PM leaving for Switzerland on Sunday

Kathmandu, Jan 18 – Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli is leaving for Davos, Switzerland, on 20 January 2019 leading a Nepali delegation to the 49th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
This is the first time Prime Minister Oli is attending the meeting. This year’s meeting will be held on 22-25 January on the theme of ‘Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’.
The Prime Minister will address, as a panellist, two separate sessions on ‘Strategic Outlook on South Asia’ and ‘Shaping the Future of Democracy’ to be held on 22 and 23 January respectively, stated a press release issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He will also address the Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders on the theme of ‘The End of Global Trade as We Know It?’ on 23 January. He will hold meetings with political as well as business leaders during the visit.
The Prime Minister will be accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya. The Prime Minister’s delegation consists of Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Minister for Finance Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada, and other high-ranking officials.
The Prime Minister and his delegation will return to Kathmandu on 26 January.

Prime Minister Oli’s participation in the World Economic Forum being held in Davos of Switzerland is expected to contribute to Nepal’s economic development.
Dr Rajan Bhattarai, the foreign affairs advisor to the Prime Minister, believed that the PM’s visit to Switzerland from January 20 to 26 in connection to participation in the Forum will help promote the environment for foreign direct investment in Nepal.
Dr Bhattarai expressed this belief while speaking in the face-to-face programme organized by Reporters Club Nepal here today.
He said the World Economic Forum summit will help in a big way in meeting the country’s economic development goals as the PM will be explicating in the summit and the sideline meetings of the summit the achievement of political stability and with it a stable government, and the investment-friendly environment available in Nepal.
“The Forum will contribute a bit towards fulfilling the slogan of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ adopted by the country,” he said.
Dr Bhattarai argued that the Forum would be fruitful for the country’s development as discussions will be held in it regarding the works the various countries have done for their development as well as the future works to that end. The heads of government and heads of state from many countries will be participating in the World Economic Forum.
According to him, in course of the visit, the Prime Minister will attend various meetings and hold meetings with the heads of government, heads of state and the businesspersons from different countries. This will provide an opportunity to build knowledge about the economic development at the global level.
Former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission Prof Dr Govinda Raj Pokharel said the Forum will play an important role in building an environment conducive for investment in the present situation in which such environment has been deteriorating.
“The PM’s visit would be fruitful if only two to four big companies of the world could be convinced to invest in Nepal,” he suggested.
Chairman of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Hari Bhakta Sharma, suggested the Prime Minister to work to attract as much as investment from foreign companies to Nepal, during his visit.
Nepal’s former ambassador to Switzerland, Dr Shambhuram Simkhada said Nepal should raise voice in the Forum for its sustainable economic development, although the main agenda of the Forum was technology development and impact on environment.