Nepal-Austria Meet to Review, Strengthen Bilateral Ties

In a bid to strengthen bilateral ties, Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali and Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Karin Kneissl met on September 17, 2018.

The two countries representatives met to discuss several matters concerning Nepal-Austria relations.

Adding further, the Ministry said, “They agreed on the need to intensify bilateral contacts as the two countries would observe the next year as the 60th year of the establishment of their bilateral relations.”

“The two foreign ministers reviewed the status of bilateral cooperation and deliberated on the ways to enhancing such cooperation in areas of trade, investment, tourism, heritage conservation, water management as well as people-to-people contacts,” said a statement issued by Nepal Foreign Ministry.

Nepali Ambassador to Austria Prakash Kumar Subedi, Joint Secretary & Head of Europe-America Division at the Foreign Ministry Ghanshyam Bhandari and Second Secretary at Vienna’s Nepal Embassy were also present at the meeting.

Past Pacts:
In 2017, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber had signed an agreement, which focused on enhancing private sector collaboration for the promotion of trade, commerce and technology transfer between Nepal and Austria.

Nepal and Austria established diplomatic relations on August 15, 1959. Since then Austria has provided financial assistance for various Nepal development projects including Namche Small Hydro Electric Project, Keshar Mahal Garden of Dreams and Rolwaling eco-tourism.