Capitalise Japanese Aid And Goodwill

Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko was in Kathmandu on a short official visit at the invitation of her Nepali counterpart Narayan Kaji Shrestha. The Japanese Foreign Minister visited several other Asian countries during her visit and she left for Tokyo after her hectic trip. The Minister held bilateral talks with all the three top dignitaries of Nepal and all of them sought the cooperation of Japan in Nepal's development efforts.

The Japanese Minister, according to media reports, said Japan was positive about the development plans of this Himalayan country. Japan is one of the biggest partners for providing aid to Nepal. 

To give just one example, JICA, the international aid giving agency of Japan, provided a huge loan for the construction of the first road tunnel of this country, which had its 'breakthrough' function, with none less than Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda initiating the formal ceremony amidst a function at Nagdhunga just a little more than a couple of months back. PM Prachanda had said that Nepal had entered the 'tunnel era' with this project and similar tunnels would be constructed to make shorter the trips made by vehicles while connecting different highways across the country.

Relief to passengers 

This tunnel built with Japanese aid would definitely contribute in lessening the consumption of fossil fuel, which Nepal has to import every drop at a high cost. It would also provide relief to the passengers going to different parts of the country from Kathmandu and at the same time also ease the chaotic jams people see on this sector of the country's busiest highway. Construction of similar tunnels in other parts of the country would definitely make our highways trouble-free and make many trips shorter. Nepal is a popular destination for many Japanese tourists and records show that they have arrived in thousands of numbers to not only go to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, but also in enjoying the natural beauty of this country which few other countries have in such a small area.

Thousands of Japanese climbers have also scaled many mountains in Nepal's Himalayas and it would not be going out of the way to mention here that Junko Tabei, a Japanese climber, in the year 1975, became the first ever woman to have scaled Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), the world's tallest mountain. She was the 36th person who had ever scaled this mountain and thus she became not only an international celebrity, but she also wrote her name in the pages of history with her daring achievement. She went on to climb all the highest peaks in all continents.

Former Japanese prime minister, late Ryutoro Hashimoto, was also an avid mountain lover, and he loved to go on mountain trips whenever he visited Nepal and he did this many times even after he left the post of prime minister. This author remembers meeting him at his office in Tokyo, and holding a long talk with him. He only had fond memories of this Himalayan country and he had pledged that he would do whatever he could for the development of Nepal and also play a role in sending more Japanese tourists to it. There is no doubt that tourism plays a distinctive role for not only earning precious foreign currencies, but also providing employment to thousands of people. Traders of handmade artifacts like statues and carpets make a comfortable income from the tourism sector while contributing in different ways to make stronger this country's economy. 

Nepali youths go to Japan not only for higher studies but also to work and take benefit from the huge developments Japan has made even though it was devastated during the Second World War. Through sheer hard work, sacrifices and innovation, the country steadily became world's economic 'super power.' This author when working as a reporter in this daily, had an opportunity to have lunch with one of top tourism business woman in Japan who had said that Nepal was even more beautiful than Switzerland. But she had 'cautioned' that Nepal would have to develop its infrastructure and also other facilities which the young and rich Japanese wanted. 'Nepal has its natural beauty and rich heritage in a small area, while Switzerland has all modern facilities to attract the young and high spending Japanese tourists', she had said.

Reliable air service 

Many similar travel experts have also said, 'besides the infrastructure and luxuries that young and rich Japanese tourists expect, there should also be reliable connecting flights, so that tourists from not only Japan, but all over the world can come comfortably to this wonderful tourist destination'. So our own government should seriously mull over such advice and try and make our national air carrier, Nepal Airways, more reliable, the airports more modern and luxurious, and make the national airline fly to more countries and allow other airlines to make more flights to Nepal too.

The Nepal Airline once had direct flights to Osaka of Japan, but now even this lucrative sector seems to have been cut off or irregular and thus make a dent on its reliability. It must also be kept in mind that Japan and the people have not only a 'soft corner' for Nepal, but both the countries have shared diplomatic relations for almost seven decades. Nepal has to capitalize on this aspect while receiving aid from Japan and also take advantage of the good bilateral relations through not only development aid but also through tourism and other trades.

(The author is former editor of this daily.)