Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun delivered a keynote speech in the Nepal-China (Gansu) Economic and Trade Exchanges Conference organized by the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing with support from Gansu Provincial People's Government at Gansu International Conference Centre in Lanzhou this morning.
In his keynote speech Vice President said that the avenues for bilateral relations between Nepal and China have further widened following the signing of MOU with China on Belt and Road Initiative, joining AllB as a founding member and Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a dialogue partner.
He also said that Nepal's participation in the 23rd Lanzhou Trade and Investment Fair is a continuation of her participation in various such events every year organized by different provinces of China in order to promote trade, investment, culture and people to people relations.
“Being a close neighbor of China, it is natural for Nepal to aspire the enhanced level of partnership between the two countries- the partnership whose fruits can be reaped by both the sides,” he added.
While calling upon the Chinese enterprises for investment in Nepal, Vice President Pun said that Nepal is virgin land for investment and foreign investment is secured by law.
He also added that as Nepal needs investment, reliable technology, long term cooperation and sharing of experiences, that China possesses all these three. He thanked the Chinese government for its announcement of marking the year 20L7 as NepalTourism Promotion Year in China and said that Nepal is committed to make the year fruitful with concerted efforts of all stakeholders.
On the occasion, Vice-Governor of Gansu Province Song Liang highlighted on the prospects of furthering relations between Nepal and China, particularly with Gansu Province.
Ambassador of Nepal to China Leela Mani Paudyal highlighted the existing bilateral cooperation between the two countries and stressed the need of more engagements in economic, trade, tourism and investment sectors at government and people levels for the mutual benefits.
Binod Prasad Acharya from the Embassy presented power point on "lnvestment, Trade and Tourism Opportunities in Nepal in the Conference. Anoop Ranjan Bhattarai, President of Nepal-China Executive Council also spoke in the Conference. Three promotional videos were screened during the program.
Ambassador Paudyal answered the questions raised by the Chinese enterprises about post disaster reconstruction, investment in agriculture, tourism etc. Senior government officials from Gansu provincial peoples government and some 200 Chinese entrepreneurs with 22 Nepali business people have participated in the seminar.
According to a ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassy strongly believes that the program has been successful in generating sufficient interest among Chinese enterprises and requires constant follow up to realize the tangible output and also is committed to perform with due diligence in the days to come.
The Conference was chaired by Zhang Shien, Deputy Director General of Gansu Commerce Department. Also, Yesterday afternoon Ambassador Paudyal participated in China (Gansu) Silk Road Economic Belt Countries Practical Cooperation Forum organized by Shanghai Cooperation Organization and delivered a speech about prospects for practical cooperation opportunities among belt and road countries with Nepal. Vice President Pun is scheduled to leave Lanzhou tomorrow morning to visit Shaanxi Province of China.