Nepal-France Hold Fifth Bilateral Consultation Meeting in Kathmandu, Commit to Strengthening Cooperation

Photo: MoFA of Nepal

KATHMANDU: The fifth meeting of Nepal-France Bilateral Consultation Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on June 19, Ganesh Prasad Dhakal, Division Head (Joint Secretary) of the Europe Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal and Benoit Guidée, Director of Asia and Oceania Department, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, led their respective delegations to the meeting.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry, the two sides took stock of the overall state of the bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and France. Both sides expressed satisfaction over the growing ties between Nepal and France and reaffirmed their commitment to further enhancing bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, education and culture, IT and technology transfer, climate action and clean energy, among others, and cooperation in multilateral forums on the issues of common concerns.

In the meeting, Joint Secretary Dhakal lauded the leadership role of France in climate action and stressed the need for furthering bilateral cooperation on renewable energy such as hydropower, solar and wind energy and technical support for disaster risk reduction including early warning system. Similarly, Director Guidée appreciated Nepal’s leadership in advocating for climate resilience and mountain issues in the global forums.

The Nepali delegation consisted of officials from the MoFA, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation, and Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The French delegation included Ambassador of France to Nepal Virginie Corteval and other officials from the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France.

The Foreign Ministries of Nepal and France had signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a Bilateral Consultation Mechanism in 2019.