SANGAM

President urges NRNs to work in tandem for development


Kathmandu, Oct. 13, 2009- The fourth Non-Resident Nepalese (NRN) Global Conference started in Kathmandu Tuesday.
President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav inaugurated the three-day meet with the motto ‘Peaceful and Prosperous Nepal - Common Dream of Ours’ amid a function at Army Officers’ Club, Bhadrakali this morning.
"A peaceful and prosperous Nepal is a dream we all have cherished," Dr. Yadav said in his inaugural address. "The Nepalese living at home as well as those residing abroad need to join hands to translate this dream into a reality."
Dr. Yadav noted that Nepal was not a poor, but a very resourceful country, but it lagged behind in absence of a loktantrik polity. "The problem lies in ourselves. We can attain progress if we move ahead adopting democratic norms and values."
He said the country was now in the process of drafting a new constitution to formalise the federal republican system and asked the NRNs to hold consultations with the politicians, civil society leaders, professionals and intellectuals to make sure that it is inclusive in the true sense and it comes in time.
Stating that all the Nepalese living in any part of Nepal or any country abroad were first Nepalese, he requested everybody to keep intact the national unity. "Let’s be effortful to give elixir to the nation, not the poison."
Appreciating NRN investment in education, health, infrastructure, and hydropower sectors, Dr. Yadav appealed to them also to sensitise the issue of environment protection and take steps to mitigate the impacts of global warming and climate change. "You bring your knowledge, skills, capital and good intention; we will invest our time and energy. Let’s work together to develop the nation."
Sujata Koirala, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, in her welcome address said the knowledge and skills acquired by NRNs would assist in Nepal’s development. Koirala mentioned that the government had already brought the NRN Act and necessary regulations to address the concerns of the NRNs and informed preparations were under way to issue identity cards to NRNs from January 2010. "The government will take an appropriate decision in regard to the demand of dual citizenship," she said.
She said the government would push ahead the work of constituting an Advisory Board to best avail of NRN knowledge, skills and capital. She also acknowledged the importance of remittance in the national economy and said a Foreign Employment Promotion Board would be set up for efficient management of this sector.
Koirala hoped the conference would be instrumental in achieving the goals of economic diplomacy.
Dr. Upendra Mahato, President of Non-Resident Nepalese Association (NRNA), said that the Association had been established with a view to build a prosperous Nepal recognising that personal affluence would mean nothing if the country was poor.
He said that NRNA, albeit in a nascent stage, was sensitive and dreamt of peaceful and prosperous Nepal and appealed to the NRNs to do their best to translate this dream into a reality. "We have understood that only Nepalese can build a peaceful and prosperous Nepal. So I request you to assist the upcoming leadership in its campaign to build a peaceful and prosperous Nepal."
He said that the NRNs were ready to collaborate with Nepal government and asked the latter to create a favourable environment for the NRNs to bring in their knowledge, skills and capital for the development of the nation.
He said most Nepalese had not left their country to live in luxury and urged the government to give them due respect and utilise the hard-earned money they sent back home in productive schemes.
Dr. Mahato said the dual citizenship the NRNs were demanding for was not a citizenship with full rights at par with those of Nepalese but a citizenship with full responsibility but limited rights. "We are seeking a citizenship that allows us unfettered right to travel in and out of Nepal and use our property without restraints. We are not demanding for a citizenship to entitle ourselves to employment or to enter politics."
He said the security situation in Nepal had improved since the third conference two years ago and asked the participants to return to the countries they were living in with a message, "Let’s do something in Nepal."
Presenting the vote of thanks, Kush Kumar Joshi, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, asked the government to swiftly address the concerns of NRNs to attract them to Nepal’s development.
Seeking NRNA’s explicit commitment to assist FNCCI’s One Village One Product scheme and establishment and operation of Entrepreneurial Skills Development Centres, Joshi assured the Federation would like to maintain a very close relationship with the upcoming leadership of the Association.
About 500 out of estimated 2.5 million NRNs residing in 52 countries across the world are attending the event organised jointly by NRNA, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the FNCCI. The biannual meet will feature 10 discussion sessions on various issues including Foreign Employment and Remittance in the Face of Global Financial Crisis, Economic Diplomacy: How NRNs Can Contibute, and Opportunities for Investment and Trade in Nepal before it will conclude electing a new leadership of NRNA.