Kathmandu, February 13: Newly arrived Japanese Ambassador Maeda Toru paid a courtesy call on Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Damodar Bhandari on Monday at the latter’s office in Singhadurwar.
Welcoming the new Ambassador from Japan, Minister Bhandari said that Nepal has given high priority to its relations with Japan.

"We are grateful for the support received from the Japanese people, government, NGOs, and universities in natural disasters including earthquakes, Japan has long been an important and reliable development partner for Nepal's social and economic development," Minister Bhandari said,
"We want to benefit from Japan's experience, knowledge, skills and technology in many areas including industrial development, export competitiveness development, agriculture, hydropower, and infrastructure development," the Minister said.
He expressed his gratitude to the Government of Japan for providing annual scholarships to government officials of Nepal in various fields under the Japan Development Scholarship (JDS) scheme since 2016. He said, "I am happy that Japan has become a close development partner in Nepal's flagship program to introduce tunnel technology in the development of road infrastructure with the launch of the Nagdhunga tunnel route."
Mentioning that Japan has been an important trade partner of Nepal and an important destination for Nepali goods, he said Nepal has also been benefiting from the general acceptance system provided by Japan to the least developed countries.
Mentioning that Nepal is becoming an important destination for Japanese and Japanese tourists have a unique reputation in Nepal, he urged Japanese citizens to be more encouraged to visit Nepal.
Ambassador Toru said that the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Japan will be celebrated in 2026 and the relations between the two countries will continue to grow in the future. Recalling the mutual cooperation between the two countries on natural disasters and disasters, he pledged to cooperate on climate change and disaster situations in the coming days.