Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi: The Nepalese community in the UAE celebrated their Constitution and National Day on Sunday with a series of events, including traditional and cultural performances in the capital.
A large number of people from the 250,000-strong community gathered in Abu Dhabi to mark the day.
The world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa also lit up with the Nepalese flag.
The Nepal Embassy, which hosted a reception on Sunday evening, received diplomats of different countries and officials from the UAE’s foreign ministry. Ahmad Sari Al Mazrouei, undersecretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), was the chief guest at the ceremony at Al Qasr hotel in the capital.
Speaking to Gulf News, the newly-appointed Nepalese ambassador to the UAE Krishna Prasad Dhakal said, “The bilateral relations between Nepal and the UAE are excellent. We would strive to further trade and toursim ties.”
“Both Nepal and the UAE share common values, including tolerance, harmony and peaceful co-existence,” he said.
He said Nepal will be celebrating next year as “Visit Nepal 2020” to promote tourism. The number of Nepalese tourists to the UAE has also increased significantly in recent years, reaching over 200,000 per year. About one million people travel between Nepal and the UAE each year.
The UAE is the third largest trading partner of Nepal. “Bilateral trade between both countries is increasing year on year. In 2018, it stood at around $300 million,” the envoy said.
Nepal commemorates September 20 as the Constitution and National Day as four years back, it promulgated the constitution of Nepal in the constituent assembly, which marks the nation’s transformation from a kingdom to a republic, Hinduism to secularism and from a centralised government to a federal system, the ambassador said.
The constitution has brought political stability to the nation, which will help create economic and social prosperity, he said.
He also asserted that Nepal would never forget the support extended by the UAE government and the people of the UAE in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake, which claimed almost 9,000 lives.
The 250,000-plus Nepalese in the UAE remit over Nepalese Rs1 billion (Dh32,387,081.80) each year from the UAE to Nepal, Dhakal said.
