Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat receives The Banker’s Global and Asia-Pacific Finance Minister of the Year awards for his exemplary work in the aftermath of the two disastrous earthquakes that hit Nepal in 2015 and in pushing for reforms to improve governance in the country’s ministry of finance. Mr Mahat was the first Nepalese government official to interact with the international community after the earthquakes. He took a last-minute trip to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, to raise awareness among his peers and the press. Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, a Nepali Congress leader, combines the rare backgrounds of a politician and technocrat. A political activist imprisoned several times since his early student days, he also served as a teacher and a UN civil servant in different countries. Hailing from Kabilas-8 of Nuwakot, Dr. Ram Saran Mahat, a senior politician and a technocrat, was born on January 1, 1951. He is the son of Khadga Bahadur and Tol Kumari Mahat and holds a Doctor in Philosophy in Economics. His political career began in 1973.