PM Dahal leaves for weeklong Europe tour
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal left for a week-long visit to Norway and
Finland Saturday.
The PM left for Norway at 5 pm by a special flight. Ministers, leaders of
the PM's party, Unified CPN (Maoist), security chiefs, foreign envoys and
government officials were present at the Tribhuvan International Airport
to see him off.
PM's 19-member entourage includes his wife Sita, son Prakash, who is a
computer operator at the PM's personal secretariat, and business leaders
and government officials.
The government delegation includes chief secretary Dr Bhoj Raj Ghimire,
PM's foreign affair advisor Hira Bahadur Thapa, foreign secretary Gyan
Chandra Acharya, media advisor Om Sharma, chief of protocol Arun Dhital
and joint secretary at the foreign ministry Pradhyumna Bikram Shah.
Likewise, three security personnel - Lt Col. Arun Pal, Major Sunil Singh
Rathor and DSP Ram Chandra Bhandari and PM's personal physician Dr Arun
Sayami are also traveling with him.
Representatives of business community including FNCCI president Kush Kumar
Joshi, president of Federation of NRN Association, Upendra Mahato,
chairman of Himalayan Bank, Manoj Bahadur Shrestha, chairman of Global
Bank Limited, Chandra Dhakal, and water resources expert Gyanendra Lal
Pradhan are also participating in the visit.
PM Dahal will meet his Norwegian and Finnish counterparts, senior
government officials and business leaders during the visit. An agreement
on development aid is expected to be signed between Norway and Nepal.
Meanwhile, before flying to Norway PM Dahal held a meeting with leaders of
five ruling parties and two opposition parties - Nepali Congress and Terai
Madhesh Loktantrik Party.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting held at the Unified CPN-M's
Parliamentary Party office in Singha Durbar, Dahal claimed that he was
embarking on the Nordic trip after wining the confidence of the parties.
He said the visit would be focused primarily on garnering support from
Norway and Finland in hydropower and 'wind energy' development to address
Nepal's energy crisis. nepalnews.com Mar 28 09
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