Gandaki, Dec 29:
Minister for Youth and Sports Tejulal Chaudhary has said that sports will contribute to building a prosperous country.
Inaugurating the Second Dragon Boat Race Festival which started today at Phewatal in Pokhara under the joint aegis of the Gandaki Provincial Government, the Pokhara Metropolitan City, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Nepal and the Nepal Tourism Board, he expressed his belief that the sports will help to maintain unity and harmony between different countries and communities.
Minister Chaudhary expressed the view that the Dragon Boat Race Festival will develop Pokhara’s sports and tourism sector and further strengthen the harmonious relationship between the citizens of Nepal and China. Mentioning that China is Nepal’s major tourism partner country, Minister Chaudhary believed that this competition will contribute significantly to the promotion and development of Nepal’s tourism including Pokhara.
Pokhara Metropolitan City mayor Dhanraj Acharya, said that since Pokhara is the tourism capital rich in nature, art and culture, various activities have been started in the tourism development here with the concept of Greater Pokhara.
He said that these kinds of sports activities will help in the promotion and development of tourism in Pokhara. He expressed his belief that the relationship between the two countries will be further strengthened through sports such as cross country and dragon boat.
Stating that the year 2025 will be celebrated as the year of visiting Pokhara, Mayor Acharya urged the Chinese government to operate direct flights from various cities in China to Pokhara. Social Development Youth and Sports Minister of Gandaki Province Bindukumar Thapa said that Pokhara is a place with potential from the point of view of sports tourism. He said that the dragon boat race competition will further help to develop Pokhara as a sports tourism destination. The second edition of ‘Nepal-China Friendly Draw’ will be held from today till Monday.
A total of 20 teams from Nepal, China and Singapore are participating in the ‘Nepal-China Friendly Dragon Boat Race Festival’.
Eleven teams including Gandaki, Bagmati, Karnali, Tribhuvan Army Club, Dragon Boat Gandaki, Begnas Team, Rupatal Team and Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies (NARA) team will participate in the competition.
In the competition, the winning team of 500 metres and 200 metres race will be awarded 5,000 US dollars. Similarly the first runner-up team will bag 2000 dollars and the second runner-up team 1200 US dollars, the organizers said.
