by Fone Ying Kyu
YANGON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi's official visit to Nepal, which lasted from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, has enhanced bilateral cooperation between Myanmar and Nepal, said a press release of the Myanmar Foreign Ministry issued late on Sunday after Suu Kyi returned from the visit.
During her Nepal visit, Aung San Suu Kyi met with Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.
Witnessed by the two countries' leaders, a memorandum of understanding was signed, according to which Myanmar and Nepal agreed to promote sustainable development of bilateral cooperation of trade and investment and to take steps for promoting strategic cooperation in potential sectors such as tourism, agro-tourism, agriculture, livestock and transport.
Bilateral talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the two Nepalese leaders called for promotion of existing friendly relations and cooperation, enhancing bilateral high-level visit, sharing experiences on democratic transition and peace process, cooperation in tourism, setting up of direct air link to promote pilgrimage tour in 2020 Visit Nepal Year.
Suu Kyi extended an invitation to the Nepalese prime minister to pay an official visit to Myanmar.
The two countries also agreed to establish a Joint Consultative Mechanism at the level of secretary.
Besides attending the Nepal Chamber Expo-2018, which was organized with Myanmar as a partner country, Suu Kyi also attended th opening session of the Asia-Pacific Summit-2018 in Kathmandu which was jointly organized by the Government of Nepal and the Universal Peace Federation.
With the theme of "Addressing the Critical Challenges of Our Time: Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values" , the summit gathered 1,500 participants from 45 countries or regions from Asia-Pacific including heads of states and governments, lawmakers, eminent leaders, businessmen and leaders of civil society.
The summit concluded with the Kathmandu Declaration for Peace and Cooperation calling for tolerance, mutual understanding, accommodation and dialogue to resolve conflicts and ensure a more peaceful, equitable and inclusive world order.
At the invitation of the Nepalese Prime Minister, Suu Kyi made the first trip to Nepal in her capacity as state counselor since June 2014 when she visited Kathmandu as then opposition leader.
Suu Kyi's trip also followed that of President U Win Myint to Nepal in August this year on the occasion of the 4th Summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in the Nepalese capital.
