PM Oli to address BIMSTEC Summit
Kathmandu, Apr. 1
Prime Minister KP
Sharma Oli has embarked on a five-day official visit to Thailand. He reached Bangkok on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh and Minister for Home
Affairs Ramesh Lekhak and other high officials bid farewell to PM Oli and
Nepali delegation to BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical
and Economic Cooperation) at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
This will be the first-ever Official Visit
by the Prime Minister of Nepal to Thailand. There have been no prime
ministerial visit from Nepal to Thailand in the last 65 years since the two
countries established diplomatic relations.
PM Oli has reached
Thailand at the invitation of the Thai Prime Minister
Paetongtarn Shinawatra. He is scheduled to hold a courtesy meeting with the
King of Thailand, Vajiralongkorn.
Likewise, PM Oli will hold official talks
with his Thai counterpart, Shinawatra, and discuss various areas of bilateral
relations between Nepal and Thailand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA)
informed in a statement last week.
The Prime Minister will also lead a Nepali
delegation to and address the Sixth Summit of the BIMSTEC to be hosted by the
Government of Thailand in Bangkok on April 4.
According to the MoFA, PM Oli is also
scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BIMSTEC member
states on the margins of the summit.
PM Oli is accompanied by his spouse Radhika
Shakya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, his Chief Advisor
Bishnu Prasad Rimal, Economic and Development Advisor Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada,
and high-ranking government officials, representatives of private sector and
media persons.
Likewise, Minister for Agriculture and
Livestock Development, Ramnath Adhikari, Agriculture Secretary Dr. Govinda
Prasad Sharma and Livestock Secretary, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Mishra will
participate in the agriculture minister-level and third high-officials meetings
during the BIMSTEC Summit.
Meanwhile, Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC)
informed that its President Kamlesh Kumar Agrawal, chairman of its Advisory
Council Rajesh Kazi Shrestha, Senior Vice-President Dipak Malhotra and honourary
VP Arjun Prasad Sharma also left for Thailand with PM Oli.
They will participate in the BIMSTEC Summit
and will ink understanding and agreement with trade and business bodies of
Thailand on trade facilitation, and tourism and investment promotion.
NCC has made preparations to sign an
agreement with the Tourism Council of Thailand. More than 90 per cent of Thai
people are Buddhists, and the country could be an important source for pilgrims
and tourists to Lumbini and other touristic areas in Nepal. In 2023, more than
25,000 Thai tourists visited Nepal.
In 2023/24, Nepal exported goods worth Rs.
947.5 million to Thailand and imported merchandise of 8.65 billion.
According to the MoFA, the Thai government
has been providing assistance to Nepal for human resource development under
Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) and master’s
degree scholarships in various subjects.
On 8 January 1999, the two countries signed
an Agreement on Exemption of Visa Requirements for holders of diplomatic and
official passports. They also signed Bilateral Air Services Agreement with
Thailand on February 16, 2004.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 2 April 2025.
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