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| Kathmandu, Wednesday January 29, 2003 Magh 15, 2059. |
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Wooing expatriate Nepalese
By BINOD P BISTA
The recent announcement by Prime Minister
Lokendra Bahadur Chand that his government, in a bid to promote economic diplomacy, would
encourage and employ expatriate Nepalese to national development is certainly a welcome
initiative. Current statistics reveal that professionals from South Asia and South East
Asia, who left their countries for various reasons, primarily for financial wellbeing,
hardly came back to their native lands, excepting a new phenomenon that is being observed
in the People’s Republic of China today. This reality, and the need to clearly
establish a link between economic diplomacy and expatriate nationals can neither be
undermined nor postponed if the government’s intent is to be taken seriously.
Notwithstanding an apparent flaw in statistics about the repatriation amount from
expatriate Nepalese being higher than that of carpet and garment sales, or pension
received by retired Nepali soldiers in the British and the Indian military, unless one
takes into account all skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled labourers sent to the Middle
East, and some East Asian countries as expatriate nationals, the contribution that could
be made by expatriate Nepalese, particularly the successful professionals, can be
significant.
Among many relevant considerations, following
two questions need to be answered during the planning phase itself: First, what type of
support is the government looking from the expatriate Nepalese, and second, can the
government create the necessary environment for the expatriates to take part in this
exercise? The answer to former question would clearly involve in a need-assessment
exercise, resulting in identification of a certain set of expertise and expatriates. This,
perhaps, might be lot easier to work out than the latter part where fulfillment of
necessary environment entails a wide array of activities. The environment not only refers
to intrinsic needs of the expert (expatriate) but also essential conditions required to
satisfy the basic needs of the expert’s family in areas such as education, health,
communication and other modern facilities.
The concept of using an expatriate national for
development work is not new. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has long
introduced, and practiced with limited success, a programme known as Transfer of Knowledge
Through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN). In fact, some of these programmes were run in Nepal
as well. The employment of expatriate nationals almost always involves state-of-the-art
technology to a company or an organization with a view to achieving better efficiency and
higher productivity. Considering the current state of Nepali enterprises, both in the
public as well as private sectors, Nepal may not be in a position to absorb the higher
level of technology possessed by successful expatriate Nepalese working in North America,
Europe or other advanced countries of Asia. Moreover, for leadership (supposing that the
expatriate nationals were to be given a free hand at the top) to be effective, it must be
able to communicate with the people first, and the communication gap between the
successful expatriates and the local experts may simply prevent that.
It is but natural for the politicians to talk
about transformation of a society, from a poverty-ridden state to an affluent one within
no time. Faced with ever increasing demands from the poorest of the poor, especially in a
less developed country like Nepal, the pressure to come up with more and attractive
promises is of paramount concern to all governments. Blatantly broken promises of the past
resulting in the current state of economy, security and stability speak for themselves.
Nepali people are sick and tired of ‘so called’ initiatives that begin with an
"i" and end with "s". Nepal must face the realities of the time.
People must be informed, educated and prepared for still harder times that they must face.
The government has no choice but to draw up judicious plans for development while
conducting necessary investigations and taking appropriate actions against the enemies of
state. There is no running away from truth. Furthermore, this particular government does
neither need to follow a populist policy nor obscure the hard facts, because this
government owes its existence to His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev.
The government must not fail the people and the
king to bring about two main tasks: To provide safety and security to all its citizens by
restoring law and order in the country, and to conduct free and fair elections for the
house of representatives as per 1990 Constitution of Nepal. Most of the persons in the
Cabinet had very little chance or none at all to be there, under our current multi-party
system of democratic governance. It is the least that they can do, and in spite of them
being un-elected representatives, their contribution to the Nepali nation and its people,
will ever be remembered by all.
In addition, the time would be well spent if the
government focused its attention to building a model of ‘good governance’ for
all future elected governments to follow. The twin pillars of transparency and
accountability need to be clearly outlined and practiced for every Nepali’s benefit.
There is also a need to not only punish the corrupt officials but also instill a system at
all levels that discourage corruptive behavior. The lessons of bad governance from the
past can be a starting point to start an exercise in good governance. When people, whose
condition is deteriorating day by day, have been asked to prepare themselves for more
sacrifices, the government as their leader must also come forward giving up a significant
portion of its perks and facilities. How else can the people be convinced if the
government pays less than adequate attention to austerity measures?
If the government still finds time to seriously
consider the issue of engaging Nepali expatriates, then perhaps the best option could be
assigning itself a role of a catalyst. As in other countries, the government can make
proper arrangements for the meeting between expatriate Nepali nationals and public and
private institutions, companies and enterprises. This process might also help expedite the
privatization process of public enterprises, upgrade the operations of private enterprises
thus benefiting the nation as a whole. The expatriates, too, depending upon their
capabilities such as financial contribution or management expertise, can find suitable
roles for themselves. Injecting mediocre or spent out expatriate Nepali nationals in
public enterprises or institutions would not only raise the wrath of qualified domestic
professionals but it could also lead to a net wastage of scarce financial resources that
the government is bound to come up with for wooing these expatriates.
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