Nepal-Canada exchange views on bilateral trade and investment

Kathmandu, 12 December: The second meeting of the Nepal-Canada Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) was held virtually on Friday evening. Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs  Bharat Raj Paudyal and Assistant Deputy Minister of Global Affairs Canada  Paul Thoppil led their respective delegations to the meeting.

A wide range of matters relating to bilateral relations and cooperation were discussed in a cordial atmosphere during the consultations. The delegations also reviewed the progress made since the first meeting of the BCM held in Ottawa in October 2018.

The two Ministries exchanged views on bilateral trade and investment, educational and cultural cooperation, tourism, and people-to-people contacts. They agreed to work closely towards further deepening and widening cooperation and engagements in these sectors for mutual benefit.

Developments on political and economic fronts in both countries as well as their national experiences in the context of the Covid-19 were also shared during the meeting. Nepal noted with appreciation the commitment expressed by Canada to the equitable access of vaccines to all. The two sides would continue to exchange cooperation through various mechanisms in the collective fight against the pandemic.

On matters of global importance, the two sides renewed their commitment to collaborating at various multilateral forums towards addressing impacts of climate change, protecting and promoting human rights, and supporting multilateralism, UN peacekeeping, and rules-based trading system, among others, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.