Agriculture Minister Adhikari seeks Japan’s assistance to set up milk processing centre

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 4: Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari has urged the Japanese government to establish an advanced milk processing centre in Kathmandu. 

He made this remark during a meeting with Ambassador of Japan to Nepal Maeda Toru at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development on Monday.

Minister Adhikari urged the Japanese envoy for cooperation, saying that although Nepal has made great progress in the development of the dairy sector, there is a need for a processing centre.

He said that Japan has been providing significant support to the development of Nepal's agricultural sector and that further support is expected for the modernisation of agriculture in the coming days. 

The increase in production achieved by Japan through the use of technology and the achievements it has made in the overall agricultural sector are important.

Minister Adhikari said that Nepal also needs to learn from the experiments being made by Japan in the agricultural sector, so cooperation for technical knowledge can be exchanged. 

Even now, Japanese volunteers are providing assistance through various offices under the ministry, through which Nepalis have got an opportunity to learn the agricultural practices prevalent in Japan, said the minister.

Stating that Nepal has declared an investment decade in agriculture and has adopted a policy to attract investment, Minister Adhikari urged the ambassador to facilitate Japanese investors to invest in Nepal. 

Stating that Nepal will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Japan next year, he expressed the hope that Japan's selfless assistance will further increase on this occasion.

During the meeting, Japanese Ambassador Maeda said that there is a lot of potential in Nepal's agricultural sector and expressed his commitment to continue the ongoing assistance in agriculture and study additional possibilities of cooperation in the coming days. 

Stating that Japan gives importance to the use of equipment in the development of agriculture, he stressed that Nepal should also modernise its agriculture. 

Ambassador Maeda said that Japan could be a good market for Nepal's tea and herbal products, and cooperation could be established for their export.