Belt and Road discussion heats up in Nepal

The Belt and Road Initiative has become a hot topic in Nepal since China and Nepal signed a Belt and Road cooperation memorandum on May 12.

The Chairman of the Communist Party Nepal-UML KP Sharma Oli, said in a forum in late May that China clearly shows, through the initiative, its determination to deepen cooperation and seek common development with the other countries, especially developing ones.

Bhawani Rana, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, encouraged Nepal's private enterprises to make good use of the Belt and Road Initiative, improve their manufacturing level, and come up with competitive products with characteristics to expand their market in China and the rest of the world.

In early July, the daily newspaper Republica published an article on the country's tourism, saying the Belt and Road Initiative could help Nepal to transform the industry to become a power strong enough to transform Nepalese society, just like the tourism industry to Thailand.

In a seminar on the initiative held by local think tanks on July 22 in Katmandu, former ambassador to China Mahesh Kumar Maskey suggested Nepal should improve its infrastructure on its side of the border with China to prepare for the coming of the new railway from the other side.

(BELT AND ROAD PORTAL)