August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).

The Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA Nepal), which has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the US grant projects worth $500 million, is all set to announce the official commencement of the MCC today with the Entry into Force (EIF) coming into effect from August 30.

As per the agreement with the US government, the MCC projects need to be completed within five years after the commencement of the EIF.

The initial agreement for the project was signed between the Finance Ministry and the US government representatives on September 14, 2017.

However, the MCC was delayed due to widespread protest by a section of the society on the pretext that the grant agreement was allegedly a part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US government.

After much debate and deliberations, the House of Representatives finally ratified the MCC grant agreement on February 27, 2022 with a 12-point explanatory note clarifying that the project should not be associated with any military alliance and that the grant agreement must abide by the Constitution of Nepal.

Noting that the MCC had received explanatory declaration last year, the US embassy said they have accepted the explanatory note as part of the compact.    

The Kathmandu-based US Embassy has expressed its commitment to collaborate with MCA-Nepal to ensure successful implementation of the compact.

“All concerned parties are working to attain the goals of the MCC compact on time," the state-owned RSS quoted the embassy officials as saying. 

Cameron Alford, vice president of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Operations Department, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday for the implementation of the MCC.    

Nepal has met five out of six pre-conditions to implement the MCC.

Of the six prerequisites, land acquisition for the implementation of the pact has been awaited.

According to the initial agreement, the United States was supposed to provide US$ 500 million to Nepal for construction of cross-border transmission line and upgrading of roads while Nepal would have to contribute US$ 130 million for the project, expecting the total cost of the MCC project to remain at US$ 630 million.

But the 'supplemental agreement' over the MCC that was signed last year, demands the government to bear additional cost of US$ 67 million, seeking its total contribution of US$ 197 million for the enforcement of the agreement. In the beginning, Nepal was supposed to take up 20.63 per cent financial responsibility for the MCC project and now it has increased to 28.26 percent. The increased responsibility amount is equivalent to Rs 900 million.