Attended by Nepalese Foreign Minister Pandey, Rep. An Hong-joon

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey of Nepal and Ambassador Kaman Singh Lama hosted a reception at the Universal Art Center in Seoul on May 15, 2014 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Nepal.

The traditional Nepalese buffet reception was preceded by offering of silent prayers for the victims of the Sewol Ferry Incident and performances by members of the famed Little Angels of Korea who presented the National Anthems of both Korea and Nepal and a number of other songs of the two countries.
Attending the event were many noted Korean society figures as well as ambassadors and other senior members of the Seoul Diplomatic Corps.

Among the Korean guests were Rep. An Hong-joon (chairman of the National Unification and International Relations of the National Assembly); ruling Saenuri Party National Assemlywomen Park In-sook (ruling Saenuri Party) and Hwang In-ju; Chairman-President Pak Bo-hi of the Korean Cultural Foundation; and Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post.
From the SDC, attendance was very large. The guests included Ambassadors
Hocine Sahraoui of Algeria, Petar Andonov of Bulgaria, Manuel Lopez Trigo of Costa Rica, Grecia Fiodalicia Pichardo of Dominican Republic, Dibaba Abdetta (Dr.) of Ethiopia, Zoran Kazazovic of Serbia, Tissa Wijeratne of Sri Lanka, Ngovi Kitau of Kenya, Konstantin V. Vnukov of Russia, Tajeldin Elhadi Eltahir of Sudan and Vasyl Marmazov of Ukraine,
Speaking to the guests, Ambassador Lama said that Napal celebrated the 7th Republic Day and also the 40th anniversary of formation of diplomatic relations between Korea and Nepal.

He said: “Nepal is the youngest nation as a Republic for which thousands of people and martyrs have sacrificed their lives for the cause of democracy and rule of law. While celebrating this auspicious day as a National Day of Nepal, we would like to pay tribute to the known and unknown martyrs for their great contribution to the nation and people. We always feel proud of them. On this occasion, while paying tribute to them, I would also like to congratulate our compatriot Nepalese people living home and abroad.” (See more remarks from Ambassador Lama at the end of this Article.)

Ambassador Lama’s speech was followed by a speech by Minister of Foreign Affairs Pandey who stressed the importance of increased cooperation between Korea and Nepal with a strong message of welcome of Korean investments in his country rich in natural resources and competitive work force.
The speeches of the ambassador and the foreign minister of Nepal were responded to by a return speech by Chairman An Hong-Jun of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly. Rep. An said in part to the following effect:

Nepal is called ‘The Roof of the World’ with many tall mountains and is noted for the birthplace of Buddha in Lumbini in Nepal. Many Korean tourists visit Nepal also to see the fantastic snow scenes on Annapurna.
I visited Nepal in January this year as part of the Public Health ODA program of KOICA and met with Prime Minister Sushi Koirala discussing with him on a wide range of topics on Korea’s assistance for the development of Nepal.
It is significant that Prime Minister Koirala was re-elected to the post in February this year.
During my stay in Nepal, I found the people very friendly and kind which reminded me of the warm hospitality on the part of the people were based on the Teachings of Buddha which is shared also with the Korean people.
I hope that this meeting with lay a firm foundation to make Korea and Nepal “Baek Nyeon Ji Gi” which means “Everlasting Friends.”

Excerpts from other related remarks by Ambassador Lama:

The Embassy of Nepal takes the pleasure of celebrating 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between Nepal and the Republic of Korea this year with the fervor of making it further cordial and stronger. The cooperative relationship which is based on mutual respect and goodwill between us is growing every passing day and becoming more matured to our mutual satisfaction. In the meantime, as a part of the celebration, the Embassy is also hosting an investment seminar to create a platform for the business entrepreneurs and potential investors from both the countries for business dealings and further exploring investment opportunities in Nepal. I have firm belief that the investment seminar could be able to play a catalyst role in encouraging business ventures in both the countries as well as enhance economic partnership between Nepal and Korea.
Nepal’s commitment to democratic governance, good governance, rule of law and respect to the fundamental human rights boasts the market economy to meet its development needs. Holding its belief on free economy as a fundamental contributing factor to steer the socio-economic advancement, Nepal is determined to create its economy as investment friendly. In order to make Nepal a favoured foreign investment destination, the Government of Nepal has been consistently working on amending and revising the existing foreign investment policy and relevant regulatory instruments conducive to foreign investment.

As a member of World Trade Organization and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Nepal assures and guarantees the safe trading and investment. In spite of this, Nepal has also signed avoidance of double taxation and fiscal evasion with the Republic of Korea, which should also encourage Korean investors to invest in Nepal. While celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship, maintaining and promoting bilateral relationship at the government level as well as fostering economic partnership among the business community is pivotal. Hosting investment seminar is also one of our efforts to that end.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate both the Government of Nepal and Korea for excellent bilateral relationship nurtured over the years and express my assurance, as an Ambassadors, to discharge all my skills and intellectual capacity to make our relationship more warm and fruitful. At this moment, as a trusted friend of Korean people, I would like to sincerely congratulate them for the remarkable progress they have achieved in transforming from rags to rich in a short span of time.

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