Kathmandu, February 24:

New logos of the Japanese embassy were launched and the Coordinating Council for Golden Jubilee Celebration of Nepal-Japan Diplomatic Relations, and the Japanese Association (Nihonjinkai) and Cooperation Committee for the 50th Anniversary of Japan-Nepal Diplomatic Relations, were set up at a function held at the residence of the Japanese ambassador, Tsutomu Hiraoka, today.

Logos were exchanged between the Coordinating Council for Golden Jubilee Celebration of Nepal-Japan Diplomatic Relations and the Cooperation Committee for the 50th Anniversary of Japan-Nepal Diplomatic Relations.

Speaking at the function, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ramesh Nath Pandey, said a people-level relationship should exist between Japan and Nepal in the light of Asia’s growing role in the days ahead. “The world is changing fast and a new world order is being established. An individual country’s perspective is also changing. In such a context, the whole world is looking at Asia with greater interest,” said Pandey, while appealing to foreign donors to invest in Nepal.

Japanese envoy Hiraoka said that Japan has been continuously extending economic and technical co-operation for the development of Nepal. The support covers areas like health, education, energy, transport, drinking water and environmental conservation, Hiraoka said.

Japan strated it’s financial assistance to Nepal in 1954. According to Hiraoka: “Till the end of the Japanese Fiscal Year 2004, the government of Japan has provided a total assistance of 281.002 billion yen to Nepal, which consists of grants of 165.615 billion yen, technical cooperation of 51.498 billion yen and loans amounting to 63.889 billion yen.”