काठमाडौँकाे बढ्दो शहरीकरण कसरी व्यवस्थापन गर्ने ?

शहरी योजना र काठमाडौँकाे बढ्दो शहरीकरण कसरी व्यवस्थापन गर्न सकिएला? यस विषयमा रातोपाटीका वरिस्ठ रिपोर्टर नरेन रौले जी संग भएको छलफल 

Youtube link

Video copyright with many gratitude: Ratopati TV

Host: Narendra Raule

Camera: Yogendra Nagarkoti 

Edit: Ratopati 

Kathmandu Chronicles 2025 of an Urban Planner #2: On the separation of the power of the governance and management functions

 22 April, 2025

A typical household electric wire has a red and a white wire entwined, and separated by insulation. Exposed wires will cause a short circuit, give off spark and trip the fuse.

Governance of a city is like an electric wire.

At one hand are the leaders elected by the people. They have GOVERNANCE function. Such as the Mayor and the Ward Members.

On the other hand are the bureaucracy. They are responsible for MANAGEMENT and service delivery. Such as the Municipality Chief Executive, officers, and staff in the bureaucracy.

The two core functions - governance and management - are entwined. If those two are not properly insulated from each other, the service delivery system will trip off, and the system will crash.

At a higher level, the above separation of power between governance and management ensures that a city functions well at both its decision and delivery roles.

In a well-functioning city the jurisdictions of the two tiers are well-separated. Roles are clearly defined and enshrined in legislation to ensure they are adhered to. Most importantly, the rules are followed. For example, in the case of Auckland Council, New Zealand where I permanently reside, and have been an officer in roles advising the governing body (Policy Planner) as well as being part of the service delivery team (Senior Planner in Regulatory Planning team).

In the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (and other municipalities), the two wires are naked without any insulation to separate the governance and management functions. There seems to be no separation of jurisdiction, at least in practice. No wonder the system struggles to function even at its basic roles. Conflicts pop up like popcorn on a hot oven. The elected representatives seem to be directly involved in service delivery involving finance transactions, contracting and bidding. The bureaucracy, on the other hand, are making decisions. This is a no no and a recipe for disaster. To be a well-functioning city, there must be proper and absolute separation of power such as the red and black wires of and electric circuit.

I am aware that there were and are many good governance initiatives in Nepal. Without knowing what exactly was and is being done, until and unless we ensure that there is absolute separation of power of people in the governance and management, our fuse will keep tipping.

As an example of best practice of governance model, here is link to the webpage which explains how it works in Auckland Council.

Auckland Council is not perfect. No city is and can be. But the governance model of Auckland and New Zealand overall works. Systems and processes evolve and are improved continuously.

If anyone In KMC or elsewhere wants, I am here to share my knowledge and experience of good governance (and Urban Planning) in a local government context. More than happy to connect with people who work in the nuts and bolts of a well-functioning governance machinery.

The above post is based on my experience both in New Zealand and Nepal. I gather clues from people I meet - general public from a cross section of the society, politicians, bureaucracy apparatus, civil society members, and so on.

Posted on facebook during my Nepal visit April-May, 2025

Role of the Nepali community in New Zealand

An edited version of this was published in magazine of the Nepal New Zealand Friendship Society of Canterbury on 15th April 2025

Introduction

In the 2021 edition of Namaste magazine, I wrote an article titled ‘Future Direction of the Nepali Community in New Zealand’. As the title suggests, that article discussed what the future looks like for the Nepali community as a collective migrant community of New Zealand. 

The essence of that 2021 article was a plea made to the Nepali community members and organisations to widen their horizon of how they think and act. In that article I suggested to shift focus from being inward looking towards being outward looking. That means engaging with and contributing to the wider New Zealand society rather than being focused among ourselves. 

In this article, I observe where things are at since the publication of that article four years ago. I will also discuss where we are today, and where we are heading.

Where are we today? 

In the 2021 article, I suggested a roadmap and milestones outlined below for us to move from where we were to where we would want to be:

Short and medium term (3-5 years):

• Our collective actions such as cultural events and sports contests are well-attended and duly acknowledged by wider members of the Kiwi society.

• Our community leaders are frequently invited and acknowledged as important guests at major multicultural events such as Diwali and Chinese New Year.

• We are contributing as board members of business organisations, multicultural societies or voluntary organisations. While others are members of the Board of Trustees of our children’s school. 

• A few of us have been acknowledged by the New Zealand government for our outstanding contribution towards the wider Kiwi society.

• We are serving as elected representatives in community bodies such as councils, Health Board and Community Trusts.

• Our players have made it to national and regional contests by playing in squads such as Auckland Diamonds (netball), Wellington Phoenix (football) or Auckland Aces (cricket). 

Long term (7-10 years):

• At least one of us has made it to Beehive as a member of the New Zealand Parliament.

• A few of us have made it as councillors in local councils. 

• Nepal Day is acknowledged and promoted as a major event by Auckland Council and other territorial authorities throughout New Zealand. 

• Our players are representing New Zealand at international levels in teams such as the Silver Ferns, All Whites or Black Caps.

• One of us has been nominated for the coveted award of New Zealander of the Year.

Among the above, one noticeable achievement is the acknowledgement of two of our community leaders in the New Zealand Royal Honours with the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2022 and 2025 respectively. 

A few of us have stepped up and taken up governance roles in Boards. 

While other achievements might not have come into my attention, in the rest of the indicators, progress has been few and far between. Despite growing in number by a few thousand since 2021, the community as a collective, seems to be more or less at a state of status quo from where it was four years ago. When it comes to our visibility, role and contribution in the wider New Zealand society our position has not moved. 

Since the 1990s when our people started permanently migrating to New Zealand, we continue to project ourselves as people from the country of Everest and the land of the Buddha. Those two identities, with which we have very deep affinity with, and rightly so, are rooted in our motherland. They are linked to our past. Projecting an identity, that we have built by our own hands in our new home, continues to be illusive. i.e. the answer to the question ‘what have the Nepali community as a collective contributed to the wider New Zealand society?’ is still largely unanswerable.  

The way forward 

If we continue to do what we have done in the past, nothing will change. I firmly believe that we can do more and better. This is both in the spaces within our own community and also that in the wider New Zealand society. We must step up and raise the level of our game. Or else we will go back.

In addition to those outlined in the 2021 article, here are a few actions we must be taking today to change our future course:

1. Change the way we think about our role

We contribute to the New Zealand economy by delivering services in our professions by paying tax. Similarly, we have a unique perspective as a migrant community. We work hard because we are driven to be successful in our adopted home. We are motivated to give our future generation a better life. We are peaceful law-abiding people. 

As the first generation migrants, it is natural to have close connections with Nepal. Those of us who have settled here, most of us have built our lives by restarting from zero. New Zealand has given us a new life and a better future. Despite toiling so hard for a significant part of our active life, often I see many of us having a strong sense of belonging with Nepal. That is not a bad thing in itself. It is rather good as we have not forgotten our roots. Further, a healthy connection ‘back home’ is good for our soul. What I am referring to here is an obsessive attachment up to an extent of being pathological. An unreasonable amount of sense of belonging hugely skewed towards Nepal but less or none towards New Zealand is not a good sign. In my view, that kind of tendency is a manifestation of a mind that is stuck in the past. If we continue to do so we would be failing to acknowledge the present. That would hinder us from moving forward.  

I call those of us who have adopted New Zealand citizenship to remember the oath you took under the flag and in the name of the Queen/King. You have a duty towards New Zealand since you took that oath at the citizenship ceremony. Yes, our roots are in Nepal but we have adopted New Zealand as our home today. We should understand the meaning of citizenship and what it calls for as our duty towards New Zealand.

2. Rise above individual interests

Many of us have been successful in our personal life and profession. We built that success, brick by brick, by our talent and hard work. This is a great achievement. We must be proud of that.

The discourse I am intending to spark through this article is not about our individual success. It is about our role as a collective. I am of the belief that every individual has a role and duty towards the wider society. The social and administrative framework of New Zealand have enabled us to be successful. Our family life or professional and business success does not operate in a vacuum. It is part and parcel of the wider social structure. Everyone of us must be thinking really hard about how we could be contributing to the wider society. One thing is very important before we do this. We have to take responsibility to establish ourselves first. Then only we would be able to do something for the wider society. 

If we are to earn respect from the wider New Zealand society, there is no way other than to advance our collective cause. We need to work towards building an identity that is rooted in our achievement and contribution in New Zealand. We must institutionalise such achievements so that our new generation, who are born in New Zealand, continue to build and advance our common cause. At the moment our new generation are noticeably not engaging with us and our community programs. This is not a healthy sign. We have to figure out why this is happening and take action to turn this around.  

3. Overhaul the role of our community organisations

The discussions in this article, in one or other way, relates to our community organisations. There are about twenty community organisations registered as Incorporated Societies. Key role of those organisations continues to be to look after the cultural and social well-being of their own members. That in itself is a noble objective. However, interaction outside our own community is an exception rather than a rule. The limited interactions that we have beyond our own community members tend to be at an individual level rather than at an organisational level. In that sense the role and action of our community organisations continue to be inward looking. This has hardly changed since the inception of the first community organisation back in the 1990s until today. This calls for a change.

Only a few minor inconsequential tweaks here and there in a few clauses of the constitution are no longer going to work. There must be a paradigm shift in their objective and scope. It almost looks like our community organisations are haunted by their past. We can’t seem to let go of our past. Our focus and activities tend to be static i.e. same or similar activities every year. We continue to serve similar audiences from a narrow section of the overall Nepali community. Barring a few exceptions, the newly arrived migrants do not engage with those organisations. Moreover, I have noticed that this disengagement is getting worse as time goes by. That speaks a lot for itself. The organisations have to cater for the changing demographics and dynamics that have evolved with time. We must be doing things so that we catch up with the present instead of dwelling in our past. We should proactively engage with the wider section of our own people. Then only we would be able to do something in the wider New Zealand society. 

In the month of January 2025, two new migrants from Nepal committed suicide. While their own personal circumstances might have had a role in the tragic end of the precious lives, we cannot turn a blind eye towards our role to help the new migrants and international students from Nepal. This is not about blaming anyone or calling names. I acknowledge that this is a very sensitive topic and we need to tread very carefully when we talk about this. There are some of us who genuinely help others. Again, the concern here is that such good deeds occur at an individual level. We tend to be reactive after an incident has occurred. We act on an ad-hoc basis. Helping new migrants and international students must be happening proactively at an organisational level. How many of our community organisations are doing this today? How many of our community organisations operate with such objectives? 

If we cannot look out for our own people, we would never be able to achieve our goal of giving back to the wider New Zealand society. There would always be a tension between the settled and newcomers. In some sense, I have noticed this on many occasions. This is a tragic situation. If this continues, it will prevent us from moving forward as a healthy and productive community. If our own house is not tidy, how can we go out to help others? Each of us is capable of doing better. It is our individual responsibility to build our future in our adopted home. That is not the point. The matter that I want to raise is that of a collective initiative. 

Our new generation who are born in New Zealand are hopelessly disengaged with our community organisation activities. Why? Because while devising those programs, we have forgotten about the new generation and their needs. It is as simple as that. It is high time we realise this or else our new generation will continue to drift apart. If we keep on doing what we have been doing, soon for our new generation our community organisations will be irrelevant.

Finally, I want to leave you with a couple of questions:

1. Do we actually need our community organisations? 

2. If today we dismantle all of our community organisations, will it make any material difference in our lives?’

Conclusion

If we continue to do the same, we will get the same result. To change the future of the Nepali community in New Zealand, we need to think and act differently. In the article published in 2021 and this, I have laid out a roadmap that could change our course.

The future that has been envisaged above in this article is our collective future. It is not about our individual responsibility or success. If we as a collective are to be respected, we have to be giving back to the wider New Zealand society. Only taking and not giving back is unhealthy. Our duty to give back to New Zealand society starts with looking after our own vulnerable people, mainly the newcomers and the international students.

If I have completely missed the mark by discussing what has been discussed here, Or if no one else is interested, only writing such an article will not achieve anything. 

I truly believe that the points outlined in this article are genuine matters. We cannot change our past but we can shape our future. To do that, we must go back to the board and ask ourselves the following three questions:

1. Where have we been in the past? 

2. What are we doing at the present? 

3. How are we going to change the course of our future? 
   
   

Kathmandu Chronicles 2025 of an Urban Planner #1: And breathe ...

Literally, Kathmandu is breathing fresh air since I arrived last week on Wednesday. Until then the valley was making news consistently with new high records on air pollution. Thanks to daily rain since Thursday, the dust has settled. The smog is nearly gone.

This is an example that all is not lost yet. However, the problems are lurking in the backyard. They will sneak out as soon as you look away. You only need to notice that as soon as the rain stops and the ground dries out, dust particles start to rise from the ground up in the air.

The rivers are not that lucky. I’ve discussed the rivers elsewhere and more coming up soonish.

It is soul warming to see all the love and pomp that the heritage monuments and celebrations such as jatras are increasingly receiving. They seem to get more and more pampered with all the posh treatment they are deservedly receiving. Our heritage is our identity. This message has seem to hit the right chord. Albeit the messaging might be knowingly or subtle, doesn’t matter. The result is fantastically praise worthy. 

Residential and commercial buildings are popping up everywhere. Retails that are located on almost every building facing the street, where pedestrian movement occurs, seem to be doing well. This is, to some extent, a sign of a somehow thriving domestic economy. Albeit at a snails pace, new roads are getting built; existing ones are getting widened.  

The above is a sample of what’s going on in the air, land, water and the human interface of the city. These four pillars make up the urban environment. The individual components are inter-connectedly woven into a complex and dynamic ecosystem. You lose one leg of the quadruple equilibrium, the system gives up and the balance tips over.

I won’t go over the nasty comments about negative development. We all know the state of the affairs of our air, land and water. The only silver lining in the cloud is our love towards our heritage, and the result that is in front of us today. There is a lot to do in this space too. All is not rosy, as we know.

So. What to do then about our air, land, water (collectively natural environment) and the human environment (this can be understood as the whole of the social, cultural and economic environments)?

That is the kharab rupee question. I’ll try to answer in the coming days.

Images around Bhaktapur snapped on the New Year's Day.

प्रवासी नेपाली र उनीहरूको भविष्य

सेतोपाटी प्रकाशित मिति: मंगलबार, फागुन २७, २०८१

‘बिहान उठ्ने बित्तिकै हिमाल देख्न पाइयोस्’ भन्ने पङ्क्ति अधिकांश प्रवासी नेपालीका लागि ‘बिहान उठ्ने बित्तिकै नेपाली नेतालाई गाली गर्न पाइयोस्’ हुने गरेको छ।

यो प्रवृत्ति निरन्तर जारी मात्र होइन, झन्झन् उग्र हुँदो देखिन्छ।

प्रवासी नेपालीले आफू बसाइ सरेको देशमा त्यो देशको हितका लागि र नेपाली मूलको भएको नाताले नेपाली समुदायको सामूहिक उत्थानका लागि के चाहिँ योगदान गरेको भएर नेपाली नेताहरूलाई त्यति बिघ्न तीतो बोली लगाएका होलान्?

प्रवासमा बसी माथिको प्रवृत्ति प्रवर्द्धन गर्ने कुकर्ममा आफू स्वयम् पनि सहभागी हुने गरेकोमा आफैसँग बढो खेद छ मेरो। आजभोलि अलि सुध्रिने प्रयासमा छु। नानीदेखि लागेको बानी सुधार्न गाह्रो हुने रहेछ। निरन्तर कोसिस जारी छ।

विदेशमा स्थायी रूपले बसाइसराई गरिसक्नु भएका नेपाली मूलका नागरिकहरूले आफ्नो र आगामी पुस्ताको आत्मसम्मान तथा उज्ज्वल भविष्य सुनिश्चित गर्ने हो भने आफू बस्दै गरेको देश स्थानमा आजका र आउँदा दिनमा हाम्रो आफ्नो के कस्तो जिम्मेवारी र उत्तरदायित्व रहन सक्छ तथा व्यक्तिगत र सामूहिक रूपमा आफ्नो भूमिका के कस्तो हुनुपर्छ भन्नेबारे यस लेखमार्फत केही विचार राख्ने प्रयास गरेको छु।

विगत

‘दि गुर्खा वेलफेर ट्रस्ट’को वेबसाइटका अनुसार आजको २१० वर्षअघि बेलायती सेनामा गुर्खा सैनिकहरू प्रवेश गर्नुभएको हो। दुई शताब्दीको सेवाका बाबजुद हाम्रा गुर्खा सैनिक र आफ्नो ज्यानसहितको योगदानको कदरको सम्मानको वहाँहरूको लडाइँका लागि सन् २००८ मा बेलायतकै नागरिक जोआना लुम्ली र वहाँ जस्तै गैर नेपालीले बोलिदिनुपर्‍यो।

त्यो हक अधिकारको लडाइँका बेला हाम्रा गुर्खा सैनिक र वहाँहरूको परिवार तथा नेपालीहरूको मात्रै आवाज बेलायतका लागि त्यति बुलन्द हुन सकेन। यदि बेलायती संसदमा नेपाली मूलका एक मात्र सांसद हुँदो हो र त्यस स्तरमा प्रभावकारी भूमिका हुँदो हो त हाम्रा गुर्खा सैनिक र वहाँहरूको परिवारजनले आफ्नो पाउनु पर्ने हक अधिकारको लडाइँका लागि दुई शताब्दीपछि पनि सन् २००८ ताका त्यो प्रकारको सङ्घर्ष गर्नुपर्दैन थियो भन्ने मेरो व्यक्तिगत निर्क्योल हो।

तर हामी बेलायती संसदमा छैनौँ। कुनै पनि देशमा छैनौँ। संसद र अन्य उच्च तहमा पुग्नेबारे हाम्रो ध्यान गएकै छैन। कहिलेकाहीँ लाग्छ हामी कता छौँ? के गर्दै हरदम व्यस्त र कुदाकुद होला यस्तो विधि? जहिले जो पनि बिजी!

हाम्रा प्रवासीहरूको ध्यान, प्रयास र काम गराई न त त्यतातिर वा अरू त्यस्तै प्रभावशाली निर्णय स्तरमा पुग्न प्रयास गर्ने प्रवृत्तिको देखिन्छ। कमसेकम नेपाली मूलको लाखौँ जनसङ्ख्या पुगिसकेका देशहरूमा उच्च तहमा हाम्रो प्रतिनिधित्व हुन अब आवश्यक भइसकेको छ। निर्णय टेबलमा हुनु हुन्न भने तपाईं अस्तित्वविहीन सरह हुनु हुनेछ।

‘इफ यु आर नट एट दि टेबल, यु आर नट अन दि मेन्यु।’ संसदसम्म पुग्ने, त्यहाँ र त्यस्तै उच्च तहमा रहेर गौरवान्वित भई तर्क वितर्क गर्ने हाम्रो महत्त्वाकांक्षा र सामर्थ्य छ?

हालसम्म त्यस्तो भए जस्तो देखिँदैन।

उच्चतम तहसम्म पुग्ने पुर्‍याउने महत्त्वाकांक्षा बोक्ने र सामर्थ्य निर्माण गर्ने बेला अब भएको छ। नेपाली भन्दै सधैँ गर्व गर्ने तर लगभग अस्तित्वविहीन, अदृश्य र लाचार नै रहिरहने हो भने यो लेख यहाँभन्दा अगाडि पढ्न रोकिदिए हुन्छ।

वर्तमान

विदेशी भूमि हाम्रो आफ्नो कर्मभूमि मात्र नभई अब दत्तक घर (एडप्टेड होम) भइसकेको छ। हेक्का राखौँ, जन्मेको उता नेपालमा भए पनि हामी मर्ने यतै प्रवासमा हो अब। हाम्रा यता जन्मेका सन्ततिको हकमा हामी हालमा बस्दै गरेको प्रवास नै वहाँहरूको घर हो।

प्रवासी भूमिमा शिर ठाडो गरी जिउने हो भने हामीले अब सम्मान आर्जन गर्न लायक काम कारबाहीतिर ध्यान दिनुपर्छ। कर्म भूमिबाट लिने मात्र होइन, योगदान गर्ने बारे सोच्नुपर्छ। नेपालमा रेमिटेन्स पठाउनेतिर मात्र जोड हैन, आफ्नो र आउँदो पुस्ताले भविष्यमा टेक्ने धरातल अवस्थित देशका लागि केही गर्नुपर्छ भन्ने विचार राख्नुपर्छ।

देशका अरू भागबाट काठमाडौँ बसाइसराई गरेका नेपालीलाई वहाँहरूको काठमाडौँप्रति लगाव छैन, काठमाडौँलाई बुझ्दैनन् भन्ने हामी नै होइनौँ? भेद आन्तरिक र अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय तहको बसाइसराइको मात्रै हो। आजका दिनमा अपवादबाहेक प्रवासी नेपालीलाई हामी बसोबास गर्दै गरेको देशका नागरिकहरूले ‘यहाँले यो देशका लागि के योगदान गर्नुभयो?’ भन्ने प्रश्न गरे भने त्यसको गतिलो जवाफ हामीसँग छैन। मैले अक्सर सुन्ने गरेको जवाफ चाहिँ ‘कर तिर्छु’ भन्ने हो।

जन्मभूमि नेपाल भएकाहरू हाम्रो नेपालसँग भावनात्मक सम्बन्ध र बलियो लगाव हुनु स्वाभाविक हो। त्यो हुनु हुन्न अथवा गलत हो भन्न खोजेको हैन। दशकौँ बसिसकेको, आफ्नो जवानी र ऊर्जादान गरेको देशमा चाहिँ लगाव हुनुपर्ने कि नपर्ने? अवकाशपछि जुन देशले पेन्सन दिन्छ त्यो देशप्रति हाम्रो नजरिया कस्तो छ?

अलिकति कुरा प्रवासी नेपालीले नेपालका लागि चाहिँ के–के गरे भन्नेबारे पनि गरिहालौँ। अपवाद र केही व्यक्तिगत पहल छोडेर सामूहिक प्रयास नगण्य मात्रै हो। कुरा चाहिँ अक्सर ठुलठुलै हुने गर्छ। हुनुपर्ने, गर्नुपर्ने इत्यादि। तर आफूले हैन, अरू कसैले गर्नुपर्छ। वास्तवमै के चाहिँ योगदान रह्यो त? त्यसको खासै चित्तबुझ्दो उत्तर पाउन अलि गाह्रै छ।

आपतविपद् पर्दा यसो अलि चन्दा दियो, बस् भई गो त! परोपकार कर्मका लागि एक डलर माग्दा १०० डलर बराबरको अर्ति उपदेश खेप्नु पर्ने अवस्थासम्मको अनुभव रह्यो। कसैले केही राम्रो काम गरे, गर्न खोजे शंका उपशंका मात्र होइन खुट्टै तानेको पनि हेर्न पाइयो। विडम्बना नै भन्नुपर्ला।

भविष्य

माथि गनथन गरेझैँ वर्तमान अवस्थामै रमाउने हो भने कुरै सकियो। प्रवासमा सधैँ परदेशी नै रहिरहने हो भने अहिले जे गर्दै छौँ त्यही निरन्तर जारी गरे भयो। हैन अलि शिर ठाडो गर्ने जमर्को गरौँ भन्ने हो भने हल्का–फुल्का मात्र हैन, सोचाइमा व्यापक परिवर्तनको आवश्यकता देख्छु म। महान् छलाङ भन्न सकिन्छ होला सायद।

सकिन्छ क्षमता र आँट छ, आफैँ अघि सर्ने हो। हैन छैन, जसले सक्छन् तिनलाई हौसला दिनुपर्छ। यो अघि सराइ हाम्रो आफ्नै बलबुता, प्रतिभा र क्षमताका आधारमा हुनुपर्छ। न कि कसैको निगाह वा मायामा परनिर्भर।

तर उच्च स्थान पुग्ने सपना देख्नुअघि भने आफ्नै घर समाजभित्र गर्नुपर्ने थुप्रै सुकर्म थाँती छन्। पहिलो र प्राथमिक, दायरा अलि फराकिलो पार्नुपर्‍यो। नेपाली–नेपाली आफू आफैबिचको साँघुरो वृत्तभन्दा बाहिरको फराकिलो समाज–संसार पनि चाहर्नुपर्‍यो। हैन काममा त मेरो बहु सांस्कृतिक साथी छन् भन्नु होला फेरि। आराम क्षेत्रबाट बाहिर आउने प्रयास गर्नुपर्‍यो।

हाम्रो आफ्नो व्यक्तिगत र सामूहिक भूमिका र उत्तरदायित्वको समीक्षा गर्नुपर्‍यो। लिने मात्र हैन, दिन पनि उत्तिकै अग्रसर हुनुपर्‍यो। जोन एफ केनेडीले भन्नु भएझैँ आफू बस्दै गरेको देशलाई के गर्न सक्छु भनेर पनि सोच्नुपर्‍यो।

सरसर्ती हेर्नुभयो भने आजका दिनमा केही नेपालीले प्रवासमा राम्रै नाम र दाम कमाएका छन्। तर त्यो व्यक्तिगत सफलता हो। सामूहिक रूपमा हाम्रो हैसियत अझै एक अति–गरिब मुलुकका प्रवासी समुदाय हो। सगरमाथा र बुद्धको देशका जनता हौँ, हाम्रो लागि आफ्नो पहिचान। यिनै थोत्रा झोला भिरी बस्ने? नयाँ मुलुकमा नयाँ पहिचान बनाउनेतिर किन नसोच्ने?

अब अलि कुरा विदेशी नागरिकता ग्रहण गर्नेहरूको बारे। नागरिकता समारोहमा मुटुमाथि हात राखी त्यो देशको राष्ट्रिय गान र राष्ट्र प्रमुखका सामु गर्नुभएको शपथ समारोह स्थलबाट बाहिर निस्केपछि पनि नबिर्सौँ। शपथको मर्म र धर्म सम्झौँ। जन्मभूमिको मात्रै तिर्सना होइन, कर्मभूमिप्रति पनि कृतघ्य र उत्तरदायी हुनुपर्‍यो।

व्यक्तिगत स्वार्थभन्दा अलि माथि उठ्नुपर्‍यो। आफूलाई बिर्सी अरूको सेवा गरौँ भनेको हैन। आफ्नो जमर्को गर्ने जिम्मेवारी हाम्रो आफ्नै हो। व्यक्तिगत प्रगतिसँगै आफू बस्दै गरेको समाजको हितका बारे पनि मनन गरौँ भन्ने भाव हो।

जाँदा जाँदै

कहिले कुनै साम्राज्यका अघि शिर झुकाउन नपरेको गर्व गर्ने हो भने अब हामीले प्रवासमा आफ्नो शिर ठाडो हुने कर्म गर्नै पर्छ। नत्र इतिहासमै र गफैमा सीमित रहन्छ हाम्रो गर्व।

विगत हिजोको कुरा भयो। त्यो सकियो। त्यता रुमल्लिएर हात लाग्ने केही हैन। विगतबाट सिक्ने हो। अनि त्यसको आधारमा वर्तमानमा कर्म गर्ने हो। हाम्रो भोलि कस्तो हुन्छ, त्यो धेरै हदसम्म हाम्रो आजको कर्ममा निर्भर हुन्छ।

हाम्रो आफ्नो भविष्य निर्माण गर्ने जिम्मेवारी हाम्रो आफ्नै हो। लगाव भए आउँदा दिन हाम्रो हितमा नहुने भन्ने प्रश्नै छैन। त्यसको निर्माण भने आजैबाट थाल्नुपर्छ अब हामीले।

हालको हाम्रो अवस्थाबाट भोलिका दिनमा माथि उल्लेख गरिएको गर्व गर्न लायक शानको मार्गमा लाग्ने हो भने हामीले अहिलेको ढर्रा र पारा त्याग्नै पर्छ। नौलो नवीनतम सोच राख्ने, व्यक्तिगत स्वार्थबाट माथि उठ्ने, फराकिलो दायरा समाहितको विचारलाई मलजल गर्ने जस्ता उत्कृष्ट तथा परिमार्जित सोच र कर्म गर्दै जाने दृढताको संकल्प गर्नुपर्छ। अनि मात्र केही होला। होइन भने लाइफ त चली नै रहन्छ नि, होइन र?

हाम्रो भविष्य हाम्रै हातमा छ।

(setopati.com प्रकाशित मिति: मंगलबार, फागुन २७, २०८१ )

One Nepali, One Investment, One Employment: A framework for foreign direct investment

An edited version of this blog was published in The Himalayan, 2nd of May 2024 (Co-authored with Mr Dila Kharel, Sydney)

Background

The government of Nepal is hosting the Nepal Investment Summit in Kathmandu from 28 to 29 April 2024. This is the third Summit of its kind and has the objective to promote Nepal as a ‘highly promising’ investment destination. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), i.e. attracting investment in Nepal from foreign citizens and companies, is identified as a priority area of the Summit. 

On the eve of the Summit, in this article we explore an important yet untapped aspect of FDI that has the potential to be a game changer for Nepal’s economy*. 

The agenda of FDI is not a new topic for Nepal. The government’s past initiatives, broadly speaking, have delivered some degree of success in terms of number of investors and amount of investment. The government and relevant stakeholders’ focus until now seems mainly to be about promoting Nepal as an attractive destination for foreign investors.

In its efforts to attract FDI, the Nepal government continues to overlook one key stakeholder that is potentially a major investor group. This stakeholder is missing from the equation of Nepal’s foreign investors. The missing piece of the puzzle is the members of the global Nepali diaspora. In this context global Nepali diaspora are those individuals living across the world who are of Nepali origin and have adopted foreign nationality. 

Why does it matter?

How can those who have left Nepal permanently and have adopted foreign nationality be a major investor in Nepal? That is a frequently asked question, and a reasonable one to ask. The answer to that question is that members of Nepali diaspora have vested interests to act in the interest of Nepal and Nepali citizens. 

It is human nature that people are motivated when they have vested interests. This is even more so when it comes to making financial decisions. Personal reasons aside, the most important vested interest of the Nepali diaspora is the strong connection to their homeland. 

Let’s do some simple maths. According to the latest census figures, there are over 2.2 million Nepalis residing overseas. In addition, there is a growing number of second generation of global Nepali i.e. born overseas to Nepali parents. If one out of one hundred from those 2.2 million Nepalis residing overseas invested in Nepal, that would be 22,000 individual investors. If one person invested NRs 10 lakh (1 million), that would be NRs 22 Arab (22 billion) of investment. In US Dollars that is approximately $200 million. For the sake of comparison and scale, the hugely publicised Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) was a US $500 million deal between the MCC and Nepal.

How do we do this?

Through this article we proposed a framework of FDI in Nepal from its global diaspora - One Nepali, One Investment, One Employment. 

The idea is that one member of the global Nepali diaspora makes a commitment to invest in one enterprise, and generates one full time employment opportunity in Nepal. The individual investor is responsible and accountable towards their investment commitment. 

Is this achievable? In our view, yes. 100%. 

What is stopping us and what can we do about it?

To get to a stage of achieving a healthy scale of FDI from the current state of only a few, we have a long way to go. To reach the destination via our framework, both the demand side (Nepal) and the supply side (diaspora) have to row their boat in the same direction. Both sides must be willing to explore and work towards finding practical solutions about how to ease the existing barriers. In our previous article* we outlined key barriers and proposed a few solutions that could enable FDI in Nepal from the diaspora community. 

Further to the points made in our previous article*, the next right step for the government is to clearly acknowledge its diaspora community as a key strategic partner in its pool of potential foreign investors. Once such a clear intention has been established at the higher level, the diplomatic missions present at each country must be the driver of ground work required at each country level to achieve tangible results. 

There are a few key aspects of Nepali diaspora investors that are worthwhile to outline. It is a fact that compared to a big multinational company, a Nepali diaspora investor is going to be smaller in monetary value. In our view, we have to consider a bigger picture rather than judging on the basis of monetary value of a single diaspora investor. If approached well, the collective investment from the diaspora community can be substantial. We demonstrated a potential scenario in this article above. The question we should be asking is how many multinationals have invested in Nepal so far since it opened its FDI doors to them? How many more are likely to be added? How does that compare with the potential investment from the diaspora Nepali? 

Diaspora community, in their countries of residence, have held many discussions about investing in Nepal. A few investments such as those in hydropower materialised in the past. However, the investment growth is far from satisfactory. The challenge before the diaspora Nepali now is to walk the talk rather than keep repeating the same talk. Globally there is a substantial number of diaspora members who are successful entrepreneurs albeit involved mostly in small and medium enterprises. However, the diaspora community is hardly visible when it comes to business and economic activities in their adopted country as well as that in Nepal. If they are willing, what is stopping every member of the diaspora community to assume the role of an ambassador to direct investment in Nepal?

As the saying goes the devil is in the details, the seriously interested investors from the Nepali diaspora must start to delve down to the finer level of implementing their intention to invest in Nepal. The first and the foremost role a member of the diaspora can play is to start having conversations about investing in Nepal with other like-minded fellow members. They must seek ways how they can materialise their individual and collective intention to invest in Nepal. The diaspora community must actively lobby through their diplomatic missions to raise their voice and profile about their interest to invest in Nepal. Equally importantly, how to enable FDI from Nepali diaspora must be one of the key performance indicators of our diplomatic missions. 

An attractive proposition for a multinational company might not necessarily be so for a diaspora investor. Diaspora investor’s motivation and reasons to invest in Nepal is going to be completely different. Both sides (Nepal and diaspora) must identify what is it that makes it a mutually attractive deal. One size fits all approach is not going to work. We would need to identify the nuanced reasons that would enable an investment environment and encourage both sides to find a win-win situation. 

Conclusion

There is a huge untapped potential for investment in Nepal from its global diaspora. While there is still a long way to go until the current scenario changes, there are a number of steps that both sides must take. It is high time that the Nepal government acknowledges its diaspora community as a viable investor partner. Similarly, the diaspora community must step up to make itself count if it wants to be a key stakeholder in Nepal’s FDI sector. Conversations like these must start from and at both ends - Nepal as well as the country of residence of the diaspora community. 

The authors reiterate that the global Nepali diaspora is ready to play its part in partnering with the Nepal government to help the country realise its vision of prosperous Nepal. 

At present it is a scenario of Nepal desperately needing investments and the diaspora eagerly willing to invest. However, there is a huge gap between these two demand and supply sides. To reduce this gap, the Nepal government must offer a more favourable investment environment to its diaspora community that is fit for the purpose. Similarly, the diaspora community must start heading towards delivering concrete results.

Our framework of ‘One Nepali, One Investment, One Employment’ discussed in this article could be a powerful vehicle to minimise the existing gaps in materialising FDI in Nepal from its diaspora community.

FDI is on the agenda of the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit. There is a huge untapped potential to channel a substantial scale of FDI in Nepal from its members of the global diaspora. We are looking forward to seeing a lively discussion held during the Investment Summit about how the both sides approach this yet untapped potential. 

Let the conversation begin.