Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, Nepali ambassador to China

This is the second time I will be attending the opening meeting of the annual session of the National People's Congress. The two sessions are China's important annual parliamentary meetings where the Chinese premier presents the annual report of the government of China.

The uniqueness of the two sessions is the presence of more than 2,000 deputies across the country showcasing the democratic parliamentary system of Chinese characteristics. I am also interested to learn about the target of China for 2024 in various areas including trade, investment, tourism, digital technology, science and innovation, green energy.

Furthering the Belt and Road Initiative, Global Development Initiative and other initiatives would be another aspect of interest. I also look forward to the priority of the Chinese government toward its neighboring countries like Nepal in its approach to high-quality development and higher level of opening-up.

For the envoys attending it, the two sessions will be an opportunity to witness the solidarity and commitment of the Chinese government for development, progress and prosperity.

As a close and friendly neighbor, Nepal also looks forward to see how China prioritizes neighborhood policies and implements the South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation in areas such as economic cooperation, people-to-people relations, green and low-carbon development, artificial intelligence, digital economy, climate change and BRI implementation.

Enhancing trade, tourism, investment, people-to-people relations, connectivity and other areas of cooperation would be our prime interest. Therefore, the plan, program and targets in that direction will be our focus.

Digital economy is another particular area. Nepal is also leaping towards digital development. Cooperation on digital infrastructure, digital technology transfer, capacity building, e-governance infrastructure development, e-commerce and raising awareness about innovative digital technology will be more advantageous in Nepal. Such cooperation will be useful in the areas of aviation, tourism, service sectors and so on. Assistance to building smart city, robotic growth, IT based development in the areas of trade and data management would be more effective as well.