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02-07-2019 13:41

The Acting President of the Republic received the credentials of the Ambassador of Nepal

The Acting President of the Republic, President of the House of Representatives, Mr Demetris Syllouris, received the credentials of the Ambassador of Nepal, Ms Anjan Shakya, stationed in Tel Aviv, during a formal ceremony held at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, July 2, 2019.    

Presenting his credentials, Ambassador Shakya, speaking in English, said: 

“Your Excellency,

I feel greatly honored and privileged to meet you and present to Your Excellency my Letter of Credence as Ambassador of Nepal to the Republic of Cyprus. I have come to such a beautiful, glorious and advanced country Cyprus. I am very much confident and would also expect the Government of Cyprus to extend its hands of cooperation to Nepal in its development endeavors in different fields like transfer of technology, education, trade, commerce, health, IT software etc.

I have brought best wishes to your Excellency from Rt. Hon'ble President and Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister of Nepal for your good health with long life and all round success in your life, to the Government and people of Cyprus. My President and Prime Minister would like to invite you to an official state visit to Nepal. People and Government of Nepal will be very much happy to welcome you in Nepal.

Excellency,

With your kind permission, I would like to avail this important occasion as an opportunity to present some of my views on some significant developments in Nepal in the last few years. With the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2015, Nepal has entered into a situation of political stability introducing a new federal system. At the moment the Government led by the Rt. Hon'ble Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli enjoys more than two-third majority in the Federal Parliament. This positive political development ensures the political stability to guide Nepal for all round development, in particular economic development for the well-being of the people, especially the poor segment of society.

Prime Minister Oli has very wisely and pertinently projected Nepal's speedier economic development with his motto “Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali”. Nepal has charted its economic development path to make the country reach the status of developing country after graduating from the least developed status by 2022 and achieving the status of a middle income country by 2030. We are at the stage to enhance our economic development, any cooperation and support at this moment count much and will be remembered forever.

Excellency,

Our foreign policy is truly inspired and guided by our Prime Minister Oli's slogan of “Amity with All, Enmity with None”. Excellency, please permit me to say a few words. My Government has sent me here to make tangible contributions to expand and deepen Nepal's friendly and bilateral relations. Cyprus is also one of the oldest diplomatic and political friends of Nepal, diplomatic relations being established in August 18, 1980. It is almost 39 years and we are entering fourth decade of establishing bilateral relationship. We do hope to celebrate the fourth decade of diplomatic relationship together. The relations between the two countries have always been warrn, friendly and cordial, marked by mutual respect, trust and understanding of each other's views and interests. However, since the official visits of our late King and Queen in 1982 and former Home Minister and current Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister visited in 2003, there hasn't been any high level visits. High level visits are substantially significant for both countries and we look forward to having one very soon.

Excellency,

I am assigned here to further expand and deepen bilateral relations with closer understanding of our two countries' mutual interests. Let me put in my best and sincere efforts to bring the two Govemments, two people and two societies together for the larger benefit of us all. I believe the government of Cyprus would willingly allow me to work for better cooperation on this.

I believe we can move ahead with common interests and common grounds discovered for the larger good of peace, justice and stability in the world. Both Nepal and Cyprus are members of the United Nations and have faith in the principles and purposes of its Charter. Both countries have worked together in various international fora in the past and hold similar views on many international issues of common concerns.

I would like to reiterate here that Nepal supports solution to the Cyprus problem in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

I would also make efforts to make business to business relations fruitful and collaborative. Nepal is at the moment incurring huge deficit with many of its trading partners. My efforts would be aimed at encouraging both private sectors and people-to-people relations through the promotion of tourism, exchange of scholars and professionals, youth entrepreneurs, students, skilled and semi-skilled manpower and artists of various fields and culture etc. I would also like to invite more Cypriots to visit Nepal both as tourists as well as investors. While committing myself to further cementing our bilateral ties, I would also like to express my confidence that our relations shall grow from strength to strength during the days ahead.

I am confident that the noble guidance of Your Excellency and that of the government of Cyprus would be of enormous value to enhance good relations between our two countries during my tenure here.

I avail myself of this opportunity to express the assurances of my highest consideration, and sincerely offer my personal gratitude to Your Excellency for the highly valued time granted to me so graciously.

I also extend my hearty thanks to the Chief of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Cyprus, all the officials who so meticulously manage every bit of things for the presentations of credential here today. Efharisto poli”.

Receiving the credentials, the Acting President said:

“Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

From the outset, I wish to express the President’s sincere apologies, who, due to the minor incident he had this past Saturday, is unable to receive your letters of credence.

It gives me a great pleasure to warmly welcome you all at the Presidential Palace today as the new Heads of Mission of your respective countries to the Republic of Cyprus. I would like to congratulate you on your appointments and to assure you of our full support in the execution of your high duties.

I also wish to pay tribute to your predecessors for their efforts in steadily enhancing our dialogue and cooperation, always serving the shared interests of our people.

The Government looks forward to working closely with you to further promote the different dimensions of our bilateral relations. I also want to affirm the President’s desire to expand the scope of our cooperation and to intensify synergies in various fields of common interest.   

It is our sincere wish that today’s Ceremony of Presentation of Credentials will mark the beginning of a new era in our bilateral relations, further enriching existing ties and forging new opportunities of mutual beneficial partnership.

The global challenges we are currently facing, from the rise of extremism to climate change and migration, require the ever-closer collaboration between our countries and Governments. 

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I want to take this opportunity and shortly brief you on the economic outlook of the Republic of Cyprus. Following the severe economic crisis of 2013, our country has achieved a return to positive growth rates since 2015.

We have acknowledged our mistakes of the past and worked very hard to address some of the structural challenges in our economy. As a result, we currently enjoy a growth rate of around 3.5%, while macroeconomic forecasts project a robust growth of more than 3% in the years to come.

Moreover, we have achieved consecutive balanced budgets with primary surplus, while unemployment, which in 2013 had risen to 16%, has now dropped to almost 7% and is expected to be further reduced.

 

The banking system, re-focusing its operations and fully adhering to the strictest international transparency and compliance regulations, is now based on a stronger and healthier base in terms of capitalization, liquidity and profitability.

The positive course of the Cyprus economy restored the confidence and trust of investors and of International Credit Rating Agencies, which is reflected by a number of successive upgrades, currently classifying Cyprus at the investment grade.

Our plan is to remain focused on maintaining and broadening the conditions under which surpluses and high growth rates can be generated, to continue promoting structural reforms and improving the country’s business environment.

Excellencies,

Our ceremony today takes place during a very challenging time for the Republic of Cyprus. It was not my intention, but unfortunately I am forced to bring to your attention the recent alarming developments in our Exclusive Economic Zone related to Turkey’s continued aggressive behaviour and illegal actions that are indeed a cause of serious concern.

As you understand, these hostile actions by Turkey, apart from creating a volatile atmosphere in the wider region, have also extremely negative consequences on the prospect of resuming talks on the Cyprus problem.

Yet, despite Turkey’s continuous threatening rhetoric, the President remains - as always - strongly committed in engaging in a new round of negotiations with the aim to reach a lasting and comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus issue, in line with the relevant UN Resolutions, and International and EU Law.

A settlement that will safeguard the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, ensuring the peaceful co-existence of all Cypriots, Greek and Turkish, without any third country dependencies, military troops and guarantees.

We do hope that Turkey will finally adopt a more realistic and constructive approach and will refrain from such actions the soonest. At the same time, we hope that our Turkish Cypriot compatriots will fully abide to the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions which call for the return and resettlement of Varosha by its rightful and lawful owners and inhabitants.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to express the sincere appreciation of the people and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus for your countries’ principled stance on the Cyprus issue and the long-standing support in our efforts to end the current status quo on the island.

Excellencies,

This year we celebrate 46 years of bilateral relations with Mongolia. Despite the lack of geographical proximity, we stand ready to expand our cooperation in a number of areas of mutual interest. This will not only strengthen our bonds, but it will also provide us with the opportunity to learn from best practices in our respective countries.

Cyprus and Nepal share a cordial friendship based on common values and principles of peace, security and development that are enshrined in international law and the United Nations Charter. Nepal’s significant contribution to UN peace keeping operations demonstrates the country’s commitment to peace and prosperity.

With New Zealand we share a long-standing friendship. We look forward to working towards the deepening of our relations in fields such as finance, trade, maritime, education, infrastructure and technology, as well as expanding our cooperation in various areas, social security and tourism to name a few. In this endeavour, we rely also on the support of the active and expanding Cypriot community that has made New Zealand its home.

With respect to Malaysia, we remain committed on further broadening our bilateral relations and finalizing the Agreements and Memoranda for which discussions are underway. We are also keen in enhancing the development of our cooperation within international organisations and fora, for the mutual benefit of our countries and respective regions.

As regards Ethiopia, our relations are based on a solid framework of mutual respect and understanding. The Government is ready to join efforts in exploring new fields of potential partnership. Within the EU, Cyprus remains committed to the further enhancement of the political dialogue and cooperation between the Union and Ethiopia.

South Africa and Cyprus have traditionally close ties, in particular within the Commonwealth. We look forward to the further strengthening of our close bilateral relations and our cooperation in international fora. Cyprus will continue supporting the deepening of South Africa’s relations with the European Union.

Last but not least, with Jamaica we share the common political will to advance our cooperation. Cyprus stands ready to intensify these coordinated efforts to facilitate the further development of the EU-Jamaica relations. 

Excellencies,

In concluding, I would like to convey the President’s best wishes for every success in the accomplishment of your important work. Please accept my most heartfelt congratulations for your appointments and the beginning of your diplomatic missions in Cyprus.

Thank you”.

(MG/IΙ)