In a latest move, Qatar Government approached Nepal Government pitching for the construction of mega international airport in Nijgadh as a move to strengthen Nepal’s position in Southeast Asia.

As the reports say, the Government of Qatar has put forth the proposal estimated worth USD 1.2 billion for airport construction. According to the Tourism Ministry officials, the two governments are holding talks about this airport project, which has been under discussions since more than two decades.

Although no proposals were signed yet, the two sides are expecting some productive output through the discussions underway.

“The issue has been discussed at the highest levels. We have dispatched necessary documents regarding the current status of the project to the Qatar government through its embassy here,” said an official from the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.

Another official from the Tourism Ministry said the discussion is in the preliminary stage with no financial modality yet.

“Since the discussion is in its preliminary phase, the financial modality is not clear yet. It could be a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model or something else. If things go as planned, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli may visit Qatar in April-May to sign the agreement,” adds the official.

However, the official confirmed that the project could go under a government-government deal.

“But one thing is clear: the government may award the project through a government-to-government deal,” reads the official’s statement.

The Background- Different Turns and Finally Making Way!

The construction of Nijgadh International Airport has been in news for years and the first decision in this regard was taken in 1995 as one of the country’s prestigious projects.

However, the project has been postponed due to various reasons such as environmental clearances, delays in bidding, legal and financial issues, among others.

According to the officials, the government is not even interested to award this project to any of the foreign investors.

Malaysian Government had also made a proposal in January 2016 for taking up the project.

“We would like to propose developing the project under the Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer (DFBOT) model. The Malaysian Government will form a consortium of financially strong, well experienced and capable companies to develop and manage the Nijgadh airport,” said the Malaysian Government in its statement to Nepal Tourism Ministry.

Even the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had also agreed to build the project, which also failed. Despite several attempts, the project implementation did not go ahead over the years.

Again, after the formation of Oli Government, the project came to limelight again with the Tourism Minister Rabindranath Adhikari calling for the development of the proposed airport as a major transit hub to and from Europe and the United States.

Now, the government is due to submit the Detailed Project Report by the end of the current fiscal year. Will have to see what turn the proposed airport project will take next!

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In her address at a common forum of Nepalis in Qatar, Bhandari said the Nepal Government has created an investment-friendly environment and also developed supporting laws through political stability.

The forum included members of Qatar-Nepal Friendship Association and industrialists were among others present at the event organized by the Nepal Embassy in Qatar.

Meanwhile, Nepal Foreign Affairs Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali lauded Nepal’s relations with Qatar as a friendly nation and said the labor agreement has strengthened the relation between two countries.

Gyawali also called for change of format in the Nepal-Qatar labor relations. He said Nepal cannot become a developed nation just through remittances or by exporting its human resources and informed that the government is working to create local employment.

As part of her four-day official visit to Qatar, Bhandari held discussions with the Amir of Qatar on a wide range of issues such as bilateral interests, Nepali migrant workers in Qatar, among other matters pertaining to Nepal-Qatar bilateral relations.

In her discussions, the President expressed hope that the Nepal-Qatar relations would reach the next level in the future.

Gyawali also said that different agreements signed in this visit will help the two nations in their overall development.

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Here are some of the key highlights of Nepal with regard to immigration and labor migration:

Immigration

Despite many challenges, Nepal took some key decisions towards ensuring safety of Nepali migrants working in foreign destinations in 2017.

Few countries with which Nepal signed key pacts related to labor cooperation include Bahrain, Jordan, Korea, Qatar, Japan, Kuwait, among others.

While Nepalese form the largest South Asian and the sixth largest migrant populace in Japan, there was a steady rise in number of Nepali migrants in Japan every year over the last decade.

Nepalese also form the fastest growing migrant community in Australia at an annual growth rate of 27 percent, and Nepali is the second most-spoken language other than English in the state of Tasmania.

However, the Australian Government’s decision to abolish the 457 Visa Scheme for skilled migrants is likely to affect Nepalis planning to move to Australia for work. With this, beginning March 2018, prospective Nepali immigrants will need to undergo the new Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa program involving a two-year short-term and a four-year medium term.

Meanwhile, in support of Nepali migrant workers, the Nepali Health Ministry has also announced plans to introduce the National Migration Health Policy.

“This policy will provide an opportunity to promote a more coherent and integrated approach to heal, beyond the treatment of specific diseases for all populations, including migrants, irrespective of their legal and migratory status,” says Paul Norton, Chief of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for Nepal.

Towards skill development for migrants, the Labor Ministry of Nepal has also requested the International Labor Organization (ILO) to initiate result-oriented projects in the country.

Highlighting that the Nepali youth migrating for foreign employment are in need of skill development programs, the Secretary at the Nepali Ministry of Labor and Employment Laxman Prasad Mainali had also urged ILO Director to ensure safety of Nepali migrant labor working at foreign destinations.

Mainali made this proposal as part of his participation at the 331^st governing board meeting of ILO held in Geneva in the first week of November 2017.

As a major immigration-related update in 2017, the Nepali Government announced passports to the foreign-born Nepali children. The government took an official decision in this regard at a council of ministers meeting held in Kathmandu on September 11, 2017.

Other Key Highlights

In a major update to the world, Nepal also joined the list of countries that signed the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty in 2017.

Nepal singed the treaty on September 21, 2017 as part of its participation at the 72^nd UNGA session in New York.

“It is a good step towards nuclear disarmament”, said the Nepali Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bharat Raj Paudyal as he informed that Nepal’s stand on the disarmament of weapons causing mass destruction remains consistent and principled.

On the similar occasion, Nepal also won its long-awaited UN Human Rights Council membership. UN declared Nepal as UNHRC member on October 16, 2017 for the 2018-2020 term.

“Nepal’s first-ever election to the Council would be a recognition to the country’s long commitment and contribution in the field of human rights and an encouragement to do more at national as well as global levels,” says Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Making a conservation history, Nepal, in August 2017, became the first country to launch climate-smart snow leopard landscape management plan, leading the way in safeguarding its endangered species and habitat, ahead of the International Snow Leopard Summit and Ecosystem Forum in Kyrgyzstan.

In another major update related to conservation of endangered species, Nepal has also released its six captive-reared critically-endangered species of white-rumped vultures into the wild on November 9, 2017.

Besides, in a move towards tiger conservation, Nepal joined India for a first-of-its-kind exercise to estimate tiger population in both the countries.

These are some of the key among various other updates related to Nepal in 2017.

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