'Britain should support Nepal's endeavours in attracting trade and investment' - Murari Raj Sharma

Nepali ambassador to UK, Murari Raj Sharma, at his office in London.

Nepali ambassador to UK, Murari Raj Sharma, is busy organising the Nepal Fair 2008 (http://www.nepalfairlondon.co.uk) that kicked off in London on Sunday. He said he is optimistic that the Fair will convey a positive message to British private sector leaders and officials that after a decade-long conflict, Nepal is now ready to welcome tourists and attract investment. The Fair is being organised in partnership with various Nepali organisations based in the UK. The 57-year-old diplomat spoke to GLOBAL NEPALI magazine recently about his experiences and various aspects of bilateral relations. Excerpts of the interview:

How do you find your latest assignment—representing Nepal in the UK—at a time when political scenario in Nepal is changing very fast?

Highly interesting and hugely challenging. In fact, an ambassador's job is always challenging, particularly so at a time when his country is passing through a difficult political transition, a situation of constant flux. In a democratic set up, you can figure out the policy contours of new principal actors from their election manifesto, but you might have a hard time understanding the exact nuance, emphasis and style in which the pledged policies would be implemented. I focus my energy on the fundamentals – promotion of peace, stability, democracy, investment, trade and tourism – for the country's bright future. This makes my conscience clear and my work easy.

As UK remains the single largest bilateral donor for Nepal, how do you see Nepal-UK relations evolving in near future in terms of development assistance and promotion of trade and tourism?

We thank the United Kingdom for being one of the largest and most reliable development partners of Nepal. Our close and cooperative relations, which go back to nearly 200 years, will grow from strength to strength, and the United Kingdom will remain a major partner in our efforts to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. But that alone will not suffice for Nepal to achieve its objectives. We need to broaden our investment, trade and tourism links. For this, Britain should support Nepal's endeavours to attract British direct investment and tourists and to expand trade, in order to strengthen the bilateral economic ties further and reduce Nepal's dependency on foreign assistance. It is precisely in this context that the Nepali Embassy has joined forces with the Nepali and British friends living in the United Kingdom to organize the Nepal Fair 2008 in London on 21-22 September 2008. I hope the UK Government will generously support this Fair.

More broadly, we live in a global village where fire in one house might spread to others and devour them quickly. No other country understands this dynamics better than the United Kingdom, a country faced with enormous challenges of terrorism, drugs, crimes, and immigration. I hope Britain will do everything in its power to promote the Doha trade talks to their logical conclusion and to encourage and facilitate greater flows of investment from the developed to the developing countries.

Many foreign investors, including the British, say foreign investment climate in Nepal is still not stable enough for them to go into the country and invest. What would you say?

I tell such investors, Nepal is eminently ripe for foreign direct investment. Politically, the Maoist problem has been resolved and peace restored; and all political parties, regardless of their ideological orientation, have categorically committed to welcoming foreign direct investment and promoting the private sector. So, there should be absolutely no hesitation to start investing in Nepal.

I focus my energy on the fundamentals – promotion of peace, stability, democracy, investment, trade and tourism – for the country's bright future. This makes my conscience clear and my work easy.

Socio-economically, Nepal is one of the most attractive destinations in the world for foreign direct investment. Its skill sets have been fast improving, health facilities advancing, and transportation and communication networks expanding. Nepal's 10 per cent people have risen from absolute poverty in as many years. Its economic policies and foreign exchange regimes are most liberal in South Asia; its banking and financial facilities have widened and deepened; and its neighbours, China and India, have been galloping with nearly double-digit growth. These factors create an extremely favourable climate for investment in Nepal.

And there are plenty of highly lucrative sectors and projects in which to invest. Nepal's hydropower potential, some say second only to Brazil's and others believe to be higher than Brazil's, is simply astounding. We can produce hydropower, consume some of it and export the rest to India and China, whose hunger for energy seems insatiable. Our climate is very good to produce fruit and flowers for export. Our traditional exports -- handicrafts, carpets, garments, etc – are yet to be successfully marketed in many parts of the world. As China and India move up the technology ladder, Nepal can benefit from backward economic linkages by setting up industries and services to meet their needs and feed their industrial requirements. The majestic Himalayas, amazingly diverse flora and fauna, and spectacular ethnic diversity and wealth of cultural heritage make Nepal an unparalleled and most exciting destination for tourists.

I say to potential foreign investors that early birds get the most grub. So they should get a beachhead in Nepal quickly to become the big winners later and reap the benefits of early investment; if they waited too long to take the plunge, they would have to face stiff competition from others in a crowded field later.

While talking of Nepal-Britain relations, the issue of Gurkha soldiers comes at the forefront. As various Gurkha groups continue to campaign for equal pension and benefits for ex-British Gurkha soldiers, what is the government's position on this issue? Have you taken up the issue with the concerned British authorities?

Equality and justice are fundamental human rights. The Government of Nepal is committed to promoting these values at home and abroad. The cut-off date of 1997 introduced by the British Government has aggrieved those Gurkha soldiers who joined the service before that date. These soldiers have been seeking redress to their grievances, and Nepal has been urging the British Government to address them expeditiously. I have seriously raised this issue, time and again, with many British high officials, including the Queen, the Speaker of the House, Ministers, and the Members of Parliament.

What would you like to suggest to the expatriate Nepalis — especially various Nepali organisations based in UK— so that they could be active partners in Nepal's development and also work as 'ambassadors for Nepal' in their own fields?

Time does not wait for anyone. Therefore, I tell my Nepali diaspora friends that they need to choose the course of their lives by first determining whether they want to go back and build their lives in Nepal or settle in the United Kingdom. Those who want to make Nepal home should acquire skills here, go back as quickly as possible, and contribute their best to the country's development.

Nepal has been urging the British Government to address them expeditiously. I have seriously raised this issue, time and again, with many British high officials, including the Queen, the Speaker of the House, Ministers, and the Members of Parliament.

On the other hand, those who want to live on in Britain should do at least one of the three things to help themselves here and to assist their brethrens there: First, they should hone their competitive skills, attain academic excellence, and earn prestige. Second, they should go into business and make tons of money to lead a prosperous life in Britain and to be a big investor in Nepal. Third, they should evolve an umbrella organization to gain bargaining strength and use it, engage in local politics to have access to power, and apply it to safeguard the Nepali community's interests in Britain and to influence British policy in Nepal's favour. As "Nepal's unofficial ambassadors," they also should try and convince their British friends to invest in Nepal and trade with it. Or persuade them to visit Nepal as tourists -- send your friends home, if you will.

Those who cannot decide early on as to where they want to build their lives might not rise to their full potential, either here or there. And that will indeed be a real loss for them and for Nepal.

What do you think the government should do to tap immense human resources and financial capital that is available with the expatriate Nepalese community?

The Government of Nepal should formulate appropriate policies to attract diaspora skills and diaspora and British investment, and apply them prudently to the country's social and economic transformation.

I appreciate the Nepali diaspora who have, with their limited means, been doing small projects in Nepal already and appeal to them to do more. However, their capacities, though growing rapidly, are still modest. They need to first acquire and broaden their skills, investable resources and access to power and use them to change Nepal's fortune, as their Chinese and Indian counterparts have done.

The Government and Nepali diaspora need to work together, because their interests are inextricably intertwined. The world will not respect Nepal or the Nepali diaspora until and unless both of them prosper.

Based on your long experience, how do you think Nepal can protect her sovereignty and promote her national interest through diplomacy? Is it true that we are no more being taken seriously in the world stage?

For small countries with limited military prowess, diplomacy -- together with enlightened people and economic progress -- is a main tool they can apply to protect their sovereignty and to promote their national interest. More so for Nepal, a country sandwiched between the two most populous nations, in the world, which are also becoming formidable military and economic powerhouses.

Our foreign policy and diplomacy must be made active, because others will reciprocate only if we helped them when they needed. It must be made pro-active, because reactive one will put us at severe disadvantage. And it must be people-centred -- which helps protect our national interests and create jobs and economic opportunities for the common people -- making a clean departure from an elitist one.

To realize our diplomatic objectives, we need to hone our diplomacy. Nepal should recruit, of course inclusively, the best and the brightest into the diplomatic service, develop their language skills, provide them well-rounded and substantive training, and promote their expertise in specific areas. Generalist diplomats might still be necessary, but the age of specialist diplomats has long arrived. Besides, the government should seek to get the most out of its diplomats, by deploying them optimally, giving them indicative goals and standards to meet, and following up on their progress.

However, we ought to bear in mind foreign policy and diplomacy does not operate in isolation of domestic policy. As long as our country is weak, our diplomacy cannot be strong. Occasionally, individual diplomats from weak states might shine due to their exceptional qualities, but that is an exception, not the rule.

This interview has been adapted and reproduced here courtesy the GLOBAL NEPALI magazine published from Kathmandu. —Ed.

(Editor's Note: Nepalnews will continue this column by talking to officials, professionals, politicians, businessmen, diplomats, those who make outstanding achievements in their chosen field and newsmakers. Please post your suggestions/comments to feedback@mos.com.np)

Have your say ! (Registration required)