japan Festival in Kathmandu with joint support from Japanese Association in Nepal, Japanese Chambers of Commerce in Nepal (JCCN), and Japanese Language Teachers’ Association of Nepal (JALTAN). The show was a first of its kind where one could see all out developmental efforts being made.

During the Festival, visitors enjoyed various traditional Japanese cultures like Japanese cuisines, tea ceremony, ikebana, calligraphy, wearing Yukata, Japanese Karaoke competitions, Japanese drums, and Noh (stage performance). Also the new Japanese technological products from Canon, Sharp, Sony, Panasonic and Honda Companies featured in the festival.

The stalls of JICA and JOCV demonstrated 40-years’ activities of JOCV and the ongoing economic cooperation projects of the Government of Japan like Sindhuli Road, Kathmandu-Bhaktapur Road, and One Village One Product (OVOP).

“This type of occasion will help promote cultural ties between the peoples of the two countries, which ultimately will help expansion of ever-growing friendly and cooperative relationships between Japan and Nepal in the 21st century,” said a Japanese Embassy Press Release.
At a time when the country has been passing through a political instability, Nepal’s overall development is overshadowed. However, JICA continues to provide support in Nepal and JOCV’s volunteers work side by side with the local community.

One can see visible impacts of forty years of development support given by Japan in various spheres of life.