Nepal, Bangladesh and India should join hands for developing hydropower projects, a senior Nepalese Minister said today, underlining the Himalayan nation's immense potential in the sector.
"Time has come for Nepal, Bangladesh and India to come forward and cooperate in harnessing Nepal's immense hydropower potential," Nepal's Minister for Supplies Deepak Bohara said, inaugurating the 3rd Bangladesh Trade Fair in Bhrikutimandap are of Kathmandu.
He said the government and private sectors of the three countries need to reach an agreement for forging collaboration in developing hydropower projects.
The present volume of Nepalese rupees 5 billion trade between Bangladesh and Nepal should be further increased through more collaboration and cooperation in the areas of trade and commerce, he said.
Economic cooperation between Nepal and Bangladesh started mainly after the two countries signed agreements on trade, transit, civil aviation and technical field in 1996, Bohara said.
"There is a need for more cooperation and collaboration between the two South Asian neighbours for the benefit of the people of both the countries," he added.
Foreign department chief of ruling Awami League Party of Bangladesh, Sajjat Haider, said Bangladesh needs hydropower from Nepal to help boost it industrialisation process.
"Nepal and Bangladesh can also cooperate in the area of hydropower and Bangladesh investors are interested in making investment in the field," he said.
"Nepal can benefit a lot if it can use Mongla Sea Port, which is more convenient than the present Calcutta dry port being used by Nepal for international trade," he added.
There is only 23 km distance between landlocked Nepal and Bangladesh and both the countries can benefit if they cooperate in the areas of hydropower, trade, tourism etc, he pointed out.
Jute, garments, food, electronic goods and leather items are mainly displayed in 54 stalls during the five-day trade fair organised by Bangladesh Embassy in Kathmandu.
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