Nepal-France first BCM held on Friday

Kathmandu, Dec. 13

Nepal and France have held the first meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on Friday.

With a view to reviewing the bilateral relations and sharing views on regional and international issues of common interest on a regular basis, Nepal and France have established a BCM at the foreign ministry level.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to this effect was signed in Kathmandu on Friday morning.

Nirmal Raj Kafle, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Francois Xavier Leger, Ambassador of France to Nepal, signed the MOU on behalf of their respective governments.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by the Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Nepali and French delegates to the first meeting of the Mechanism.

Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and Thierry Mathou, Director for Asia and Oceania of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, led their respective delegations to the meeting.

The two sides took stock of all aspects of bilateral relations and exchanged views on further promoting cooperation between the two countries. Views were also shared on the importance of continuing the exchange of high-level visits, in the context of the successful visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to France in June this year.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the two sides discussed various ways and means of enhancing economic partnership, including in the areas of trade, tourism and investment, and promoting people-to-people contacts.

Nepal requested France to encourage its private sector to explore opportunities in the Nepali market given the political stability, policy and institutional reforms and a business-friendly environment created in the country.

France stressed on the need for enhancing Nepal’s competitive edge, including through branding its organic products. It also agreed to provide cooperation towards making the Visit Nepal Year 2020 a success.

Matters of regional and international importance were also discussed during the meeting. The two ministries agreed to further engage in several issues of common interest such as Climate Change and the UN Peacekeeping. "With regard to the upcoming Sagarmatha Sambaad, France will positively consider its meaningful participation in this international dialogue dedicated to important issues of Climate Change and its effects on mountains," read a statement issued by the ministry.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 14 December 2019.