Press Release
The visiting Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat had a bilateral meeting with His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar at latter’s office today. During the meeting, views were exchanged on further consolidating and strengthening the existing bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and the State of Qatar. The discussion also focused on the need of promoting other areas of cooperation between the two countries such as energy and telecom. H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar stated that a team of senior officials from his country would visit Nepal soon to have detailed discussions with the officials in Nepal on the matters discussed in the meeting. Both the Ministers underlined the importance of exchanging high level visit between the two countries. In this context, Foreign Minister Dr. Mahat expressed hope that HH Emir of Qatar would be able to visit Nepal at the invitation extended by The Rt. Hon. President of Nepal last year. H. E. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar said the relations between the two countries were important and that need to be further diversified in the days to come.
Also today, Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal paid a courtesy call on His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar. Noting the contribution of Nepali migrant workers in the development of Qatar, HH Emir reiterated assurance of Qatar for safety, security and welfare of Nepali workers in Qatar. Exploring further potentials with a view to further strengthening bilateral relations was emphasized during the meeting.
Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs also had a meeting with His Excellency Dr. Issa bin Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi, Minister of Administrative Development and Labour and Social Affairs of the State of Qatar. During the meeting, detailed discussions were held on matters pertaining to the Nepali migrant workers and the steps to be taken to ensure safety and wellbeing of the Nepali migrant workers in Qatar as well as further enhancing cooperation in this area.
Foreign Secretary Mr. Shanker Das Bairagi; Mr. Mani Ratna Sharma, Chargé d’ Affairs, a.i., the Embassy of Nepal in Doha; Mr. Govind Mani Bhurtel, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and Mr. Kaushal Kishor Ray, Under Secretary, Central Asia, West Asia and Africa Division were present during the official meetings of Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Later in the evening Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs attended a reception hosted by the Embassy of Nepal, Doha. Nepali nationals representing different professions and communities were also present in the reception program. Addressing the queries from the Nepali nationals, Hon. Minister explained about the further measures discussed with the Qatari side for the welfare of Nepali workers in Qatar.
Embassy of Nepal
Doha, State of Qatar
11 January 2017