KATHMANDU, Feb 7: The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Bridge International jointly hosted an entrepreneurship competition for returnee migrant workers on Friday at Square Hotel in Lalitpur.
According to a press release issued by the KOICA, the competition named ‘Returnee Innovators Showcase’, funded by the KOICA, was a part of KOICA’s ‘Project for Strengthening Stage-Wise Support System for the Stable Reintegration of Korean Returnee Migrants in Nepal’, also known as "K-HaMi (Korea-Happy Migration) Project."
During the event, participants presented refined business models, developed through an extensive entrepreneurship capacity-building program. They also presented success stories of how they utilized the skills, knowledge, and expertise acquired in Korea to establish their own businesses after returning to Nepal.
According to the KOICA, five entrepreneurs were selected as winners in the competition. Among them, Santosh Dahal won the Grand Prize, while Dil Bahadur Tamang secured the second place, and Rajendra Basyal was placed third. The grand prize winner and other top entrepreneurs received business development funds, including a matching fund of up to Rs 500,000 as seed capital.
The event was attended by Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nepal Tae-young Park; Joint Secretary of Labour, Employment and Social Security Nischal Raj Pandey and KOICA Nepal Office Country Director Moo-heon Kong. Approximately 150 representatives from Nepal’s entrepreneurship ecosystem also participated in the event.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Park emphasized the importance of entrepreneurship, encouraging returnee migrant workers to utilize the skills acquired in Korea to drive economic growth in Nepal.
Joint Secretary Pandey also praised the program’s impact and its role in strengthening Nepal’s entrepreneurial landscape.
The KOICA K-HaMi project is implemented in collaboration with Nepal’s Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, EPS Nepal Center, Agriculture Development Bank (ADBL), The Bridge International, Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives (KFCC), and MY Social Company (MYSC).
Since 2022, KOICA has invested a total of $8 million in this initiative, providing stage-wise capacity-building support in employment and entrepreneurship to support Nepali migrant workers from pre-departure to post-return reintegration.