Thapa elected dean of Honorary Consular Corps Nepal

KATHMANDU: The Honorary Consular Corps Nepal (HCC-N), at its 18th Annual General Assembly held recently in Kathmandu, elected Bhola Bikram Thapa as Dean for the 2025–26 term. 

Thapa, who serves as Honorary Consul of Bulgaria to Nepal and President of the President Group of Companies, will lead the body of honorary consuls-general and consuls representing various countries in Nepal.

Chandra Prasad Dhakal, Honorary Consul of Indonesia, now assumes the role of Immediate Past Dean. Suraj Vaidya, Honorary Consul-General of the Philippines, was appointed Vice-Dean, and Narayan Bajaj, Honorary Consul-General of Romania, will serve as Treasurer. The Executive Committee for the coming year also includes Pasang Dawa Sherpa (Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic), Rajesh Kaji Shrestha (Honorary Consul of Vietnam), Pratima Rana Pande (Honorary Consul-General of Italy), Arun Chaudhary (Honorary Consul-General of Hungary) and Sumit Kumar Agarwal (Honorary Consul of Peru). Vidushi Rana, Honorary Consul of Iceland, joins the committee as an invited member.

In his address to the assembly, Dean Thapa outlined an action plan aimed at strengthening the role of consuls as catalysts for economic diplomacy. He emphasised his commitment to working closely with the Government of Nepal and foreign missions to foster trade and investment ties.

The newly elected Dean also paid tribute to those who supported the corps during the 2024–25 term. He thanked Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Arzu Rana Deuba; former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador Gyan Chandra Acharya, who delivered the keynote on economic diplomacy; Immediate Past Dean Chandra Prasad Dhakal; and all outgoing Executive Committee members for their invaluable contributions.