Ambassador Maeda’s Speech: National Day Reception
2025/2/7
The Right Honourable Mr. Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Vice President of Nepal,
Honourable Ministers and Mayors,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Namaskar and Konnichiwa,
It is my great honor to welcome all of you, especially The Right Honourable Mr. Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Vice President of Nepal, as the Chief Guest, to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor. His Majesty will turn 65 on the 23rd of February. It is also a privilege for me to host this reception for the first time in Nepal after my arrival in early January.
Japan and Nepal have long-standing relations, that can be traced back to the end of 19th century, when a Japanese Buddhist monk, KAWAGUCHI Ekai, visited Nepal in 1899 on his way to Tibet. In 1902, the Nepali government sent eight students to Japan to learn about Japanese development and technology. These early exchanges laid the foundation for our enduring relationship. His Majesty the Emperor also paid a state visit to Nepal when he was Crown Prince in 1987. Last year the visit of the then Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko to Nepal in May have further deepened our relationship.
Since 1969, for more than half a century, Japan has been a major development partner of Nepal. Our partnership has successfully implemented various projects and programs in many areas including infrastructure, disaster prevention, climate change, agriculture, healthcare, education and capacity divelopment. These projects and programs have involved cumulatively 226 billion yen (or 208 billion rupee) of grant, 147 billion yen (or 135 billion rupee) of concessional loan, nearly 6,000 Japanese experts and volunteers to Nepal, approximately 6,900 Nepali trainees to Japan and 333 community projects in cooperation with various international organizations, NGOs and municipalities.
Currently Japan is working on a major tunnel project in Nagdhunga area. I’m pleased to know that the tunnel will be completed this year and expected to be operational early next year.
After the major earthquake in 2015, Japan has contributed to the reconstruction of 274 schools in the affected areas and historical heritage buildings in the Kathmandu Valley. In September last year, the Sindhuri highway, which is another major project Japan has been involved, was severely damaged by the heavy rain fall. The government of Japan is now seriously considering the ways to improve the situation in cooperation with the government of Nepal.
As we look into the future, we warmly welcome Nepal’s participation in the EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Kansai starting from April this year. I believe that it will give an opportunity for Japanese people to learn more about Nepal’s unique culture, natural beauty and future potentiality, and thereby could promote tourism, trade and investment as well as people-to-people exchanges between our two countries.
In 2026, Japan and Nepal will celebrate the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. We look forward to starting discussions with various friends and friendship organizations on both sides on how to promote our friendship further during the year.
Recently we are witnessing the rapid increase in the number of Nepali people in Japan. Currently more than 200,000 Nepali people live in Japan as students, businesspersons, workers and their families. It is expected that this trend will continue for some time, given the socio-economic situations in both countries. I hope Japan and Nepal can work together to make this new important element of our relations as another good opportunity to create positive impacts on both societies and to strengthen the ties between the two peoples and countries.
In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude once again to The Right Honorable Vice President Yadav and all the distinguished guests for your valuable presence today. I would also like to thank the Japanese restaurants and companies in Kathmandu who have kindly contributed some stalls to this reception.
Honourable Ministers and Mayors,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Namaskar and Konnichiwa,
It is my great honor to welcome all of you, especially The Right Honourable Mr. Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Vice President of Nepal, as the Chief Guest, to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the Emperor. His Majesty will turn 65 on the 23rd of February. It is also a privilege for me to host this reception for the first time in Nepal after my arrival in early January.
Japan and Nepal have long-standing relations, that can be traced back to the end of 19th century, when a Japanese Buddhist monk, KAWAGUCHI Ekai, visited Nepal in 1899 on his way to Tibet. In 1902, the Nepali government sent eight students to Japan to learn about Japanese development and technology. These early exchanges laid the foundation for our enduring relationship. His Majesty the Emperor also paid a state visit to Nepal when he was Crown Prince in 1987. Last year the visit of the then Foreign Minister KAMIKAWA Yoko to Nepal in May have further deepened our relationship.
Since 1969, for more than half a century, Japan has been a major development partner of Nepal. Our partnership has successfully implemented various projects and programs in many areas including infrastructure, disaster prevention, climate change, agriculture, healthcare, education and capacity divelopment. These projects and programs have involved cumulatively 226 billion yen (or 208 billion rupee) of grant, 147 billion yen (or 135 billion rupee) of concessional loan, nearly 6,000 Japanese experts and volunteers to Nepal, approximately 6,900 Nepali trainees to Japan and 333 community projects in cooperation with various international organizations, NGOs and municipalities.
Currently Japan is working on a major tunnel project in Nagdhunga area. I’m pleased to know that the tunnel will be completed this year and expected to be operational early next year.
After the major earthquake in 2015, Japan has contributed to the reconstruction of 274 schools in the affected areas and historical heritage buildings in the Kathmandu Valley. In September last year, the Sindhuri highway, which is another major project Japan has been involved, was severely damaged by the heavy rain fall. The government of Japan is now seriously considering the ways to improve the situation in cooperation with the government of Nepal.
As we look into the future, we warmly welcome Nepal’s participation in the EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Kansai starting from April this year. I believe that it will give an opportunity for Japanese people to learn more about Nepal’s unique culture, natural beauty and future potentiality, and thereby could promote tourism, trade and investment as well as people-to-people exchanges between our two countries.
In 2026, Japan and Nepal will celebrate the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. We look forward to starting discussions with various friends and friendship organizations on both sides on how to promote our friendship further during the year.
Recently we are witnessing the rapid increase in the number of Nepali people in Japan. Currently more than 200,000 Nepali people live in Japan as students, businesspersons, workers and their families. It is expected that this trend will continue for some time, given the socio-economic situations in both countries. I hope Japan and Nepal can work together to make this new important element of our relations as another good opportunity to create positive impacts on both societies and to strengthen the ties between the two peoples and countries.
In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude once again to The Right Honorable Vice President Yadav and all the distinguished guests for your valuable presence today. I would also like to thank the Japanese restaurants and companies in Kathmandu who have kindly contributed some stalls to this reception.