KATHMANDU, MAY 30
Nepali Mountaineer Furba Ongel Sherpa successfully scaled and raised the Zambian Flag on the top of Mt. Everest, according to Zambia's Honorary Consul in Nepal Desh Bandhu Basnet.
Issuing a press statement on the Zambian Honorary Consulate said that the purpose of raising the Flag of Zambia is to draw attention between two country to strengthening bilateral trade and bilateral relations.
Over the years, the relation between the two countries has always remained cordial and friendly, the statement added.
Nepal and Zambia established diplomatic relations on 10 September 1986. The embassy of Nepal in Pretoria, South Africa, is concurrently accredited to Zambia while the Embassy of Zambia in New Delhi is concurrently accredited to Nepal. King Mahendra visited Zambia to attend the Third NAM Summit on 8-10 September 1970.
Both Nepal and Zambia are members of the UN, NAM, G-77, and WTO. Both the countries are least developed (LDC) and landlocked (LLDC) and they share similar views on many agendas of global development cooperation and partnership. Both the countries have been contributing to UN peacekeeping operations. As of November 2017, Nepal has contributed 5353 troops and Zambia has contributed 1128 troops to various UN peacekeeping missions.
However, there is a negligible share in bilateral trade between Nepal and Zambia.
"Though the Zambia is a peaceful and politically stable country. Since 1991, political transfer of power has been conducted through multi-party elections. The Country is generally safe and, unlike some of its neighbors, it has not experienced coups, civil wars, or prolonged misgovernance. It also enjoys a free press and has an active civil society and the economy having some representative groupings."
Zambia has many attributes to attract foreign direct investment. It is a mining economy with decades of experience in mining-related activities.
As much of the investments so far have been in the mining sectors, there remain several vastly untapped opportunities in Zambia, it further added.
With vast reserves of copper and cobalt, the mining sectors offer real potential for growth and further expansion. Home to 6 % of the world's copper reserves, Zambia also boasts of precious stones such as emeralds, amethyst, aquamarine, gold, and diamonds. Zambia has the second-largest deposit of the worlds' best emeralds comprising 20% of the world supply.
Similarly, Zambia has 752,000 square kilometers of landmass, 58 % of which are arable. Zambia has a massive opportunity in irrigation farming potential and agro-business. Cotton, flower, coffee, tobacco, sugarcane, pineapples, cashew nuts, cassava, and other horticultural and floricultural crops are been prioritized for investment by Zambian Government.
Likewise, Zambia's tourism potential lies in its vast natural resources, most of which are pristine and unexploited and cater to a diverse and broad range of interests, including varied sceneries, wilderness and wildlife, adventure activities, diverse culture, and national heritage. Although known mainly for the world-famous Victoria Falls, a UNESCO world heritage site, Zambia boasts of many other attractions including 19 national parks. Zambia's wildlife estate is one of the largest in the sub-region, with wildlife protected areas occupying 40% of the country's land.
With 40 % of water resources in the southern Africa subregion found in Zambia, Hydropower generation is identified among the country's investment potentials.
