Send Home a Friend launched in Australia

The embassy of Nepal in Canberra (Australia), in association with the Consulate of Nepal in Victoria and the Nepal Tourism Board, organised an Info Nepal Nite on June 29 in Melbourne.

On the occasion, Send Home a Friend (SHAF) programme was formally launched amidst a special gathering of the members of the Nepali community and friends and well-wishers of Nepal.

Speaking at the function, Nepali envoy Yogendra Dhakal stressed on the need to expand the scope and enrich the substance of Nepal-Australia relations by exploring opportunities for cooperation between the two countries on trade, tourism, employment, education, and foreign investment.

Ambassador Dhakal said the political changes in Nepal have widened the prospect for Nepal-Australia relations to scale a new height, consistent with the trends of the time as well as the aspirations of the peoples in both countries.

Leela Mani Paudyal, Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation made a presentation on current situation of Nepal's tourism industry and the various promotional efforts being undertaken in many parts of the globe. He underlined that, despite negative travel advisory in certain quarters, Nepal remains a safe and attractive destination and has the potential to become an-all seasons tourism destination in view of incredible geographical, topographical, linguistic, religious, cultural and ethnic diversities as well as the existence of a large number of world cultural heritage sites.

Aditya Baral, director of Nepal Tourism Board, highlighted the importance of the SHAF campaign and called upon the Nepali community to make this campaign a success by bringing a larger numbers of tourists into Nepal. nepalnews.com ia July 02 08