Bridge of Europe and Nepal

Bilateral Relations: Belgium and Nepal

Bilateral Relations: Belgium and Nepal

Political Cooperatioin

Nepal and Belgium established diplomatic relations on 19 August 1963. Nepal has opened her residential embassy in Brussels in 1992. The Embassy of Belgium in New Delhi is concurrently accredited to Nepal. The relations between the two countries have always been marked by goodwill, trust and mutual respect. The year 2003 marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms.

Contacts at various levels, especially at high level, have contributed to strengthen bilateral ties. His Late Royal Highness Crown Prince Dipendra paid a private visit to the Kingdom of Belgium from 8 to 11 June 1997. The then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba visited Belgium from 25-28 August 2002 during which he met with the Prime Minister of Belgium and various other dignitaries. During the meeting, discussions were held on the political situations of Nepal and other bilateral and international matters of mutual interests.

Bilateral Cooperation
The Belgian government provides official development assistance to those countries that are included in the priority list. As Nepal is not in the list, Nepal has requested the Belgian government for its inclusion in the list. According to the Belgian authorities, dropping from the list of a country and inclusion in it of a new one does not occur frequently. However, they take note of Nepal's development needs and maintain the view that assistance could be channelled through multilateral and non-governmental organizations.

At present, Belgian Red Cross is involved in Nepal with some grassroots projects in Dhading and Gorkha districts. The Belgian government accepts proposals only from those NGOs which have been registered with it and can provide up to 100% grant assistance in select fields, 85% for larger NGOs and in normal cases 75% of the NGO budget. In addition, there are local NGOs, mainly formed by those Belgians who have visited Nepal. These NGOs regularly organize fund-raising programmes to support their small and medium scale activities in Nepal. These include Bikas Nepal Foundation, Belgium-Nepal Friendship Association, Khandhbari medical project, children welfare projects, CUNINA, and Luc Sallen Group. There is an association called "Nepal Sanskritik Samaj" formed mainly by Nepalese nationals residing in Belgium that organizes Nepali cultural programmes during the major festivities. In 2002, Government of Nepal requested the Government of Belgium to provide assistance for strengthening communication navigation service system and airfield lighting at various airports in Nepal. The response from the Belgian government has been positive. The Belgian assistance would take the form of state-to-state loan once the commercial negotiation of the mixed credit between the Belgian Company ADB and the Nepalese authorities is completed.

In March 2003 the Government of Belgium agreed to provide a loan assistance of euros 1,439,637 to Government of Nepal as the fourth and final instalment of Belgian state-to-state loan under the sixth telecommunication project agreement signed in 1990 with a committed loan assistance of 8,496,977 euros over a period of four years. Of the total committed loan, 7,057,340 euros have already been received under three separate loan agreement concluded between 1999 and 2001. The loan assistance is being utilized for the purchase and installation of telecommunications equipment for the extension of 150,000 lines under the sixth telecommunications project being implemented by the NTC. The loan carries no interest with the repayment period of 30 years including a grace period of 10 years. The Royal Nepalese Embassy in Brussels initiated discussion with ALCATEL Bell (Belgian Telecommunication Production Company) to extend the cooperation beyond its traditional mode of cooperation to include some innovative programs such as E-learning in Nepal.

Economic Cooperation
Efforts are being made towards developing economic relations with Belgium through establishment of relations with the leading Chambers of Commerce and Industries to explore business opportunities and cooperation between the private sectors in the two countries. In December 2002 Central Carpet Industries Association of Nepal participated in an international fair and exhibited Nepalese hand-knitted carpets at the Bouwcentrum of Antwerp, Belgium. It was an opportunity to promote Nepalese carpets in the Belgian market. Nepal hosted the 10th Belasia Fair in February 2002 at Wimmel, Belgium which was a very good opportunity for Nepal for its tourism promotion. Eighty-eight organizations from different Asian countries actively participated in the fair. There were altogether 10 Nepalese stalls including Nepal Tourism Board. Few magazines like De Zandloper and Belasia special issue gave a wide coverage about the fair with special publicity on Nepal.

Trade
Nepal exports carpet, woollen goods, ready-made garments, handmade papers, handicrafts etc., to Belgium. Similarly, Nepal imports textile materials, vaccines for human medicine, vitamins and their derivatives, machinery and parts, industrial raw materials, electrical goods, research equipment etc., from Belgium. Nepal's imports from Belgium in Fiscal Year 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 were worth Rs. 517.1 million and 398.5 million respectively. Similarly Nepal's exports to Belgium in those years were worth Rs. 392 million and 295.1 million respectively.

Nepal purchased some arms from a Belgian company in 2002/03. This generated hot parliamentary debate in 2002 and a senior Minister of Belgian Government subsequently resigned from her post. A vote of no-confidence was also brought, but the Government survived. However, this led to the Belgian Government to handover the matters relating to arms supply within the purview of the Regional governments of Belgium.

In view of the major role being played by Belgium in the European Union (EU), the prospects of cooperative relations between Nepal and the EU is expected to receive added impetus through excellent economic and trade relations with Belgium.

Nepal's Trade Balance with Belgium:

Value in Rs. '000
Year Export Import Balance
2000/2001 392,079 517,197 - 125,118
2001/2002 295,140 398,551 - 103,411
2002/2003 230,452 1,444,046 - 1,213,594
2003/2004 260,948 1,125,636 - 864,688

Scholarship
Belgium has been providing scholarships to a limited number of Nepali students selected on competitive basis. Education and scholarship related matters in Belgium fall under the jurisdiction of regional governments. More opportunities might be available to Nepalese students if there are cooperation agreements with regional governments of Belgium. The matter is being pursued with the regional governments.

Tourism
A significant number of tourists arrive in Nepal from Belgium each year. The following figures show the tourist arrivals from Belgium in recent years.