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Sujata back home with bagful of assurances
KATHMANDU, OCT 03 - Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala hit the home turf on Saturday after attending the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Highlights of her visit included Nepal's election as the chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), U.S. Congressmen and Senators' 'positive response' to Nepal's request for increased duty-free and quota-free access to Nepali readymade garments in the U.S. and their pledge to help Nepal institutionalise democracy.
Koirala also made a whirlwind trip to Washington, Chicago and New York and was a guest at a luncheon hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Women Heads of State, Government and Foreign Ministers.
“I updated world leaders about the peace process and progress in constitution-making. The formation of the much-talked High-Level Political Mechanism also figured in my meetings with political leaders,” Koirala told journalists at the Tribhuvan International Airport on Saturday morning.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Koirala met Senator Charles Grassley and Congressmen Jim Mc Dormett and Jeff Flake of the trade, finance and foreign affairs committees of the U.S. Congress. The foreign minister asked the Senator and the Congressmen for duty-free and quota-free access for Nepali garments and textiles in the U.S. It may be noted that a Bill on duty-free access of readymade garments from third countries has been pending in the U.S. Senate and Nepal has been lobbying for quite sometime to get duty-free access for these products. “The U.S. Congressmen took our request for duty-free access to readymade garments quite positively,” Koirala said.
The Americans praised Nepal for its bid to institutionalise and strengthen democracy and inclusiveness in a new political environment, and assured their full cooperation. Noting that Nepal's export to the U.S. had plunged by 80 percent in recent years, Koirala said she asked U.S. lawmakers to make special arrangements so that LDCs like Nepal can increase their export to the U.S.
The foreign minister took time to meet her counterparts from India, the Netherlands, Brazil, Singapore, Austria, Peru, Vietnam, the Maldives, Germany, Norway and Sri Lanka. She also met UN officials of the peacekeeping department, disarmament department and the department of political affairs.
After Nepal succeeded Bangladesh as the LDC chair on Sept. 29, Koirala conducted a ministerial meeting, which adopted a declaration calling for increased support to the LDCs. The declaration seeks an early and effective implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action, support for the LDCs in the face of financial, economic and food crisis, impact of climate change and their structural vulnerabilities.
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