Since neighboring China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has achieved a remarkable progress within a short span of time, Nepal will benefit tremendously from it, Naindra Prasad Upadhaya, Nepali Consul General in Lhasa, capital city of TAR, told Xinhua on Sunday.

Upadhaya was appointed Consul General in Lhasa on Oct. 24, 2007 for a four-year term by the Nepali government.

I have observed dramatic change in the development of TAR since I took office. With the priority given by the central government, TAR has been progressing rapidly. Before they paid attention to infrastructure development but these days they are focusing on social and cultural development, Upadhaya said.

Western development plan put forward by the central government a decade ago made it possible for TAR to achieve such a miraculous development in a short period, he said. Now, there is road network access to each of 73 counties and districts of TAR, he added.

TAR's living standard has also increased. In 2009, the gross domestic product of TAR amounted to 44.14 billion yuan, representing a growth rate of 12.4 percent from a year earlier. The annual per-capita net income of farmers and herdsmen stood at 3,589 yuan, rising 1.7 times over that of 2000.

Upadhaya stressed that Nepal as a friendly neighbor of China should take advantage of the transportation network developed in TAR.

Though road link from Lhasa to Nepal has almost completed, we are pretty much hopeful of railway connectivity between two countries to allow Nepal to benefit from TAR's development, he said.

"The main task of Consul General's office in Lhasa is to strengthen and give a new height to Nepal-China friendship but we also promote Nepal-China bilateral trade, tourism and investment atmosphere," Upadhaya said.

He said that his mission has been engaging with authorities to reduce Nepal's trade deficit with China.

"Consequently, the Chinese government has given zero tariff to some 301 Nepali products out of 497 products proposed by Nepal. In addition to this, every year we jointly organize economic and trade expo in Lhasa and Kathmandu in order to promote bilateral trade between two countries," he said.

Upadhaya added that tourism could be one of the effective medium to reduce trade gap between two countries. Like Tibet, Nepal is also a naturally beautiful destination to visit. If half of Chinese tourists visiting Tibet were attracted to Nepal it would be great achievement for the Nepali government.

Nepal has set target to greet more than one million international tourists in 2011 and regarded China as the second largest source of tourists.