KATHMANDU, July 24: Nepal and the Republic of Korea on Friday signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) worth USD 11.8 million in grant assistance to strengthen agricultural value chains and improve public access to legal information in Nepal.
The agreements were signed by Taeyoung Park, ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nepal, and Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, secretary at the Ministry of Finance.
Under the agreements, Korea will provide USD 10 million for the second phase of the Value Chain Development for Fruits and Vegetables Project, which will be implemented from 2025 to 2031. The project aims to improve agricultural value chains and increase the incomes of smallholder farmers in six districts of Lumbini Province—Banke, Dang, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Palpa and Gulmi.
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Implemented by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in coordination with Nepal's agriculture authorities, the project will focus on strengthening support systems for farmers, promoting market-oriented production, and introducing improved post-harvest technologies.
The second agreement provides USD 1.8 million for the Project for Establishing Nepal Law Information Pilot System. The initiative will develop a centralized digital platform for managing and accessing Nepal's legislative records, making legal information more accessible to the public.
The project, to be implemented in partnership with Nepal's Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Government Legislation, and the Korea Law Information Service, will include database development, IT infrastructure upgrades, business process improvements, and capacity-building for Nepali institutions.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Finance Secretary Upadhyaya thanked the Republic of Korea for its continued development assistance, saying Korean support has remained closely aligned with Nepal's development priorities.
Ambassador Park said the two projects would facilitate the transfer of Korean expertise through the deployment of technical experts and capacity-building programs for Nepali officials. He expressed confidence that bilateral cooperation would continue to deepen under the new leadership in Nepal.
KOICA Country Director Kong said the second phase of the fruit and vegetable project would build on the existing partnership in Lumbini Province to promote sustainable income growth for smallholder farmers. He added that the law information project would strengthen digital legal services by improving public access to legislative information.
The Republic of Korea has been one of Nepal's key development partners since 1991 through KOICA, supporting sectors including health, education, agriculture, vocational training, rural development and digital transformation. According to KOICA, Korea has provided about USD 235 million in development assistance to Nepal to date.
