Kathmandu, May 27

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa today said the earthquakes last year and the subsequent blockade of Nepal-India border entry points had made Nepal’s target of graduating from the Least Developed Country status by 2022 difficult and challenging.

Addressing the plenary of the Comprehensive High-level Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action for the LDCs in Antalya, Turkey today, DPM Thapa said, “Soon after the IPOA was adopted, Nepal set a goal for itself to graduate from the LDC status by 2022.

Nepal even met the two of the three criteria for graduation,” Thapa said, adding, “Unfortunately, the earthquakes of April and May last year and obstruction in supplies for several months at the southern border points affected the entire economy,” read his written statement.

“Against this backdrop, our goal of smooth and sustainable graduation has become all the more challenging,” Thapa further said. Of the three indicators for graduation from the LDC status, Nepal has already met Human Assets Index and Economic Vulnerability Index, while it is yet to get closer to the basic per capita income standard, known as economic criterion.

During the meeting, DPM Thapa said the cost of recovery from earthquakes alone had been estimated at US $8.38 billion.