Nepal officially joins Belt and Road Initiative
- By Mahendra Subedi
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 12, 2017
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Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and Ambassador of China to Nepal Yu Hong sign and exchange the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative in Kathmandu on May 12. [Photo: RSS/Xinhua] |
Just ahead of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) to be conducted in Beijing on Sunday and Monday, Nepal has formally joined the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation under the BRI in Kathmandu this morning.
Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and Ambassador of China to Nepal Yu Hong signed and exchanged the MoU on behalf of their governments at the presence of Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat.
With the MoU on BRI multi-lateral cooperation, Nepal has officially joined the China-promoted strategic move to be a part of it which in turn is likely to give impetus for Nepal's presence in the region. The Nepal government would identify the areas of cooperation, welcome the Chinese investments and implement the projects so as to receive Chinese support under the initiative. Nepal would also sign other sectoral agreements under the BRI framework.
Earlier, a cabinet meeting on May 7 had decided to sign the framework agreement on BRI.
After the formal ceremony organized to sign the MoU, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the major thrust of the MoU is to promote mutually beneficial cooperation between Nepal and China in various fields such as economy, environment, technology and culture.
"The MoU seeks to strengthen cooperation in connectivity sectors including transit transport, logistic systems, transport network and related infrastructures development such as railway, road, civil aviation, power grid, information and communication," reads the press statement.
Speaking on the occasion, Nepal's Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Mahat said, "Nepal is in need of huge foreign investments to proceed ahead development efforts, to uplift living standards of Nepalis and ensure prosperity in the country. We are fully confident that Nepal too will get benefit from the Road and Belt Initiative unveiled by the Chinese President (Xi Jinping)."
"Our major focus shall be on infrastructure development and cross-border connectivity to address the development challenges Nepal is facing due to its landlocked geographic location and least developed economic status," Nepal's Foreign Affairs Secretary Bairagi said.
Following the MoU agreement, the major media outlets in Kathmandu have given due priority terming the incident "historic."
A vernacular online, lokaantar.com, carries a news story on MoU agreement stating it a far-reaching step adding that China's assistance to Nepal in the future is likely to soar up after Nepal's participation in the initiative.
Likewise, another popular news portal, setopati.com, has published an in-depth interview of Ambassador of Nepal to China Mr. Leela Mani Paudyal with the banner headline titled "Immense possibility of Chinese investment has opened up now."
Similarly, Nepal's most-viewed news portal, onlinekhabar.com has carried out news along with a video clips with the headline "Nepal signs China's OBOR initiative."
Furthermore, Nepal's largest media house's web portal, ekantipur.com, has also posted a detailed news story of the event, stating: Nepal became the formal member of the neighbor China's ambitious OBOR project introduced for development cooperation.
Meanwhile, a high-level delegation from Nepal is attending the BRF to be held in Beijing. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Minister for Information and Communications Surendra Kumar Karki and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak, and other high-ranking government officials would also take part in the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Mahara confirmed.
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