Community caught up with NRNA-ICC President Shesh Gale during his recent visit to
Doha. He tells Usha Wagle Gautam of his pride at seeing Nepalis everywhere in Qatar.

Shesh Ghale is a business entrepreneur and the founding CEO of Melbourne Institute of Technology (MIT), Australia. Ghale and his wife Jamuna Ghale Gurung established MIT in 1996, which has now become one of the leading private higher education institutes in Australia.
He was ranked as the 150th richest person in Australia in the 2014 Business Review Weekly Rich 200. He also holds the position of the president of Non-resident Nepalese Association International Coordination Committee (NRNA-ICC).
Born in western Nepal, Ghale completed his initial tertiary education from 1979 to 1986, with a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Kharkov Automobile and Highway Institute, in the former USSR. After graduation, he worked in Nepal as a highway project engineer for the transport department before relocating to Melbourne in 1990 for further studies.
He completed his Master in Business Administration from Victoria University in 1994. He became an Australian citizen and served as an honorary consul general of Nepal in Victoria from 1997 to 2000.
Ghale was recently in Doha to attend the twelfth anniversary of Qatar’s NRNA-NCC. Community interviewed Ghale about his business ventures and NRNA-ICC.

As the president of NRNA-ICC, can you tell us more about the issues that were discussed in Doha?
The main issues we focused on in the Doha meeting was how we can stop the next generation of Nepal from going abroad to work.
Every day, 2,500 teenagers leave Nepal for various foreign countries to work. We also discussed how we can provide technical and vocational education to youth in our country so that they can be employed in Nepal or get better paid skilled jobs abroad.
In Nepal, we can’t find skilled or semi-skilled workers for any development projects, so we have to bring them from outside. We have had discussions on how NRNA can provide vocational education to Nepalis who are forced to move overseas when they are 17 or 18. But this will have to be a concerted effort of NRNA and Government of Nepal.
The main agenda of NRNA is to bring the disparate groups of people of Nepali origin under a single institutional umbrella so that their collective energy could be channelled to help each other and provide development support to Nepal.
During the 11 years of its existence, NRNA has succeeded in creating an extraordinary network among the Nepali diaspora in all six continents.
Other important issues we discussed were the daily problems faced by the Nepalese migrant workers as well as the long-term problems of the relatively better-off and well-settled groups in developed countries. How can NRNA, as a single entity, address with these two very different goals? This is one of NRNA’s biggest challenges right now.
 
What are the requirements for Nepalis living in the Gulf to join the NRNA? Are Nepalis in other countries except Gulf and Malaysia included in NRNA if they have stayed outside Nepal for 182 days?
NRNA is registered with Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Its current registration is in compliance with the NRNA Act, which has its own definition of who are considered to be Non-Resident Nepalis (NRN).
However, we are actively lobbying with the Government of Nepal to change the act, in particular the definition of an NRN to be someone who has stayed for over 182 days outside of Nepal. Hopefully, the government will listen to us some day.
However, as an institute and as per its goal, we have the obligation to protect the rights and interests of any Nepali who reside outside Nepal, therefore Nepalis residing and working in labour destination countries should not be concerned about their welfare.

How was your visit to Qatar? What are the lessons Nepal can learn from the substantial development and growth rate achieved by Qatar?
My visit was unbelievable. I learnt many things which I hadn’t learned in various other countries. NRNA-Qatar is very active in helping out their home country.
 I found Qatar to be a mini-Nepal. In the hotel where I stayed I found waiters who were Nepali; at the airport, I found helpers who were Nepali and during the programme, I found security guards to be Nepali too.
 Seeing Nepalis everywhere made me feel proud and I am thankful to the Government of Qatar. Nothing is impossible to achieve as Qatar has proved. Qataris love their nation, respect and treat all nationalities living under its roof equally. We can learn all these things and implement them in Nepal too.

Do you have any plans to invest in Qatar? How did you find Nepali entrepreneurs in Qatar?
Right now, I have no plans to invest in Qatar. Nepalese entrepreneurs in Qatar are doing well. Some of them have more than 1,500 employees. This is a thing to be proud of.
See, a Nepali providing jobs to 1,500 is not a joke. I also came to know about their stories of struggle before they established themselves as reputed businessmen. And, mostly, they didn’t bring any money from Nepal to establish their enterprises, they earned it here and established their businesses.  I found many businessmen in construction and some running restaurants and superstores. In one interaction with entrepreneurs, we discussed about how we can promote tourism in Nepal. There are about 200 Nepali businessmen in Qatar who have also set up businesses in Nepal as well.
 
What are the plans and programmes you are working on during your tenure as president of NRN-ICC? What are your initiatives on dual citizenship and investment-friendly environment in Nepal?
NRNA plans to start a commercial agricultural project targeting the non-resident community of Middle East and South Korea. NRNA members are eager to invest. On the other hand, commercialisation of the agro sector is Nepal’s current need. Nepal should tap its potential in agro sector since most of its population heavily relies on it. This would also lessen the import of agro-based products.
I am the adviser of the NRN Collective Investment Initiative. We have completed 25% of work on one hydro project in Lamjung district and should complete the remaining work in nine months.
I am also planning a world tour where I will teach non-resident Nepalese community in various countries what I have learnt during the tour. As for now, National Coordination Committees have been formed in 70 countries. I have already visited half of them and expect to visit the remaining half soon.
Soon, I will focus on foreign hotels in Nepal. We have good links with foreign hotel brands and I think we can bring their expertise to Nepal. Non-resident Nepalis can make good profits by investing smaller amounts in this sector. We will encourage new friends to invest in this sector so that the country sees a new set of entrepreneurs.
But, there is strong belief in Nepal that non-resident Nepalis should invest in infrastructures rather than in hotels. There are scores of reasons why we have decided to invest in hotels. First, the hotel business generates more employment with smaller investments. We can generate four hundred jobs with a 200-bed hotel. Second, we can produce skilled manpower by operating international-standard hotels in Nepal. People who work in a Nepali five-star hotel can easily get jobs abroad. Third, the hotel business will have a multiplied impact in development. If we invest to establish a hotel, the entire community can benefit from it. Hotel businesses also help generating foreign exchange reserve.
We have also been talking to the Nepali government about dual citizenship. There are one million Nepalis who have acquired permanent residences and citizenships in various countries. But when we have to go to Nepal, we need visa and can’t stay for more than three months. If Nepal wants rapid investment from its non-resident community, then continuity of their citizenships is a must. Let’s hope in the forthcoming statute, our Constituent Assembly members will keep these things in mind and provide us with the citizenship of Nepal.

You are a successful entrepreneur in Australia. What are the enterprises you are leading?
In 1996, I established MIT in Australia which is affiliated to Federation University. We provide Bachelor's and Master’s degrees in different subjects along with certified English courses. We are proud that the institute has focused on scholarship programmes that aim to reward not just academic excellence but also help scholars from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. MIT now has 3,000 students with campuses in Melbourne and Sydney and has plans to expand to other Australian cities.
Besides, I have a real estate business, commercial buildings, hotels and apartments. We are in the process of building a five-star Sheraton Hotel in Kathmandu, which will be owned by MIT Group Holdings and managed by Starwood, and is slated to open on February 1, 2018.

What are your suggestions to young and aspiring non-resident Nepali entrepreneurs?
First, one has to become an expert of the field he/she aspires to set up a business in. Thereafter, one can start a business with a small capital, while aiming high. We have to make long-term and short-term plans for any business. We must be honest and never lie to our employees and other stakeholders.
Nobody is perfect, so if any problem arises in an enterprise, the owner has to share it with his/her employees. This helps solve business problems and run the business smoothly. We have to pay taxes on time and run our businesses according to rules and regulations of the host country.
We have to make our employees happy. You must always maintain integrity, honesty and accountability.

NRNA is criticised in Nepal where people generally have a dim view of this organisation for its ambitious programmes and less work. Is that so?
Our community has big expectations from us, which are yet to be fulfilled. NRNA is a not-for-profit social organisation registered in Nepal and has its headquarter in Nepal. The executive arm of NRNA is ICC which includes patrons, advisers and executive officers headed by president. ICC is programmatically and voluntarily connected with National Coordination Committees (NCC) across the globe. NCCs are mostly registered as non-profit entities in their respective countries and are subjected to the laws of the host countries.
The network of NRNA is formidable, it’s like a mini-UN of Nepalis and can also be seen as World Bank system, albeit without the financial resources of those intergovernmental organisations. Maybe after 15 years or so, we can make NRNA offices where NCCs can also be established. We have such plans.
Despite some scepticism, NRNs are investing in Nepal: We have anecdotal evidence, however it is very hard to find statistics on how much NRNs are investing in Nepal. For this reason, we have recently engaged the Society of Nepal Finance Journalists to find out statistics and conduct a study on NRN investments in Nepal. I am hopeful that in due course we will have facts and figures.

 The projects running with the collective investment funds of NRNA seem rather unsuccessful. What is your take on it?
We are planning to join our hands with young Nepali entrepreneurs to promote entrepreneurship in the country. We have created a forum for them so that they can exchange experiences with their foreign counterparts.
Also, NRNA has plans to provide mentorship to aspiring and young entrepreneurs. The concept of providing mentorship lies in the idea to synergise the expertise of the older generation with the energy of the younger one. This would be a great contribution to Nepal.
Collective effort of government bodies and private sector can earn a good reputation for Nepal in the international market. The country needs to pay attention to creating brand names of some of Nepali products. The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has been putting efforts to promote Nepalese products in the international arena. It has a separate Nepalese Products Promotion Committee, which has been extensively working to promote the country’s products. We will work in close collaboration with FNCCI and young entrepreneurs.
NRNA is also helping in other sectors. I myself donated 60 lakh rupees (approximately US $60,000) to build a school in Lamjung, my birthplace and about 1 crore rupees (approximately US $100,000) for various community support programmes within Nepal and abroad. This is apart from the NRNA building and migrant workers welfare funds, which I have contributed 2 crores to.
We have to increase the productivity of the country for its prosperity and we will continue to get involved in such philanthropic activities.

NRNA is said to be setting up its office in Kathmandu. When is it going to be completed?
We need 15 crore rupees to build our headquarter office in Kathmandu. I have succeeded in raising around 5 crore rupees thus far. We welcome anyone who is interested in contributing to the project. One of the students in Australia contributed $50 for the project. We respect every contributor. I was pleasantly surprised that NRNs in Qatar have committed to contribute some 20 lakh rupees, we were targeting just 10 lakhs. The names of all contributors will be posted on the wall of our headquarters.
We plan to complete the building by 2017. This is more like building our own home with everybody’s ownership and feelings.

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