Kathmandu, May 23
Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba held a
meeting with the President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency
(JICA), Dr. Tanaka Akihiko, on Friday.
The meeting took place at JICA’s
headquarters in Tokyo, during which discussions were held on various matters of
bilateral relations and mutual interest between Nepal and Japan, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) informed in a statement.
During the meeting, Dr. Rana expressed
appreciation for JICA’s assistance in areas such as economic growth and poverty
alleviation, disaster risk reduction, climate change, and the strengthening of
good governance and democracy through its fundamental cooperation policy for Nepal.
She also commended the recent support
provided by the Japanese government through JICA in various sectors of Nepal,
including the construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel, the reconstruction and
maintenance of the Sindhuli-Bardibas road, among others.
The meeting also included discussions on
Nepal-Japan relations, JICA’s ongoing support to Nepal, climate change and its
impacts, disaster management, good governance, and issues related to senior
citizens, read the statement.
On the same day,
at a luncheon hosted by the Japan-Nepal Development Forum, led by former
Vice-Minister for Finance of Japan, Motoyuki Odachi, in her honour, FM Dr. Rana
urged and encouraged Japanese investors to invest in Nepal as there exists
immense potentials in the priority sectors of Nepal’s development, adding that
the Government of Nepal is committed to ensuring the safety of their
investment.
Earlier, she addressed the
annual conference of the Foundation for the Welfare and Education for the Asian
People (FWEAP) on May 21 in Tokyo. Addressing on the topic of Social Isolation
and Loneliness among older people, she stated that the existing institutional
frameworks and legal provisions of Nepal give protection to senior citizens
along with key issues and future pathways for action, read the statement by the
MoFA.
Earlier, on Thursday, FM Dr. Rana held an official
meeting with her Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya. During the meeting, Iwaya expressed
his desire to further strengthen bilateral relations based on the traditional
friendship between Japan and Nepal.
FM
Dr. Rana expressed her hopes that Nepal would receive an enhanced level of
development cooperation from Japan in Nepal’s effort for graduating from LDC
category next year 2026.
Mentioning
that the two countries share age-old socio-cultural ties inspired from the
teachings of Gautam Buddha, she further said that the presence of a large
Nepali community, which is the fifth largest among foreign residents in Japan,
has been a remarkable aspect of the bilateral relations between the two
countries.
Likewise, on Tuesday, Parliamentary
Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Akiko Ikuina paid a courtesy call on
FM Dr. Rana and discussed the matters for further enhancing the mutually
rewarding relationship and the celebration 70th anniversary of the
establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Japan.
The Foreign Minister of Nepal is
in Tokyo for a four-day goodwill visit. She will return to Kathmandu on
Saturday.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 May 2025.
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