Over the past two decades, the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) has financed several projects to assist Bolivia in the development of its energy sector, including the Bolivia Country Program First Phase, which contributed to the design of a national energy plan, the definition of policies and actions applicable to rural energy and energy efficiency, and a significant structural reform of the energy sector, and also supported the preparation of the Bolivia National Biomass Program (NBP) aimed at enhancing the efficient use of biomass as an energy source, while improving the quality of life of the rural population -- in consistence with the objectives of the World Bank Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) in Bolivia regarding accelerated growth and development of private sector activities. An agreement subscribed in November 1997 between the Government of the Netherlands and the World Bank assigned the execution of NBP to ESMAP, with the Vice Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons (VMEH) as its counterpart in Bolivia.