Nepali PM reiterates readiness to participate in China's Belt and Road Initiative

Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Friday, reiterated Nepal's readiness to participate in the China's Belt and Road Initiative saying that the country wants to be benefited from the initiative.

The prime minister made such remarks at a meeting with visiting Chinese Minister of State Administration for Industry and Commerce Zhang Mao in Kathmandu.

"The prime minister reiterated Nepal's active participation in China's Belt and Road Initiative," Foreign Relations Advisor to the Prime Minister Rishi Raj Adhikari told Xinhua after the meeting.

The Belt and Road refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and the initiatives aim at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road.

The two sides discussed on a range of bilateral issues during the meeting.

"Relationship between Nepal and China has remained trouble-free for ages and it needs to be further strengthened in the present context. I believe that frequent exchanges of high level visits help to enhance our bilateral ties," Advisor Adhikari quoted Prime Minister Dahal as saying.

On the occasion, the visiting Chinese minister expressed satisfaction over smooth-running of ongoing various bilateral cooperation projects between China and Nepal.

The Nepali prime minister also expressed happiness over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral exchange of information on the areas of consumers' right protection between Nepal and China recently.

The deal is aimed at helping to create competitive market environment and more particularly, accentuate the trade relations between two neighboring countries, according to Nepal's Ministry of Commerce. Enditem