Malaysia Bids To Operate Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, which is keen to share its expertise with Nepal as part of government-to-government initiative, has submitted a proposal to operate the Tribhuvan international airport. Former Nepal prime minister, Jhalanath Khanal, said the Nepalese government was still considering Malaysia's proposal and the country was keen to have bilateral cooperation to assist Nepal's development. "Nepal has a big room to be developed. We are in a stage of exploration looking for countries to help us in developing our country in different fields including construction, tourism and agriculture," he told reporters here Tuesday. Khanal, who is here on a five-day visit since Feb 28, said this after making a courtesy call on Malaysia's Special Envoy for Infrastructure to India and South Asia, S. Samy Vellu at his office. Tribhuvan international airport is located about six kilometres from the city centre of Kathmandu. Khanal said Nepal, which has a population of 27 million people and famed for its Mount Everest, was keen to learn from Malaysia in the construction of highways, railways and airports. Meanwhile, Samy Vellu said the proposal to operate the airport was made after his visit to Nepal last October. He said he would go to Nepal again by the end of this month to get more details of the progress of the proposal. "If the project is approved, the Malaysian government will form a consortium for Malaysian companies to participate in the airport's operations and maintenance," he said. The consortium would also train the Nepalese and transfer its technologies to local companies as part of the agreement, he said. "It is part of our government initiative to bring Malaysian companies to share their expertise in the global market," he said, adding that Malaysia was also eyeing Nepal's new international airport project in Greenfield. -- BERNAMA