Dear Friends,

Indira and I are back home after 5 weeks of travel to Nepal to attend the First International NRN Conference. Towards the end of our Nepal trip, mornings had started to be a little chilly otherwise the weather was wonderful, temperature dipping to the 50s in the morning and then rising to the 70s in the daytime. Bright sunshine with great views of the Himalayas from anywhere in Kathmandu, just beautiful and wonderful days of the autumn.

Now we are back  here in Rochester, we have had our first 4 inches of snow this Thursday and the ground looks bright and is shining like the silver with the morning’s Sun’s rays.  I enjoy watching the scenery from behind the glass doors and windows.

We reached Kathmandu on Oct 5 and reported to the Federation of  Nepali Chamber
of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) on Oct 7. After preliminary introductions, we (Sharda Thapa, from Chicago, Indira and myself) immediately went to work; attending many preparatory meetings, paying courtesy visits to leaders of main political parties (Girija Prasad Koirala, Sher Bahadur Deuwa, Pashupati Shamshere Rana, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Badri Prasad Mandal) and participating in press conferences. 

Naresh Koirala from Vancouver, Canada joined us in these visits and activities from Oct 9. All political party leaders appreciated our courtesy visits and pledged full support to the NRN conference and the NRN movement. Sharda Thapa and Naresh Koirala were in very high demand by the TV, radio and newspaper reporters and participated in many interviews. There were so many interviews that I lost count of them.

The conference was inaugurated by HM the King on Oct 11. Eight NRN’s were honored by him with a specially designed plaque and a brief private audience.  I was selected from the North America based on my years of service to the community and professional achievements. I considered it a great honor to be so recognized and let me take this opportunity to thank you all for providing opportunities to be involved in community activities and  being very  supportive of my many initiatives. I am very thankful and grateful for years of your support, encouragement  and affection.

The next three days were very busy. A typical day will start with forums from 8 AM to 6 PM and then dinner from 6 PM to 10 PM and NRN  organizational discussions till 2 am in the morning.

During the two working days, there were four plenary and two parallel sessions (four total) roughly half of which were devoted to addressing the issues related to non-residents doing business in Nepal and the other half to highlighting investment opportunities in Nepal.

Presentations at different forums were almost evenly divided between the Nepalis government and business community leaders) and the NRNs. The Nepali side presented a detailed description of great opportunities for investment in different areas; particularly tourism, hydroelectricity, education, healthcare, financial institutions, information technology and media.

The NRN presented what could be done and what are the necessary conditions to get them done. The atmosphere was very friendly and congenial.

Our North American delegation had 27 members from the USA and eight from Canada, hailing from different organizations practically all of whom belonged to the Nepalese American Council (NAC) and eight of us presented at different forums. I presented the activities of NRN communities in the USA and Canada in a Power Point audio-visual format. I spoke about who we are, our deep desire to preserve Nepali cultural heritage, the NECC, different community and cultural organizations, Nepal oriented businesses and how we want to help Nepal and the changes we need in the current Nepali laws. I ended my presentations with prayers to Murtis of Pashupatinath and Buddha from our own NECC. It was very well received and generated a lot of goodwill and press interest. There were, as mentioned other presentations by the US/Canada participants on a range
of topics all of which were very well received.

Two other features of our NAC delegation made very good impressions. The fact that we have more than 50 different Nepali cultural and community organizations in the USA and Canada, we have one coordinating organization Nepalese American Council and we came united as one delegation impressed many from other countries. Second, the fact that we had traveled to 10 cities to meet as many people as possible in person and had solicited ideas from everyone to give voice to each and every individual was taken as individual empowerment and democracy in action. Binod Bahadur Shrestha, the current FNCCI President always introduced me as the individual who took the NRN message to the Nepali Diaspora in the USA.

In the final day at the concluding ceremony, the results of the deliberations were presented as a set of sixteen recommendations that the NRNs made to the Government for acceptance and implementation. The recommendations defined the things NRNs would do to help Nepal and requested implementation of measures which ranged from simple regulatory changes for laws already in effect to substantial constitutional changes as well as the establishment of dedicated offices and special financial instruments.  Among them were the dual citizenship (free 10 year visa or People of Nepali  Origin (PNO) card in the interim period) and the right to own property. From the Nepal government side, Prime Minister Thapa responded positively and Dr. Lohani, Chair of the Conference agreed to review the recommendations, to identify in a coherent manner the various laws and regulations that would need  modification, to implement those already in effect more efficiently and he committed to do this in four months. The NRNs gathered there established an association (NRNA), to carry out the coordination of NRN activities worldwide. They also adopted a draft constitution, elected a six-member executive body and chose country delegates from the twenty-three countries represented and selected a woman delegate.

FNCCI which played a pivotal role in organizing and running the conference, will henceforth serve as the eyes and ears of the NRN community in Nepal as the result of a memorandum of understanding also signed at the ceremony. There will also be special NRN issues offices established in the Finance and Foreign ministries.

FNCCI President Binod Bahadur Shrestha and Vice President Suraj Vaidya need to be specially commended for their dedication to the NRN cause. They provided very competent and dedicated FNCCI staff, office facilities, funding, many resources and its prestige to make it happen. We, the NRN community, are very thankful and grateful for their support and look forward to continued support and cooperation in the future.

The NRN conference was very well received by the Nepali public. They felt that for the   NRN to come to Kathmandu at great risk to personal security under then existing security problems, they must have a deep sense of love for Nepal and a strong desire to help make changes for the better.

I personally could feel the sense of love and feeling of “apantwa” when I told others that I have come to attend the NRN conference. Throughout the conference and in our meetings with top government leaders, the Nepal Government side displayed  very cooperative and flexible attitude to boost the NRN investment. Similar sentiment was also also expressed by the media.

Some NRNs have already started investing in media, healthcare and financial institutions and number of others are waiting to get something started. It is anticipated that if the recommendations are accepted and implemented  and the security situation improves, there will be a gradual and steady flow of investment capital in Nepal and it will make a big difference in 3-5 years, It is very noteworthy that some members of our delegation had already started investment in Nepal. Bijaya Niraula and Suresh Ojha from California, Bal Joshi from Portland and Achyut Shrestha from Maryland are active expanding their operations in Nepal.

Our NAC project to build a Briddhashram in Devghat was adopted as a goodwill gift from the NRNs to Nepal to commemorate this historic conference. It was taken as a symbol of the deeply felt desire of the NRNs to help Nepalis in need. Many people came forward with different offers to help. FNCCI Bharatpur  offered to donate land. Many other individuals have offered to help in kind and money.

Sur Sudha, the world famous Nepali Instrumental group has offered to come on a concert tour to raise funds. Similarly the Nepali singer Anand Karki has also offered to come on a concert tour to raise funds. We are making arrangements for the concert tours and are looking forward to your help to organize concerts in different cities.

So to sum up, the First International Conference of the NRN was very successful and its main achievements can be summed up as follows:

1. It gave opportunities for NRNs from different countries to meet, discuss and exchange ideas. We found we shared the same issues, same ideas and same aspirations. Thus it gave a unified voice to the aspirations of 1.2 million NRNs living in more than 40 countries.

2. It gave opportunities for the Nepali government officials and the NRNs to discuss different issues, opportunities, and suitable conditions. It thus cleared the atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust and created an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect for each other and an appreciation of  the complexities of the issues.

3. Presentation of 16 recommendations by the NRN and the promise by the Nepali government to respond within a definite time frame of 4 months was indicative of the government’s seriousness.

4. Formation of an international NRN organization with its own bylaws, elected officials empowered the NRN movement and the plan to meet in Nepal every 2 years gave continuity to the opportunity for NRN to be involved in the economic development of Nepal.

In the NRN elections that were held in Gokarna on October 14, I was elected Vice president, Sharda Thapa, the USA representative and Naresh Koirala the Canada representative. It gives me a great pride to tell you that we kept the democratic tradition of holding elections when there is more than one nominee for the same position. We elected the US representative by secret ballot.  Our friends from many countries were surprised and were at the same time very appreciative of the fact that we practice what we believe and what we preach. It was democracy in action.

I will be coming to Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia in the weekend of Nov 21-23 to meet you in person and discuss the NRN conference. I want to answer your questions in more details about the Conference. I want to hear your ideas and suggestions for the future course of the NRN movement. Most of the features of my report which was based on your ideas were adopted by the International Coordination Committee and were highly appreciated by its President Upendra Mahato and Secretary Bhim Udas. I will be in Everest Restaurant from 5 PM to 8 PM on Saturday and look forward to meet as many of  you as possible. Please contact Dr. Anup Pahari, Subu Kc, Puru Subedi for details for Washington program  and Prem Raja Mahat for Baltimore and Suman Timsina for Philadelphia.

I am planning to go to as many cities as possible to discuss the NRN issues and will also try to present them in as many annual conventions of Nepali organizations as possible. My goal is to share our ideas, and get your feedback so that the NRN movement will be strengthened and it will play a major part in the economic development of Nepal.
 
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Gaury Adhikary, the NAC President for offering me the opportunity in March 2003, to chair the delegation, all of my Nepali colleagues for giving me ideas and suggestions either in person or by phone or by mail, all members of the delegation who traveled all the way to Kathmandu in these difficult times, all the NRNs who came from different countries and adopted me as one of their own and trusted me with the responsibilities of the Vice-President. I am truly humbled by your kindness and support. This is what motivates me to continue to work with you.

Looking  forward to see you in person. If not possible feel free to write me at
nepal1975@yahoo.com or call me at 585-381-4110.

With warm regards and wishing you a happy holiday season,

Shyam Karki
Chair, 2003 NAC delegation.
Vice President, NRN Association,
President, Nepali American Public Affairs Council
Immediate Past President, ANA.