Ambassador of Kosovo to Bangladesh Lulzim Pllana, who is also accredited to look after the country’s Nepal affairs, has said that Nepal and Kosovo can cooperate in many areas as his country is willing to share its experience of bringing back migrating citizens.

Speaking with some journalists in Kathmandu on Wednesday, Pllana said that Nepal and Kosovo set priority areas like tourism, agriculture, mining, trade, education, and student exchange while stressing the management of the people who have left the country.

Like Nepal, Kosovo has a huge number of citizens residing outside the country. It is bringing them back and engaging them.

In his meeting with a wide range of people and officials in Kathmandu, Pllana said both sides have expressed willingness to look beyond regional limitations and explore cooperation outside immediate regional blocs. Nepal is in South Asia and Kosovo is a Balkan nation.

Both countries aim to maintain strong, stable governments that can support long-term foreign policy initiatives while sharing knowledge on governance, digital public services such as online bill payments, ICT-based administrative systems, institutional reforms, and management of migrating citizens, the envoy suggested.

Like Nepal, Kosovo is a landlocked country. In order to deal with migrants, the Kosovo government has set up the Ministry of Diaspora, he said.

According to the ambassador, around half of its population (1.6 million) resides abroad, mainly in European Union member states. Many Kosovars migrated during the 1980s Yugoslav era, when German industries demanded labour.

Kosovo’s government continues strengthening ties with diaspora communities and improving service delivery, he said, as it focusses on human development, mobility of the citizen, and the return of migrating people.

Nepal and Kosovo face similar developmental challenges and have seen political transitions in recent years. Each has a remittance-based economy with strong reliance on citizens abroad. Both countries have mountainous geography.

The visiting diplomat shared a long list of professionals who were educated and worked outside but are now contributing to the development of Kosovo in many areas as the government encourages citizens to return by offering opportunities to work within public institutions.

The ambassador said that Nepal and Kosovo can strengthen university-level collaboration, and academic exchanges.