Nepal and Israel have been in diplomatic relations for over five decades now. How do you appraise it? 

Nepal and Israel established diplomatic relationship about 53 years ago. Nepal is the first one and was the only country for many decades among all the countries in this region to establish relationship with the state of Israel. This fact will never be forgotten by us because Nepal is really our true good friend in this part of the world even when the state of Israel was much less popular. Now, of course, we have representation in so many countries but still Nepal and Israel are experiencing very good relationship and progress on many issues of bilateral interests is underway. 

 

Israel is known as a successful model in modernization of agriculture. How can it help Nepal in modernizing its own? 

 Agriculture in Israel is a major sector. We cannot develop our economy without agriculture. Sixty years ago there was a big shortage of food in Israel. People needed coupons to buy foods. People were dying of hunger. Then we realized that we must move forward and the only way to move forward with agriculture is to be efficient, to increase the production and to have a modernized system of production. Israel is not an ideal country for agriculture. Water is a big shortage in Israel but we still managed to develop our agriculture and today we are proud that we have managed to reach the sufficient level of production. We are exporting food and the most important point is that only three per cent of population in Israel are farmers. And the three per cent feed the 97 per cent which is really amazing. So a modern society must find the way to increase the production in agriculture rather than increasing the number of farmers only. In Nepal there is plenty of water but it is being used in traditional way. And this is something that we have to understand. The traditional agriculture cannot compete for better economy. Agriculture is not a hobby, it’s a profession, its something you invest. So Nepal should take different move towards modernization of agriculture.

 

The trade between these two countries seems very nominal. How do you see the possibilities of increasing it?

Trade is one thing and investment is another thing. Trade is what private sector is buying and selling and I think it is increasing remarkably in recent years. Investments are something else. Investment is when Israeli companies, entrepreneurs will come, invest, buy and do economic activities here in Nepal. The political instability has been affecting this issue. I am quite optimistic that November will bring good light and result for everybody and the most important thing is that the democratic process will be fair and transparent to bring everything in a system of law. I am sure that the election will create a new political platform which will open the door for investment opportunities in Nepal from other countries. 

 

Israeli investment in Nepal covers several areas ranging from construction to agriculture and health. How do you view Nepal’s progress in these sectors?

In terms of health there is a dramatic shift in Nepal. A number of private hospitals and good doctors have increased with a lot of investment. Life expectancy is getting longer. There is lot of progress in health sector in the recent years. We are proud to send doctors to Israel and get them back to Nepal after obtaining additional skills from there. We don’t send the people unless we are not sure they are coming back. They go to Israel and get trained for one year and come back to Nepal. We bring Israeli doctors here to teach and share their knowledge with the medical institutes in Nepal and this process is going well from both the sides. We can see some positive change but of course there is long way to go.

 

Regarding agriculture also we are sending a lot of people from Nepal on scholarship. Recently we sent 100 Nepalis for agricultural training.  As training those farmers is to make them capable to do something new in their field,  we consider this process as an important factor for the development. 

 

What are Israel’s present priorities in Nepal?

It is very difficult to say that we have certain interest in Nepal but we have very strong friendship between the countries. We have been sending Nepali people to work in Israel along with their training in various fields. So, all these aspects are of interest for both the countries. Israel and Nepal are both small countries with lot of challenges and one small country always understands the challenge and problems of other small country. 

 

How can Nepal enhance employment opportunities for Nepalis in Israel? 

There are thousands of Nepalis working in Israel and I feel that their feedback is good regarding the work and outcome. We also are working for another feature - that is Government to Government (G2G) - under which a lot of people will go to Israel for employment. 

 

Israel is very advanced in the development of new technology. What such new technologies can Nepal develop learning from Israel?

The world is moving very fast. We must find a new way for high-tech and Israel is well known for that. We have got very strong young generation in Kathmandu. Recently, an Israeli company opened business here in Kathmandu. They hired Nepali software experts and developed things here. This is a sign that the high skilled people are present here. Kathmandu can also be the next center for high tech after Banglore in India. Youth in Nepal is very dedicated, hard working and high tech can be the key for progress for the nation. 

 

What are the possible areas where Nepal and Israel may have joint ventures?

Buying and selling is of course possible as I mentioned a lot of projects related to agriculture or high-tech which is in the phase of development here.  Investment is still to be explored as the level of investment is not sufficient because of development. But I am sure Nepal has a bright future in high-tech and sooner the areas of investment will open.   

 

Being one of the popular destinations for Nepali worker, how has Israel been making policies to take high skilled Nepali workers to Israel?

We are presently providing trainings. We have sent 100 farmers to Israel for agricultural training and their training is underway.  We are cautious about brain-drain and therefore don’t pick high skilled people by offering them higher salaries. Rather we train semi-skilled people in our country and send them back to Nepal so that they can serve their own country. High skilled people going out from the country is not a positive sign for the development of the country. So we don’t focus on that. 

 

Though the government of Israel hasn’t officially banned the work permit of worker, but the visas are not being provided to them. How can visa system be eased to Nepali workers?

There will be a G2G agreement. Following that agreement we will make sure that the process is transparent, clean and selection of people is done in a professional manner. It will not be through manpower agencies anymore.