PM to address UN General Assembly on September 26 in New York

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Sept. 7: The government has approved Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to New York, USA, to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

This will be PM Oli’s first foreign visit after he assumed the high office on July 15.

“Prime Minister Oli will lead the Nepali delegation to the United Nations General Assembly and embark on an 11-day visit to the United Nations beginning from September 20,” said Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung at a press conference organised on Friday to make the Cabinet decisions of Thursday public.   

PM Oli is scheduled to address the UNGA and take part in the Summit of the Future to be organised by UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres. He will also hold talks with several world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The 19-member delegation led by the Prime Minister includes his spouse Radhika Shakya, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel, Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, his political advisor Bishnu Rimal, senior government officials, media persons, security personnel and private doctors among others.

Foreign Minister Dr. Rana, who is paying a visit to Canada ahead of the UN General Assembly, will join the delegation in New York from Canada.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PM Oli will participate in the Summit of the Future on September 22 and 23. 

On September 26, the Prime Minister will address the UN General Assembly and will brief world leaders about recent agreements on Nepal’s peace process and Nepal’s push for climate justice. 

Similarly, the Cabinet meeting held on Thursday decided to honour Palesha Goverdhan, who won the historic bronze medal in the Paralympics-2024 held in France with a cash prize of Rs. 6.5 million. Also, Palesha’s coach Kabiraj Negi Lama will be honoured with a cash prize of Rs. 585,000 and team manager Ramchandra Shrestha with Rs. 292,000. These cash prizes include tax exemption. 

The Cabinet meeting has endorsed a loan of Rs. 600 million to the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC). According to Minister Gurung, the Cabinet has also directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to instruct the DDC to formulate and implement a business plan aimed at restructuring and making commercial improvements to the DDC. 

The government has also given approval to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to get membership of the Global Operational Network Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (Global Network). 

The government has approved the Ministry of Finance to form a dialogue team to receive a concessional loan of Rs. 15.29 billion to be provided by the Asian Development Bank for the Irrigation Modernisation Enhancement Project. 

Minister Gurung said that the government has appointed Revenue Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Dinesh Kumar Ghimire as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Employees Provident Fund Nepal and CEO of Agricultural Development Bank Govinda Gurung as a member of the Board. 

The Cabinet has approved the agenda to be presented by Nepal and to form a negotiation team in the 7th meeting of the Trade and Investment Framework Advanced Council (TIFA) between Nepal and the USA to be held in Kathmandu on September 16. 

The government has given a nod to acquire the national forest area of 51.871 hectares in Makwanpur to be used for the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Fast Track project. 

The Cabinet meeting also appointed Sangita Pahadi Aryal as Managing Director of Nepal Telecommunication Company Ltd. and former employee Amardhowj Lama as Executive Director of Radio Nepal. Likewise, the Cabinet promoted Joint Secretary Govinda Bahadur Karki as secretary and inducted him as Chief Secretary at the Office of Chief Minister and Council of Ministers of Bagmati Province. 

The government has approved the visit of Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sarat Singh Bhandari to take part in Japan-Nepal Employment Summit to be held in Tokyo from September 19 and change the name of Gangadev Rural Municipality of Rolpa as Sukidaha Rural Municipality and change centre of the Rural Municipality from Sandanda of Ward-5 to Sukkhaodar (Jinawang) of Ward Number 2.