Launch of Nepal’s Country Climate and Development Report

Mr. Martin Raiser is the World Bank Regional Vice President for South Asia. Mr. Raiser manages Bank relations with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and oversees a portfolio of projects, technical assistance and financial resources worth almost US$55 billion. Before joining the region, Mr. Raiser was the World Bank’s Country Director for China and Mongolia, and Director for Korea. Mr. Raiser has also held positions as the Country Manager in Uzbekistan, Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Country Director for Turkey, and Country Director for Brazil. Mr. Raiser holds a doctorate degree in Economics (summa cum laude) from the University of Kiel, Germany, and degrees in Economics and Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. Before joining the World Bank in 2003, Mr. Raiser worked for the Kiel Institute of World Economics and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he was Director of Country Strategy and Editor of the Transition Report. 

Mr. Faris Hadad-Zervos, is the World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Prior to this, he served as the World Bank Country Manager for Nepal, Country Manager for Malaysia and the Head of the Global Knowledge and Research Hub in Kuala Lumpur. Mr. Hadad-Zervos, a US national, joined the World Bank in 1996 with the Private Sector Development Department. He served as Manager of the Technical Cooperation Program with the Gulf Cooperation Countries (2000-2003), Head of Mission for Iraq (2003-2005), Operations Manager for the West Bank and Gaza (2005-2008), Acting Director for Fragile States in the Operations Department (2010-2011) and Country Manager for Bolivia (2012-2015). In 2008, Hadad-Zervos took a leave of absence from the World Bank to serve as the Deputy Head of the Quartet Office for the Middle East Peace Process, based in Jerusalem. Hadad-Zervos holds a Master's Degree in Economics from George Mason University, and a Master's Degree in Finance from George Washington University.

Mr. John Roome is Regional Director, South Asia Sustainable Development at the World Bank. Before that he was Senior Director for Climate Change. He joined the World Bank in 1989, working initially in Africa, and has since held various positions including Operations and Strategy Director for Global Practices and Cross Cutting Solutions, Director for Sustainable Development in the Bank’s East Asia and the Pacific Region, Operations and Strategy Director in the Bank’s South Asia region and as Operational Quality Director in the Bank’s Africa region. His experience spans water, urban, transport, energy, rural, agriculture, environment, and social sectors, as well as disaster risk management and climate change. Before joining the World Bank, John worked in Europe for Monitor Company, a leading corporate strategy consulting firm, and at Old Mutual, a South African Life Assurance Company. He was educated at Oxford University, where he obtained Masters Degrees in Econometrics and in Management Studies, and the University of Cape Town where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Statistics and Actuarial Science.

Mr. Krishna Hari Pushkar is the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). Prior to this, he was serving as the Revenue Secretary at MoF. Mr. Pushkar entered the civil service in 1996 and has held key positions in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, among others. He has a Master’s degree in public administration from Tribhuvan University, and has received the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship in 2014-2015 and DAAD Scholarship in Germany in 2005-2007.

Dr. Pem Narayan Kandel is the Secretary at the Ministry of Forests and Environment. Prior to this, he served as the Chief of Planning, Monitoring and Coordination Division, at the Ministry of Forests and Environment. He also served as the Secretary at Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and also as the Principal Secretary of Madhesh Province. He holds a doctorate degree in Forestry.      

Mr. Ashish Garg, FCA CISA is the Vice President of the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN). He is involved in the development of Hydro and Solar power projects for over one and a half decades in Nepal with combined capacity of 200 MW. Mr. Garg's expertise includes foreign direct investment, regional power trade, project development, etc. His policy advocacy on creation for power market, foreign investment and sustainable hydro power development in Nepal has been widely recognized. He is also the convener of the Infrastructure Committee at Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Executive Committee member at Nepal Land and Housing Developers Association, and Managing Director of Nepal Power Exchange Limited (NEPEX), Nepal's first private power trading company.

H.E. Ms. Nicola Pollitt is the British Ambassador to Nepal. She was appointed her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in November 2019. Prior to this, she was the Additional Director in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate in FCO from 2017 to 2018. Ms. Pollitt joined FCO in 2003 in the Consular Directorate as the Head of Child Abduction Unit and has since worked across different departments in the FCO and No10 including in the role of Assistant Private Secretary to the Prime Minister from 2014 to 2016.  

Dr. Radha Wagle is the Director General of Department of Plant Resources at the Ministry of Forests and Environment. Prior to this, she served as a Secretary for Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forests and Environment, Lumbini Province, Chief of Central Forestry Training Center and REDD Implementation Center, Nepal. Along with her regular responsibilities of the Ministry, she is also serving as a National Gender and Climate Change Focal Person and National Focal Person to UNFCCC and IPCC. Dr. Wagle has more than 20 years of experiences in the field of forestry, biodiversity and climate change, more specifically in community forestry, REDD+, sustainable forest management, protected area management and gender equality and social inclusion in forestry and climate change sector. She is the first female Joint Secretary in Nepal’s forest bureaucracy and holds a master's degree in Environmental Science from Swedish Agricultural University (SLU), Sweden.

Ms. Sepideh Keyvanshad is currently serving as the Mission Director for USAID/Nepal. Ms. Sepideh has worked within the US Government in a variety of roles, including the Department of State and the National Security Council, and as a Foreign Service Officer with USAID since 2000. She has been posted overseas with USAID in Afghanistan and El Salvador and has served with international and non-governmental organizations in Russia and Haiti. She has broad experience working with and across development and governmental institutions, and has focused on supporting governance efforts, as well as institutional and organizational change. She holds a master’s degree in strategic studies from the US National War College, and a J.D. from the University of Illinois’ College of Law.

Ms. Shreya KC is an advisor at Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA) where she also served as national network coordinator. She is Youth Climate Change Champion for UNICEF South Asia and received the ‘Hidden Eco-Hero Award’ in 2020. She was a delegate to COP25 and also a part of the Nepali national delegation to COP26. In April 2021, she was featured in Gayle Kimball’s Climate Girls Saving Our World, and was one of 100 young climate activists from across the world featured in Marianne Larned’s Stone Soup for a Sustainable World: Life-Changing Stories of Young Heroes. Ms. KC believes in finding local solutions suited to Nepal’s indigenous communities to adapt to the impact of the climate crisis.

Mr. Siddhant Raj Pandey is the Chairperson and CEO of Business Oxygen, the first International SME Venture and Climate Impact Fund in Nepal promoted by the IFC of the World Bank Group, FCDO, Climate Investment Funds (PPCR) and WLC Ventures. He has been a banker for over two decades, having worked with Merrill Lynch and Riggs Bank in London,  and CEO of Ace Development Bank, Nepal. Mr. Pandey  is the Chairman of the Agribusiness Incubation Centre (NABIC), under the Ministry of Agriculture.  He is also the Co-Chair of the Start-up and Innovation centre at the FNCCI. He holds MSc. from University of Bristol (UK).

Mr. Sujeev Shakya is the Founder, CEO of beed Management, an international management consulting and financial advisory firm. Mr. Shakya leverages over 25 years of experience in diverse fields and geographies to advise, lead, and inspire. With comprehensive networks in Nepal’s public, private, civil, and diplomatic sectors, he is a trusted business and policy advisor and a respected strategic thinker. Mr. Shakya serves as Chair of Nepal Economic Forum, Nepal’s premier private sector-led think-tank, and as Senior Advisor to Bower Group Asia, a Washington DC based advisory firm.