KATHMANDU: Nepal and France celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations depicting width and depth of multi-faceted relations between the two countries.

The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1949, and today the bilateral relations are marked by increased bilateral trade and exchanges of visit at different levels.

France, in fact, has remained Nepal’s one of the development partners and a reliable friend. Nepal, meanwhile, to remain thankful to the government and people of France for their continued support and contribution to Nepal’s economic and social development besides being inspired by the development and progress of France.

In fact, Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali was right to say that both Nepal and France are home to rich civilizations, cultures and traditions, mountainous topography, and mountaineering culture, which have been deeply linked to our identity.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and French Embassy in Kathmandu jointly organized a special program to resplendently mark the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-France Relations in Kathmandu on Saturday.

As Minister Gyawali said, the values of liberty, equality, peace, and coexistence buttress the political, social and economic development efforts between the two countries.

Even though Nepal and France are far apart in terms of geographical distance, similarities and common interests between the two friendly nations, as Foreign Minister Gyawali believes, are much ‘nobler and higher’ than distance.

Nepal, as he says, should look up to France for stronger bilateral collaboration and cooperation.

France, in fact, has remained Nepal’s one of the development partners and a reliable friend. Nepal, meanwhile, to remain thankful to the government and people of France for their continued support and contribution to Nepal’s economic and social development besides being inspired by the development and progress of France.

As one of the largest trading partners of Nepal, France stands at the fourth and eighth ranks respectively in the list of Nepal’s import and export destination countries. Nepal’s trade linkages have been growing, albeit gradually, also in the context of the preferential access granted to Nepali products by the European Union.

In particular, Nepal’s priority should be to enhance economic partnership in the areas of foreign direct investment, trade expansion, tourism linkages, and technology transfer.

Moreover, Nepal welcomes over 30,000 French tourists every year. And as Nepal observes 2020 as ‘Visit Nepal Year’, this Himalayan country hopes French people will continue to make Nepal their favored destination and that this number will increase.

French Ambassador to Nepal Francois-Xavier Leger too is equally enthusiastic to promote and enhance the economic partnership between France and Nepal. According to him, France has been looking for avenues to mobilize French aid in Nepal while reminiscing the France-Nepal cooperation in mountaineering that began as early as the 1980s.

Ambassador Leger emphasized on the need for increasing people to people contact between the two countries while informing that there would be some high-level political exchanges and business cooperation in 2019.

“Nepal has always remained an attractive destination for French tourists,” he said adding that more than 32,000 French people come to Nepal every year.

He also highlighted the significance of France-Nepal relations and historical evolution highlighting the French nationals, mountaineers, scholars, and architectures for their contributions.

Khabarhub has been the digital media partner of all events on the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Nepal-France Relations as well as the Embassy of France.

Miss Nepal Shrinkhala Khatiwada, the Goodwill Ambassador for the 70th year commemoration of the Nepal-France relationship, said Nepal and France have similarity in environmental sustainability.

She also shared her thought on the importance of the relations and her recent visit to France and the interest of French people towards Nepal.

To mark this historic year, a musical program followed the event in the evening where Cellist Franck Bernede, Bidur Rajkarnikar, and Santosh Bhakta Shrestha presented their performances.