Lauding the ongoing political stability and development trend in Bangladesh, Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Wednesday said Nepal wants to utilize Dhaka’s experience for his country’s socio-economic advancement, reports BSS.
Sharma Oli, also the chairman of the Nepal Communist Party, came up with the remark as he paid a courtesy call on President M Abdul Hamid, now on a four-day official visit to Kathmandu, Nepal. The Nepalese premier said Nepal is keen to work with Bangladesh in enhancing the connectivity and people-to-people contact between the two very friendly countries to take the bilateral relation to a new height.
President’s Press Secretary M Joynal Abedin told BSS after the meeting held at Marriott Hotel in Kathmandu this afternoon. Referring to the existing excellent bilateral ties that started since 1972, he said the relation is increasing day by day. The Nepalese ruling party chairman said Bangladesh, meantime, developed tremendously in many sectors and reached the status of a developing country from the list of Least Developed Countries (LDC) owing to existing political stability. “I congratulate Bangladesh for this achievement,” he added. Referring to the development policies and strategies undertaken by the Nepal government under the vision-2030 “Samridhdha Nepal, Sukhi Nepali”, the PM sought all-out support of Bangladesh for its implementation within the stipulated timeframe.
Appreciating the development polices of Nepal, President Abdul Hamid assured that Bangladesh is ready to extend all support to Nepal in this process of achieving socio-economic prosperity. Sharma Oli welcomed Bangladesh investment in hydro-electricity sector in Nepal, expressing optimism that both countries would be able to benefit from harnessing the available synergies in this sector.
He expressed his gratitude to the Bangladesh government for making Nepalese students’ visa process easy and long-term basis as at least 6,000 students are studying, most of them in medical colleges, in Bangladesh. The Nepalese PM sought Bangladesh’s support to reduce trade deficit with Dhaka.
The President stressed on resolving the problem, assuring that Bnagldesh’s necessary cooperation would continue to Nepal in days to come. Abdul Hamid noted that Bangladesh is one of the largest tourist sending countries to Nepal, sending around 37,000 tourists in 2018 alone.
He hoped that Nepal would reciprocate with more Nepalese tourists visiting Bangladesh to enjoy Cox’s Bazaar beaches and the mangrove forest- the Sundarbans. Whip Atiur Rahman Atik, ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, MP, Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque, President’s Secretary Sampad Baura, Military Secretary Major General Shamim-Uz-Zaman, Press Secretary Joynal Abedin and Nepal foreign ministry officials were present.