Servia positive for visa-free entry of Nepalis

Kathmandu, May 5: Serbian first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic said that Serbia was positive to allow Nepali citizens to enter the Balkan nation without any visa.

“We want to take the relations between Serbia and Nepal to a newer height with enhanced economic and regional cooperation. Therefore, Serbia will hold discussions with Nepal government about visa-free entry,” he said while delivering a lecture on ‘Serbia in the region, Europe and the world’ organised by the Nepal Council of World Affairs (NCWA).

He said that Serbia had given high importance to the bilateral relations with Nepal, and it should be further strengthened with enhanced relations in trade, investment, tourism, education, culture and technology.

According to Dacic, Serbia is exercising balanced and proactive foreign policy for international peace, development and prosperity.

Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ghana Shyam Bhandari said that both the landlocked countries were expressing similar views in the international forums.

He urged the private sector of both the countries to initiate developing business and trade relations between them.

Meanwhile, speaking at a programme organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), the Serbian DPM indicated towards the possibility of Serbian investment in Nepal.

“Nepali industrialist Binod Chaudhary has expanded his Wai Wai production to Serbia which has deepened the business relations between the two countries. There should be mutual promotion of investment and business between Nepal and Serbia,” he said.

CNI President Hari Bhakta Sharma urged the Serbian business community to invest in Nepal and get benefits from the two largest markets in the world – China and India.

Dacis was accompanied by Serbian Ambassador to Nepal Vladimir Maric, his Foreign Affairs Advisor Nikola Nedijkovic and other high government officials.

Dacic had met his Nepali counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Friday afternoon and both the leaders deliberated on the bilateral relations between the two nations. Gyawali had organised a dinner on Friday evening in Dacic’s honour.

He also called on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

He is on a 3-day visit to Nepal and will return to Belgrade on Sunday.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on May 6, 2018.