Experts from Nepali Diaspora Nation’s Asset, says Gyawali

Kathmandu / Jan. 5: Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said on Saturday that the knowledge, skill and experience of the Nepali Diaspora experts were assets of the country.

Minister Gyawali said so while addressing an interaction on Role of Diaspora in Economic Development of Nepal hosted by Brain Gain Center (BGC) under Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Ministry.

Gyawali further said that the BGC was established more than a year ago to utilise the knowledge and skills of the Nepali Diaspora experts and scholars for the development of the country.

Stating that the NRN Movement started 16 years ago and the maximum investment of the NRNs was in business and industry sectors, he maintained that the Ministry had set up the BGC to tap the Diaspora experts and scholars who are out of the NRN fold.

“As many as 646 experts have registered with the BGC till date and they are related to 20 different areas of expertise,” the Minister informed.

The Ministry has a plan to connect at least 5000 dedicated Nepali experts with the BGC, said Gyawali, adding that they would have to contribute to the development of the country by working for at least one or two months every year.

“The Nepali Diaspora experts can contribute to the development of their country of origin in three ways- returning to Nepal permanently, returning to the country to work as a part timer or offering their expertise to the country from the settled countries,” he added.

According to the Ministry, out of the 646 experts recently aligned with the BGC, most of them are from the Unites States.

They have formed a Brain Gain Initiative in the US. Some prominent members of the Initiative participated in the interaction today.

On the occasion, Dr. Keshav Bhattarai, one among the Nepali Diaspora experts from the US, said that they had formed the Initiative in the US to serve their country of origin through their skills and knowledge.

Similarly, Dr. Satish Devkota, another Diaspora expert from the US, said that the US-based Initiative that was being run under the spirit and framework of the BGC had already started their works for the development of five broad sectors like agriculture, education and health sectors.

“If the government and political parties in Nepal have set development goals by striking national consensus among them for long term, we are ready to narrow down the gap of human capital in our origin country,” Devkota stated.

The US-based Initiative has already started works in Gulmi, Pokhara and Chitwan of three States. According to Devkota, they will gradually spread their initiatives across all the seven States.

Former chief secretaries and secretaries, former ambassadors, ex-National Planning Commission chairs and members along with professors and experts had participated in the interaction.