KATHMANDU: Nepal’s exclusion from the EU Air Safety List took center stage today during a high-level meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where EU Member States Ambassadors based in Kathmandu and New Delhi paid a joint call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shisir Khanal.

Pointing to the country’s ongoing aviation reforms and structural progress, Minister Khanal formally requested the European delegation to support Nepal’s delisting from the safety ban.

The diplomatic briefing serves as an early outline of the new administration’s core economic and governance strategies.

Minister Khanal informed the ambassadors that rapid economic growth is a top government priority, backed firmly by two operational pillars: an aggressive anti-corruption stance and efficient public service delivery.

To drive this growth, the Foreign Minister highlighted active economic reforms designed to stimulate innovation, improve export competitiveness, and ease foreign investment.

He explicitly invited greater European capital into four high-priority sectors: hydropower, infrastructure development, tourism, and information technology. Khanal also expressed gratitude for the EU’s long-standing development partnership and called for deeper bilateral cooperation in trade, climate action, education, and civilian ties.

Responding on behalf of the diplomatic delegation, the EU Ambassador to Nepal, Veronique Lorenzo, clarified that the primary objective of the joint visit was to solidify the EU’s support for the new government.

Looking forward, Ambassador Lorenzo expressed a keen interest in expanding bilateral engagement, specifically offering to share European expertise to assist Nepal with e-governance and digitalization.