February 9: Nepal and Australia have signed an agreement on trade and investment during Foreign Minister NP Saud's ongoing visit to Australia.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal's ambassador to Australia Kailash Raj Pokharel and Australia's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts signed the Nepal-Australia Trade and Investment Framework (TIFA) on behalf of their respective governments in the presence of Minister Saud and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.    
Following the signing-in ceremony, both ministers said the moment is significant in terms of taking the friendly relations between the two nations to a new height.    
"Australia and Nepal are close friends and our relationship is underpinned by deep people to people links- Nepali Australians are our fastest growing migrant community," Watts tweeted after the signing of the agreement. He mentioned that the signing of the TIFA is just another demonstration of strong ties between the two countries.    
On the occasion, he reminisced his last year's visit to Nepal, adding that he had held talks with the representatives of the Government of Nepal and leaderships from various sectors about opportunities and measures to further deepen mutual relations between Nepal and Australia. -- RSS