Speaker Sapkota and Malaysian Dep. Speaker Rashid hold talks

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota and Deputy Speaker of Malaysia Mohd Rashid Hasnon have held a courtesy meeting today.

They held a meeting on Saturday evening on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network's conference in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, Speaker Sapkota's personal secretary Govinda Pathak said.

On the occasion, Speaker Sapkota said that Nepal and Malaysia have been enjoying close and cordial relations ever since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1960. He added that both countries believed in the NAM policy and were committed to the ideals of the United Nations.

Speaker Sapkota thanked Malaysia for providing employment to a large number of Nepalis, recognizing Nepal as the source country for migrant labourers since the beginning of 2001.

He also described Malaysia as a major business partner of Nepal, stressing on the need of promoting tourism between the two countries. As he said, the direct flight between Nepal and Malaysia started from March 2003 has helped bring the peoples of the two countries even closer.

The Malaysian Deputy Speaker Hasnon said that Nepal is a good friend of Nepal and expressed his happiness at the opportunity to meet with Speaker Sapkota and the Nepali delegation.

Pushpa Bhusal Gautam and Ram Chandra Rai among the members of the Nepali delegation were present in the meeting.