Whenever Nepal is in a desperate need of support, whether in the rescue, relief and reconstruction, or infrastructure building and economic development, Japan has always been there.

With near completion of the reconstruction work following a major earthquake and two-third majority government hoping to accelerate high economic growth, Nepal has launched a mega event, Visit Nepal Year 2020, expecting to bring two million tourists.

Standing firmly to make VNY 2020 a grand success, Japan has been organizing various programs and providing support as well. Japanese ambassador to Nepal hosted a reception recently in a promotional event of Visit Nepal Year 2020 (VNY 2020).

Opening Osaka city earlier and sending high-level parliamentary team, Japan has shown its commitments. As Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Nakayama Visited Nepal, Japan is set to permit Nepal Airlines Corporation to operate flights to Tokyo's Narita International Airport.

Visiting Nepal from 16th to 17th January 2020, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Nakayama also inspected some cultural sites which are under construction in Japan's support.

As Nepal is celebrating the Year 2020 as Visit Nepal Year aiming to bring two million tourists, the support of Japan and visit of minister are highly significant to achieve that target.

Nakayama visited the project sites supported by Japan, one of them is Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital at Thapathali, which was under the ‘Program on Rehabilitation and Recovery from the Nepal Earthquake in 2015’, completed in May 2019.

He also visited Tribhuvan International Airport which Japan supported under the “Project for Improvement of Aviation Safety Facilities in Major Airports” to improve the safety and efficiency of air transport in Nepal. Furthermore, Nakayama observed Kathmandu Durbar Square where two Japanese cultural heritage advisors are engaged in reconstructing cultural heritage damaged by the earthquake in 2015. He also met some academies.

In his address, parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Nakayama Norihiro said that Japan will support the drive to make Visit Nepal Year 2020 a success. Highlighting the beautiful nature of Nepal, he said that the number of Japanese tourists will likely increase given the new connectivity by Nepal Airlines to Japan.

He said that Nepal Airlines' regular flights to Japan’s Narita Airport will further make it easier for Japanese to visit Nepal. Attending the promotional event of Visit Nepal Year 2020 (VNY 2020) organized by the Embassy of Japan, he said that Japan is eager to support Nepal.

During the program, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that Nepal-Japan always had good relations, saying Japan’s support to Nepal is highly important. Minister Bhattarai said that Japan has given valuable humanitarian and material support to Nepal to cope with the earthquake of 2015. He also thanked Japan Government for supporting the modernization of Tribhuwan International Airport’s navigation system.

Minister Bhattarai expressed his strong belief that numbers of visiting Japanese tourists reach nearly 100,000 during the period of VNY 2020 given the kindness of the Government of Japan and the people of Japan.

Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Masamichi Saigo said that this event is organized to support VNY 2020.

Prior to the event, Nakayama had a meeting with Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and wished for the grand success of VNY 2020.

During the visit, Nakayama paid courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Minister for Foreign Affairs.

They exchanged views on mutual interest and cordial relations between the two countries, in place since bilateral relations were established in 1956. Recalling President Bhandari’s visit to Japan to attend the Ceremonies of the Enthronement of the Emperor last October, Nakayama expressed that a recent increase in bilateral exchanges between Japan and Nepal is further enhancing the long-standing friendly relationship.