After years of deliberation, Nepal finally opened its first outpost in Jakarta as it seeks to build better ties with Indonesia.

The non-resident Nepalese Ambassador to Indonesia, Niranjan MS Basnyat, formally inaugurated on Wednesday the Nepalese Honorary Consulate, headed by real estate businessman Bally Saputra.

Basnyat said that Bally was “the right person” for the job as Nepalese honorary consul, as he could promote the South Asian country through his network of businesses. “Because of his business associations in Malaysia, I came to know about him. He has a lot of businesses in Malaysia and I thought he was the right person to promote relations between Indonesia and Nepal,” the Nepalese envoy said on Wednesday.

The new honorary consulate is Nepal’s first physical presence in Indonesia since establishing diplomatic ties in 1960.

Basnyat said the new office would also serve as a jump-off point for coordination between ASEAN, which has its secretariat in Jakarta, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation based in Kathmandu.

Basnyat is accredited to Kuala Lumpur while Indonesia likewise does not have a resident envoy in Nepal, which is covered by the Indonesian embassy in Bangladesh.

As Nepal is changing from a monarchy into a republic, Basnyat is hoping that political stability will ensue so that foreign investors like Indonesians would be able to take advantage of available business opportunities. While the envoy said Indonesia is Nepal’s fourth largest trade partner, the trade balance between them has fluctuated over the past few years. The Trade Ministry recorded US$13.9 million in two-way trade in 2016, down from $25.78 million in 2015.

Indonesia sent humanitarian aid in 2015 after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake took nearly 9,000 lives.

Meanwhile, Bally plans to hit the ground running in his role as honorary consul, as he is scheduled to lead an Indonesian business delegation of 20 to 30 people to Nepal in November and facilitate possible partnerships in infrastructure, energy and tourism.

“We will bring them there first to build confidence and trust, as they are already very enthused,” Bally told reporters after the inauguration ceremony. Among the businesses he will bring are state-owned construction and property firm PT Pembangunan Perumahan and state-owned cement manufacturer PT Semen Gresik.

Bally also revealed plans for Himalayan Airlines to partner up with flag carrier Garuda Airlines to offer two weekly direct flights connecting Kathmandu with Jakarta and Yogyakarta, starting early 2018.

He is also seeking to have Magelang, Central Java, named sister city of Lumbini, a pilgrimage site in Nepal known as the birthplace of Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha. Magelang is the site of Borobudur temple, the largest Buddhist religious structure in the world.

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