A Least Developed Country (LDC), Nepal's annual budget is aid-dependent and donor-driven.Foreign aid from wealthy nations and multinationals are important for bureaucratic functioning and budgetary allocations. But at the ground level remittance is the prime income of Nepali families. It is economic lifeline at the grassroots.
Now, Nepal is about to host Donor Conference on June 25. Japan had proposed this humanitarian gathering to help generate funds to rebuild damaged infrastructures and heal the recent trauma. Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and freshly functioning Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank (AIIB) are major multinational lenders attending. India and China will also be represented. However, there has been no discussion on ways our major labor destinations could help Nepal.
The initial response from Japan, Korea, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Malaysia was enthusiastic. Japan announced big cash amounts for quake-hit Nepal; Qatar Airways brought relief materials; and Vodafone Qatar lowered international call tariff to Nepal. The government-level assistance of Bahrain and search, rescue and relief efforts of UAE were widely praised. Similarly, medical squads from Mercy Malaysia left nice impression of Malaysians among Nepalis. Beyond these initial responses there can be four areas of support from our major labor destination countries.
The first is aid pledge during the conference. In 2014 Gaza Donor Conference, Qatar pledged US$ 1 billion, Saudi Arabia announced US$ 200 million and other Gulf nations, too, provided moral or monetary help. They will also come to our help if we make the right pitch. Japan, Korea and Malaysia can also pledge assistance to rebuild damaged infrastructure worth around US$ 7 billion.
The second is increasing the intake of migrant workers. Nepali economy is faring well thanks to remittance. Nepal's indicators on health, education and other basic facilities are improving owing to increasing remittance. Japan and Korea can increase quotas for Nepali migrant workers. Procedural hurdles and overhead costs can be reduced.
Similarly, Malaysia can retain or increase Nepali workers in face of the decision of Bangladesh to approve private recruitment agencies to send workers to Malaysia, possibly hampering the prospects of relatively higher paid Nepali workers. Gulf nations can follow suit. The Nepal government can then focus on funding major infrastructures to graduate to developing country status by 2022.
The third is training and facilitation. Nepalis have better 'per capita goodwill' in all countries where they work. So millions were raised for quake victims abroad. But most Nepali migrant workers are unskilled or semi-skilled. Even the trainings provided to migrant workers in Nepal is substandard. Therefore countries seeking specific manpower can facilitate relevant training back in Nepal.
The fourth component is tourism. The earthquake has given a wrong impression that entire country has been damaged. But only 14 districts have been declared earthquake-hit. Remaining 61 districts can host tourists. Major trekking routes and national parks are still functioning. Nepal mainly receives tourists from Japan and Korea among its major labor destinations. Tourists from Middle East and Malaysia should also be encouraged to come. Tourism can spread goodwill of Nepal and help rebuild the devastated country. But to achieve all these, our diplomats must be able to take the international community into confidence on the right utilization of their aid.
The author is a freelance journalist based in Itahari, Sunsari
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