China augments annual assistance by four fold, Announces nine major areas of cooperation By Sharachchandra Bhandary Kathmandu, 26 December: China has augmented its annual assistance to Nepal by 433 per cent. The announcement was made after the bilateral meeting held here this afternoon. During the meeting led by foreign ministers of both countries, China agreed to provide financial assistance of 800 million RMB from 150 million RMB to Nepal for the fiscal year 2015/16. Similarly, China expressed strong commitment to increase cooperation in nine areas for the overall development of Nepal. The major areas of cooperation include trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, capacity building, science and technology, agriculture, tourism and security and law enforcement. Highlighting the ways and means to effectively implement the nine areas, the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi suggested funding arrangements would be made bilaterally and regionally in addition to supporting from national and local diplomatic channel. At joint news conference organised after the meeting, the Minister said We will do whatever we can to meet the target of graduation of Nepal to the developed country from the least developing countries within 2022. The foreign affairs minister of both countries agreed to activate the bilateral mechanism constituted at the foreign minister-level two years ago to enhance cooperation on the various issues of bilateral relations and mutual benefit. Stating that Chinas support was essential to ensure the national development of Nepal, he expressed Chinas willingness to support Nepal in the development of hydropower and power generation. Chinas experiences in hydropower project development and power production, the use of ultramodern equipments, technical education and skills there would be highly useful in the context of Nepal, Chinese Minister Wang said, adding that bilateral cooperation and assistance could be exchanged in the sector of mutual benefits. China wishes to transform the bilateral comprehensive partnership cooperation to an everlasting friendship and focus it on mutual benefits when both neigbours are going to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties in the upcoming year, the Chinese Minister said, adding he has presented the list of programmes related to the expansion of mutual cooperation and exchange of high-level visits and the schedule for the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Nepal- China diplomatic relations to his counterpart. Other sectors for assistance could be identified as per the wish of Nepal, he said. -: 18 :- Pledging assistance from the Tibet Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China and local diplomatic mission and from the local level as well in the nine sectors identified for cooperation for the holistic development of Nepal, the Chinese Minister also vowed to extend consolidated support in the production of skilled human resources. Goodwill and collaboration among the governments and the peoples of both countries would help promote mutual interests and the Nepal-China cooperation in matters of bilateral, regional and international concerns. On a separate reference, he said the China-India relations were moving ahead on a positive note and becoming stronger and deeper, while expressing the belief that the China-India strategic, cooperative and collaborative ties would take greater height in future. Currently, China and India enjoy strong and cordial relations, Wang said. Answering yet another question, the Chinese Foreign Minister expressed happiness over the Nepal-India relations growing more roboust and stronger, stating that the significance of the tripartite relations among China, India and Nepal was high. While suggesting Nepal to be oriented towards taking the maximum benefits from the economic prosperity achieved by China and India, Mr Wang argued that Nepal could serve as a bridge between India and China. All the three countries are friends, Nepal could become a bridge for South Asia and not only for India and China, Wang remarked, highlighting the importance of the trilateral cooperation. He believed that collaboration between China, Nepal and India would contribute to regional peace and stability. Describing the Sino-Nepal relations as rock solid as the Himalayas, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang said these relations would remain more so in future also. Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, said the bilateral talks were held in a very warm and cordial atmosphere. Our discussions have been quite useful and successful, he said. Minister Pandey informed that a whole spectrum of the bilateral relations covering the political, economic and cultural aspects were reviewed and the two sides agreed to activate the bilateral mechanisms established at various levels to further enhance bilateral relations. We expressed satisfaction at the existing level of cooperation at the regional and international forums and decided to further strengthen it. Both of us believe that Chinas active involvement in SAARC as an observer will be beneficial to both, Minister Pandey said.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 12:29:18 +0000
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