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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Purna Bahadur Khadka has said that Nepal and Republic of Korea should work to further deepen the bilateral relations and ensure cooperation.  

At a meeting with Ambassador of Republic of Korea Tae-Young Park on Thursday, the Deputy Prime Minister also expressed pleasure for organizing separate programs in Kathmandu and Seoul to further deepen the friendly ties between the two countries on the occasion of completion of 50 years of formal diplomatic ties. 

Likewise, the DPM recalled that South Korea has been Nepal's reliable development partner for a long and its support to Nepal's energy, health care, education, human resource and rural development sectors were crucial. 

On the occasion, Korean Ambassador Park said that Nepal was the first priority to migrant workers in South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

The Ambassador said that as high as 10,000 Nepalis would be provided with the employment opportunity in the next year under the EPS model.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is leaving for Italy on Saturday to attend the United Nations Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2).

The event will be held in Rome, Italy from July 24 to 26, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Prime Minister will be accompanied by his daughter Ganga Dahal, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr Beduram Bhusal, Member of National Planning Commission (NPC) Dr Jay Kant Raut and other senior officials of the Government of Nepal.

Prime Minister Dahal is scheduled to address the official opening session of UNFSS+2 on Monday in the capacity of the Chair of LDC Group, including the Plenary Sessions on the agenda of School Meals on July 24, 2023 and Food System Transformation in Practice on July 25, 2023.

On the sidelines of the event, PM Dahal will hold bilateral meetings with high level dignitaries of the UN system, including the Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), and the President of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), among others.

The Prime Minister will also interact with the Nepali community in Italy over a program being organized by the Non-Resident Nepali Association, Italy.

The Prime Minister will return home on July 28,  2023.

Qatar’s Ambassador to Nepal Yusuf bin Muhammad Al-Hail paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday.

During the meeting held at the official residence of the Prime Minister at Baluwatar today, they discussed the issues of bilateral interest and welfare, according to the Prime Minister's Secretariat. 

Similarly, matters related to bilateral relations and mutual interest were also discussed on the occasion.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that there is no doubt ahead in regard to implementing the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project. He pledged to implement it with utmost priority.

While inaugurating the Project's field office at Siurenitar in Gorkha, where the Project's environmental impact assessment, compensation distribution, and rehabilitation unit is located, the Prime Minister said the Project's DPR has already been prepared and it has been followed by the establishment of a company office.

 A significant part of land acquisition has been successfully completed. The government policies and programs accord utmost priority to the project, according to the Prime Minister.

"The project will see steady progress under any circumstances. All necessary documents for the project implementation have been meticulously prepared and executed. Presently, the government is focused on investment management for it. This is deemed a 'ready to go' type project. We are working hard to take it into the implementation phase soon. We have no excuse to delay it under any circumstances. I hereby direct the Energy Ministry, Nepal Electricity Authority, Budhigandaki Hydropower Company and the bodies concerned to deliver proactively for its progress."

Such projects could be a milestone in the development of the energy sector, he said, stating that the 1,200 megawatts hydropower project that provides quality contributions not only to Gorkha and Dhading districts but to the development and prosperity of the entire country is the national pride multidimensional project.

"This is the largest power generation project among the projects developed in Nepal so far. Apart from electricity, this is important also in view of tourism development, fish farming, and the holistic development of the lower coastal area," he said.

The project has carried many potentials be it from freeing the country from electricity crisis during winter to strengthening energy and tourism development, creating job opportunities, increasing the country's economic activities by increasing production in the goods and service sectors, increasing national income growths by connecting multidimensional businesses including fish farming, and requiring less investment in linking with the national transmission line, he viewed. 

The government has established the Budhigandaki hydropower company for the construction of the reservoir-based project.

On 16 July 2023, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet inaugurated the headquarters office of the company based in Kathmandu.

In the Nepali month of Asar, 2079, the government had decided to establish the company with the authorized capital of Rs 60 billion.