Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, met with top leaders in Nepal on Wednesday.

He paid a courtesy call on President Ramchandra Paudel at Sheetal Niwas. “During the call on, the two sides discussed the gamut of bilateral relations and ambits of further cooperation to enhance happily subsisting relations between Nepal and the UAE,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Stating that the UAE has remained an important and reliable partner of Nepal in its social as well as economic development, the President expressed hope for the enhancement of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, said Basant Prasad Panthi, assistant spokesperson for the Office of the President.

During his meeting with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, the UAE Deputy Prime Minister Al-Nahyan said that he would encourage UAE business people to invest in Nepal’s tourism, energy and agriculture, among other sectors.

“He also informed that the UAE was ready for a free trade agreement with Nepal,” the prime minister’s secretariat said in a press note.

Appreciating the UAE’s fast progress achieved in the development sector, the prime minister sought the UAE’s support to expand investment in the sector of hydropower and green energy, among other sectors in Nepal.

The UAE minister arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday evening leading a delegation for a two-day official visit to Nepal.

Sharat Singh Bhandari, minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security, among other top officials welcomed him upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

The UAE deputy prime minister and foreign minister has been accompanied by Ahmed Ali Mohamed Al Sayegh, minister of state for Foreign Affairs, Saeed Mubarak Rashed Alhajeri, assistant minister for Economic and Trade Affairs, Abdulla Balalaa, assistant minister for Energy and Sustainability Affairs, Abdulla Jarwan Alshamsi, ambassador of the UAE to Nepal and other senior officials of the UAE government.