Japanese parliamentary delegation pays a courtesy call on PM Dahal, NC Prez Deuba and FM Paudel

Kathmandu / Jan 15: A Japanese delegation which includes Member of Parliament (MP) and former state minister Taira Masaaki of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party met with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other high-ranking leaders and officials of Nepal.

The three-member team that arrived in Nepal on Wednesday with the aim of further expanding Nepal-Japan relations held discussions on bilateral issues with PM Dahal, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel, who is also a Deputy PM.

On the occasion, PM Dahal said that Japan is one of Nepal’s oldest friends and thanked Japan for its continuous support in economic and social development of Nepal.

PM Dahal said that Nepal has now entered the stage of development and Japan’s support will be very important in the coming days. Saying that a favorable environment will be created for investment in Nepal, PM Dahal urged Japanese businessmen to invest in Nepal.

Dahal said that he was very impressed by the development achieved by Japan in the field of agriculture, science and technology during his visit to Japan last year and added that he wanted to develop similar skills and technology in Nepal.

Similarly, Dahal said that Japan is giving opportunities to Nepali citizens to work in various fields and urged them to cooperate in increasing this number in the future. Japanese MP Masaaki has been given the responsibility of looking after IT, manpower, digital space and other sectors in the Japanese government. There was a discussion between the two leaders about the easy entry of Nepal’s manpower in Japan.

In response to a question about the Maoist Party in parliament and its inclination toward China, Prime Minister Dahal said that his party fully believes in democracy. “I am a person who has contested the election four times,” PM Dahal said, “Our party is neither pro-China nor pro-India. We are only pro-Nepal”.

Prime Minister Dahal said that he became the PM after getting more than 99 percent vote of confidence from the parliament and expects full support from Japan.

On the occasion, MP Masaaki said that investments could be made in various sectors in Nepal including water resources and tourism.

Similarly, in a meeting with the President of Nepali Congress, the largest party in the parliament, Sher Bahadur Deuba, the party president thanked Japan for its continuous support for the development of Nepal for a long time.

Deuba said that in addition to budgetary support, Japan has been providing support during natural disasters such as COVID-19, earthquakes, floods and landslides with an open-heart.

NC President Deuba said that problems have started to appear in various parts of the world due to the adverse environmental effects and those problems are also occurring in Nepal, and Japan’s assistance is needed in reducing such problems.

On that occasion, Japanese MP Masaaki said that he saw a high potential for water resources development in Nepal and added that this sector should be developed with the financial and technical support of Japan.

MP Masaaki’s team also met Deputy PM and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel on Friday. In the meeting, Masaaki said that India, a neighbor of Nepal, has received loans from Japan at low interest rates for various projects. He urged Nepal to take initiatives to take such loans from Japan. On that occasion, Finance Minister Paudel said that there is a lack of resources for development projects and said that he would immediately take initiatives to get Japan’s cheap loan assistance.

Similarly, talking about creating a favorable environment for foreign investors in Nepal, Finance Minister Paudel asked for help in bringing Japanese investors here.

The same team met with other two leaders KP Sharma Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal on Thursday.

Similarly, Rotary International District-3292 Nepal Bhutan organized a dinner and a special program in honor of Member of Parliament and former state minister Taira Masaaki on Friday.

The Japanese team came to Nepal at the invitation of Bhawan Bhatta, former president and patron of the Non-Resident Nepali Association.