Nepal managed to garner such responses from the two Gulf countries, which have been providing development assistance for the past four decades and contributing to generating a large chunk of remittances, during the visit of Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun, who returned home after spending six days in the two counties.[break]
"Both the governments have expressed commitment to raising the volume of assistance and also providing aid also in areas apart from infrastructure, irrigation and hydropower, in which they have been providing support for almost four decades," said Pun upon his return home.
Talking to the press, Pun said Kuwait´s commitment to develop Budi Ganga has assured Nepal a grant assistance to the tune of Rs 4 billion. During the visit, Pun had met senior ministers, private sector representatives and non-resident Nepalis in both the countries.
"The talks revolved around economic issues and ways to bolster bilateral trade and ties. Those were very fruitful," said Pun.
According to Pun, he asked the two governments to sign labor agreements with Nepal. "They responded positively," he said, adding that the signing of labor agreements with those countries was crucial to protecting rights, ensuring favorable working conditions and fair treatment and remuneration to Nepali workers.
Some 600,000 Nepali workers are estimated to be working in Saudi Arabia. Even though the government has not yet opened the country for female workers, Pun said some 70,000 Nepali female workers have reached there through illegal channels.
The government has opened Kuwait for female workers, but Pun, who interacted with Nepali community there, said the women workers´ conditions are not satisfactory.
Pun also requested Saudi ministers to open their embassy in Kathmandu soon, saying the absence of Saudi embassy in Kathmandu is forcing the poor Nepali workers to bear additional cost and brave inconveniences to get their visas processed in Bangladesh.
"They responded positively. In fact, they informed us that they are taking decision to this connection within a few days," said Pun.
Pun also said private sector investors during interaction with him showed interest to invest in agriculture, infrastructure and education sectors in Nepal. In order to lure them, he said the government would coordinate with Nepali private sector and host an industrial and agro-trade fair in Nepal in April.
"The fair will have special interaction sessions so that prospective investors will be able to identify areas for putting in their money," he stated.
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