BANGKOK, April 2: Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli, who is currently on a five-day official visit to Thailand, beginning on April 1, has said the visit has contributed to taking the bilateral relations to a new height.
Speaking at a joint press conference held after the bilateral meeting between the PM and his counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra today, the Prime Minister expresses his belief with the visit, the level of mutual cooperation between the two countries in the areas of culture, tourism, education and energy will further increase in the days to come.
Highlighting on the 65-year-long diplomatic ties between Nepal and Thailand, PM Oli said the meeting focused on further expanding the bilateral ties including diplomatic and the people-to-people relations.
He expressed his hope that Nepal's hospitality business and air services would be the priorities of Thailand for its future investment and trade. "Nepal and Thailand share deeper agricultural, trade, tourism and cultural relations. I call on the business community in Thailand to invest in Nepal," the PM Oli said.
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"Nepal and Thailand have cordial trade and tourism relations. Now, we will work together on international agendas including climate change," he added.
As he said, Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra has been invited to visit Nepal and it will be implemented soon.
The Prime Minister arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday, leading the 21-member entourage to the Sixth Summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation. He is the first Prime Minister of Nepal to visit Thailand.
Despite long-standing friendly relations between Nepal and Thailand, the official visit by the Head of Government of Nepal to Thailand had not taken place before.
The then Prime Minister of Thailand Prem Tinsulanonda had visited Nepal in 1983.
The Prime Minister's entourage includes his spouse Radhika Shakya, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Arzu Rana Deuba, Bishnu Prasad Rimal, the Chief Political Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Chief Secretary Eak Narayan Aryal and Foreign Ministry's Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai among others.
The Prime Minister will return home on April 5.
