Kathmandu, Jan 5: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai, has left here for Australia to participate in an inaugural ceremony of Visit Nepal Year 2020.

Minister Bhattarai left for Australia on Saturday night to participate in the inaugural ceremony to be organised in Sidney on January 7, said Ministry Spokesperson, Rudra Singh Tamang.

According to the VNY Secretariat, VNY 2020 will be inaugurated at Nepali embassies in foreign countries. Even the Non-Resident Nepali Associations (NRNA) would inaugurate it in the respective countries.

VNY 2020 will be inaugurated in a grand manner in Sidney where Nepali Embassy in Canberra, Australia, is organising the programme and Consulate General of Nepal in Sydney, New South Wales, is supporting it.

Minister Bhattarai, Nepali Ambassador to Australia, Maheshraj Dahal, and Australian citizen, Chris Walker, who visited Nepal for 58th time, will address the programme.

Travel agencies of Australia have already issued packages of Visit Nepal at the initiative of the Nepali Embassy.

Spokesperson Tamang said that the Tourism Minister, during his stay in Australia, would hold discussion on the issue of air service operation between Nepal and Australia. Though air service agreement was signed between Nepal and Australia on September 2019, it has not come into operation yet.