Tourism Info Nepal

Non-Resident Nepali Entrepreneur Advocates for Citizenship Continuity to Boost Investment

Non-Resident Nepali Entrepreneur Advocates for Citizenship Continuity to Boost Investment

Tourism entrepreneur Basudev Ghimire, who returned to Nepal after years in the United States, has a dream of bringing the capital, skills, and knowledge of Nepalis living abroad back to the country. However, this dream faces significant hurdles, primarily due to the complexities surrounding citizenship.

Ghimire, a non-resident Nepali investing in Nepal’s tourism sector, does not have a permanent visa to reside in the country. This compels him to travel back and forth between Nepal and the United States. He believes that granting Nepalis like him a permanent citizenship status would encourage many to invest in Nepal, ushering in a wave of prosperity. According to Ghimire, ensuring citizenship continuity for descendants of Nepalis abroad could motivate millions to return with their capital and expertise.

“In most countries, individuals receive a pension after the age of 60, regardless of the profession they pursued abroad. If Nepal allows the continuity of citizenship for descendants of non-resident Nepalis, it could bring skills, knowledge, and billions of rupees into the country,” Ghimire, who also leads the “Where is Citizenship?” campaign, remarked. He argued that granting citizenship to descendants of Nepalis abroad would not harm the state but instead offer substantial benefits.

The entrepreneur highlighted that the Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) Citizenship Act has not been effective in attracting investment from the diaspora. “This has led to the realization of the need for citizenship continuity based on descent,” he said. “We’ve been advocating for this for the past five months to channel the skills, knowledge, and capital acquired abroad into Nepal’s development.”

Ghimire claims that if NRNs are granted citizenship based on descent, Nepal could see the return of approximately 500,000 Nepalis from around the world, resulting in billions of rupees in investment. His campaign has also involved lobbying Nepal’s major political parties to address this issue.

The initiative aims to create a conducive environment for diaspora investment, ensuring that Nepal benefits from the resources and expertise of its global citizens.

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