Gyawali emphasises on LLDC's partnership to support development

Kathmandu, Sept. 26

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said that the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) should forge effective partnership among themselves and transit partners to increase connectivity in order to support development.

“Infrastructure gap in LLDCs compared to other countries is the highest,” he said while addressing the annual Ministerial Meeting of the LLDCs which was organised at the sidelines of the ongoing 74^th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“So they should give priority to building connectivity, including through durable and effective partnership between and among LLDCs and their transit and development partners,” he added.

The meeting was attended by foreign ministers and other high-level representatives of LLDCs and transit as well as development partners and UN system entities, said the Nepali Mission in New York in a statement.

FM Gyawali also held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts of Bahrain, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. In the meeting with Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain, the two ministers discussed about the labour relations, trade promotion, tourism and investment.

They agreed to expedite the pending agreements and further work closely for more cooperation and collaboration, including through exchanging high-level visits.

Similarly, in the meeting with Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, issues like further strengthening bilateral relations through more cooperation and collaboration, and expediting the finalisation of agreements that are currently in the pipeline were discussed.

The meeting with the Norwegian Minister for International Development Dag Inge Ulstein focused on areas of cooperation, including in investment as well as collaboration at multilateral forums such as the United Nations. They also shared their views on various international issues, particularly climate change, read the statement.  

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population Upendra Yadav attended an event on ‘Innovation, Decentralization and Sustainable Financing: Keys to Unlocking Sustainable Healthcare’. Addressing the meeting, he pointed to the need of effective delivery of public health services.

He said that for the reliable and effective delivery of services, capacity building, better equipment and health infrastructure were instrumental.

 Nepal and Ghana establish bilateral relations

Nepal and Ghana has established formal bilateral relations on Wednesday.

FM Gyawali and his Ghanaian counterpart Ayorkor Botchwey signed a joint communiqué to enter into the formal friendly ties.

With this development, the number of countries Nepal has established diplomatic relations has now reached 168.

The two ministers shared the confidence that the diplomatic ties will help bring the two countries and peoples closer on the bilateral front, while continuing their collaboration at multilateral forums.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 September 2019.