The visiting US special envoy Sergio Gor discussed a wide range of issues with a pair of Nepali ministers on Friday.

Gor, the special envoy of the US President for South and Central Asia, held talks with Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal and discussed advancing initiatives under the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact, and expanding trade and investment between Nepal and the US.

Gor is also the US ambassador to India. As a special envoy of President Donald Trump, Gor has been travelling across South and Central Asia and meeting with the heads of state and government, leaders, and officials.

In Kathmandu, he met with the ministers on Friday and will be meeting with the president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party Rabi Lamichhane on Saturday before wrapping up his Nepal visit at midnight.

Separately, US Defence Attache in New Delhi Brigadier General Patrick Teague also called on the Chief of the Army Staff General Ashok Raj Sigdel on Friday.

Apparently, occupied with internal issues, Prime Minister Balendra Shah has refused to meet Gor.

In their meeting, the foreign minister told the special envoy that the Nepal government has been working to ease hassles and obstacles being reported in the MCC projects.

“During his visit to Kathmandu today, Special Envoy Sergio Gor paid a courtesy call on Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal. The two held constructive and productive discussions on deepening bilateral cooperation across several promising domains, with particular emphasis on expanding trade and advancing initiatives under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),” said the US Embassy in a brief statement.

“It was a good meeting,” Foreign Minister Khanal told the Post, adding, “we focused on trade and investment and offered help connecting us to US business.”

In the meetings, both ministers apprised Gor of the priorities of the new government and how it intends to engage with the US to expand trade, business, investment, job creation, and economic development.

Gor told both ministers that if the Nepal government creates an enabling environment for business, US investors would be encouraged. Time and again, US officials have been urging Nepali ministers and officials to remove red tape and obstacles in order to facilitate American investment in Nepal.

Samir Paul Kapur, US Assistant Secretary of State who was here just two weeks back, also pledged similar support to Nepal during his meeting with Khanal and Wagle.

In Gor’s meetings on Friday, the two sides also discussed ways to commemorate the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Nepal and the US next year by exchanging high-level visits and organising various events.

The Finance Minister’s Secretariat informed that various issues related to economic partnership and development assistance between Nepal and the US were discussed during the meeting.

After the meeting with Finance Minister Wagle, Gor took to social media, calling the meeting very productive. On X, he wrote that their discussions covered a broad spectrum of shared priorities, with a strong focus on improving the business climate, expanding technology-driven employment opportunities, and unlocking new avenues for economic cooperation that will benefit “both our nations.”

With Minister Khanal, besides discussing the joint commemoration of the 80th year of diplomatic relations between Nepal and the US, they also touched on creating investment-friendly environment in Nepal to support job creation, increase the frequency of visits at various levels between Kathmandu and Washington, and to strengthen development cooperation, among other things.

They discussed job creation in the information and technology sector for the benefit of Nepali youths. Khanal had appraised Gor on the priorities of the new government, saying it wants quick economic recovery and development to meet the people’s aspiration, and in the process the government is trying to change several laws.

Gor, who had arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday evening, went to Everest base camp on Friday morning and officially launched an American cargo drone, Ultra X Gen 2, at the Everest Base Camp in the presence of Deputy Chief of US Embassy in Kathmandu, Scott Urbom. The drone was briefly flown as it did not yet have permission from the Nepal government for a test flight.