Oman's Foreign Minister Syed Badr bin Hamad bin Hamud Albusaidi is coming to Kathmandu from August 26 to 27 on a two-day official visit to Nepal at the invitation of his Nepali counterpart ArzuRanaDeuba. The statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal states that there will be a bilateral meeting between the two foreign ministers and various issues to further strengthen Nepal-Oman relations will be discussed.

During the visit, Albusaidi will have a courtesy meeting with President RamchandraPaudel and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. At a glance, diplomatic relations between Nepal and the Oman were established on January 21, 1977. There have been some high-level visits from both sides in the past.Late King Birendra and the then Queen Aishwarya from Nepal in 1986 and then Prime Minister SherBahadurDeuba visited Oman in 2017.

The first bilateral consultation meeting between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal and the Sultanate of Oman was held in Muscat, Oman some time ago.The Nepali delegation was led by the Foreign Secretary and the Omani delegation was led by the Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs Alharthi.

In the meeting, the leaders of the delegation reviewed the overall bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction with the excellent relations between Nepal and Oman since 1977.

They discussed bilateral relations and agreed to promote cooperation in all areas including high-level exchange of visits, trade, investment, economic cooperation, agriculture, energy, tourism, labor and foreign employment, culture, education and direct air connectivity.

They expressed their firm commitment to further enhance partnership in mutually agreed areas and create more opportunities to promote people-to-people engagement as well as work together to achieve economic opportunities for mutual benefit.

At a glance, the Nepali Foreign Secretary thanked the Oman government for providing employment to more than 21 thousand Nepalis and emphasized on providing more opportunities in view of the "Oman Vision 2040" strategy.The Nepali foreign Secretary emphasized on the search for suitable opportunities in the economic, cultural and educational fields and proposed to establish a meaningful collaborative partnership with the private sector.

It is recalled that he asked the Omani side to look for investment opportunities in Nepal in hydropower, tourism sector and cooperation in green hydrogen sector. It is also worth noting here that it has been requested from time to time to consider establishing an embassy of Oman in Kathmandu.

The positive and hardworking nature of Nepali workers is also appreciated. The Nepal-Oman Bilateral Consultative Mechanism was established in 2017 and the next meeting was scheduled to be held in Kathmandu on a mutually convenient date. The current visit of the Finance Minister is expected to further enhance the bilateral relations between Nepal and Oman as the country is willing to sign more Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) in various areas to further strengthen the relationship between the government and the people.

About 30 percent of Nepal's gross domestic product is remittances sent by workers living abroad, making the economy highly dependent on foreign employment.It has three areas of comparative advantage – hydropower, tourism and agricultural production.

To recapitulate, Nepal and Oman established diplomatic relations on January 21, 1977.Relations between the two countries have always been cordial and friendly.

Mutual trust, respect, understanding and cooperation are the strong foundations of bilateral relations.Prior to the opening of the resident embassy in Muscat, the Nepalese embassy in Riyadh was simultaneously recognized in the Sultanate.

The Government of Nepal opened its embassy in Muscat, Sultanate of Omanin2013.

Both countries are members of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and many other international forums.They have been working together and playing an active role in these forums for the promotion of international peace and security, collective progress, prosperity and welfare of world citizens.

Exchange of visits

Visits and interactions between the leaders of both countries from time to time and at different levels have contributed to increase the goodwill and understanding between the two countries. It also provides a great opportunity for both countries to widen and deepen the bonds of friendship and relations that have been happily maintained for many years.

Economic relations

As both countries are endowed with abundant natural resources, there is great potential to further promote cooperation between the two countries in the fields of investment, trade, tourism and utilization of human resources.Nepal can become a destination country for tourism, business and investment for Omani citizens.

Both Nepal and Oman should further strengthen their economic relations in the areas of their competitive strength.Actually there is no investment in Nepal from Omani citizens.However, Nepal can become their preferred destination for investment opportunities in Nepal.

Nepal has adopted liberal economic policies since the early 1990s.These policies need timely revision in the context of rapid pace of globalization and regionalization.The government of Nepal is in the process of making timely adjustments to various rules and laws related to the business and investment environment in order to create an investment-friendly environment in the country and accelerate the pace of economic transformation. Therefore, necessary amendments are being made in foreign direct investment policies, procedures, laws and regulations. Nepal mainly imports organic compounds, plate seats, films, foils, plastic strips, motor cars and motor vehicle parts.Nepal mainly exported carpets, bales of wool or fine animal hair. It is necessary to strengthen trade relations for the benefit of both countries.

If you search and follow Nepali tea, yarchagumba, silajit, vegetables, honey, handicrafts, carpets, pashmina, you can see profitable items that can be exported to Oman.

It is said, why is Oman such a "calm" nation ?It's a really peaceful country.Among others, it seems that there is no communal or economic division in the countries of the East.

Sultan Qaboos planned to systematically reform his country, focusing on education, health, greater gender equality and civil infrastructure. He did not squander the wealth from his country's natural resources (mainly natural gas) on grand schemes, nor was he a kleptocrat who kept so much wealth for himself - again unlike the rulers of other Gulf states.

Oman's society and economy are more similar to Denmark than Dubai.Ethnically, Oman is interesting.There are about 20,000 Nepali people who have lived there due to historical trade ties.

Omani Arab children play football, often wearing Barcelona jerseys! Many Omanis have East African ancestry: they colonized places like Zanzibar hundreds of years ago, and, like their British ancestors, were regrettably involved in the slave trade.

Special relations to be considered with high priority:

After the major earthquake in 2015, Oman sent Mr. Farhad as Special Envoy to Nepal for a month to coordinate rescue and relief operations. The Sultanate of Oman sent 40 trained personnel to Nepal immediately after the devastating earthquake in Nepal for post-earthquake rescue operations.

MoU between Nepal and Oman on Bilateral Consultations MoU on Air Services in 2017, 2014

Pending Agreement on “Labour and Training” Memorandum of Understanding on “Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Financial Crimes in respect of Tax on Income” Agreement on “Visas for Diplomatic and Official/Service Passports” Agreements etc. on "exemption" seem to have been completed and some things to be done.