Press Release
Hon. Mr. Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister for Forests and Environment arrived in Doha, yesterday evening, leading a high-level Nepali delegation to the 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) held in Doha from 30 April to 1 May 2019.
Upon arrival at the Hamad International Airport, Hon. Minister and the members of Nepali delegation were received by His Excellency Prof. Ramesh Prasad Koirala, Ambassador of Nepal to the State of Qatar, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar and the Embassy of Nepal.
The Ministerial Meeting was organized under the theme “Partners in Progress”. ACD Ministers deliberated on a wide range of issues of common interests. They also discussed on the various measures to be undertaken for strengthening the ACD platform and enhancing existing cooperation among ACD Member States.
While addressing the meeting, the Hon. Minister underscored the importance of regional connectivity and promotion of intraregional tourism and investment. He also called for regional collaboration for addressing the adverse impacts of climate change and natural disasters and urged the Member States to have a meaningful dialogue in developing strategies and plan of action for required interventions. The Minister highlighted the various avenues of foreign investment in Nepal, stating that conducive environment has been created for foreign investors and called on the Member States to invest in Nepal. He informed the regional platform about the program of Visit Nepal Year 2020 and invited people from the friendly countries to visit Nepal.
The meeting adopted Doha Declaration which included regional collaboration and cooperation in areas such as sustainable development, connectivity, cyber security, promotion of tourism and culture, development of health and sports sector, collective efforts for reducing the impacts of climate change and disaster management, among others.
The Ministerial Meeting was preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) which was held on 30 April 2019. Mr. Yagya Bahadur Hamal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Nepal led the Nepali delegation to the meeting.
The Nepali delegation to the Ministerial Meeting comprised Prof. Ramesh Prasad Koirala, Ambassador of Nepal to the State of Qatar, the Leader of the Senior Officials Meeting, Mr. Ganesh Bikrm Shahi, Under Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Ms. Indira Aryal, Section Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Prabin Bhattarai, Second Secretary Embassy of Nepal, Doha.
The Embassy of Nepal hosted a reception in honour of the Hon. Minister for Forests and Environment and the Nepali delegation later in the evening today. Hon. Minister is scheduled to return to Kathmandu tomorrow.
Embassy of Nepal
Doha, State of Qatar
1 May 2019