E-Kantipur

UAE, OCT 12 - Rameshwor Shah

UAE

Nepali professionals are now making significant strides in multinational companies. Rameshwar Shah is one of them. Based in the UAE, Shah is currently Regional Finance Director at G4S Middle East, a global security service company.

An accountant by profession, Shah is associated with the G4S for the last 16 years and has worked in Malaysia, Singapore, and Yemen with the company. He was the one who played a key role in opening the G4S office in Nepal.

Shah has been involved in the NRN movement from the very beginning and evaluates the period to be very successful. He shared his personal experiences on his engagement with the NRNA movement.

“NRNA was established in 2003 when there was a serious need to have a common organisation that could represent the global voice of Nepalis abroad,” Shah said.

After eight years of his journey, he says it is high time for the NRNA to move to next level.

“Having explored the potentials and known the issues, it is the right time to move to the next level which is establishing NRNA as an institution,” he said.

Shah pointed out that the current challenges in the Middle East is to make foreign employment safer, respectable and more secure. “Middle East is the highest remittance contributing region for Nepal, but a majority of the Nepali workers entering this region are unskilled,” said Shah. “If we succeed in making these unskilled manpower to semi-skilled, it will change the face of our remittance earning.”

With Middle East being the biggest destination for Nepali migrant workers, Shah is now looking for a greater role for himself with the NRN movement. Currently, the NRN ICC Treasurer, Shah is vying for the post of Vice-President in the next leadership of the NRNA. His candidacy, according to Shah, is for collective and stronger voice in the Middle East in the NRN movement.

Ratan Jha

USA

Chief Executive Officer of Grisham & Jha Group (GJG), Ratan Jha is one of those Nepalis who is making a mark in the field of business in the US. His company specialises in civil contracting works and has presence in the Middle East, apart from the US.

Born in Sarlahi, Jha, a professional engineer, has been living in the US for 20 years. He has over 15 years of experience—both in the public and the private sectors—in the field of real estate development, especially in the area of engineering, design and construction of infrastructure. 

After working for eight years with the Texas government, Jha, in 2005, started his own investment company—Global Royal Investments (GRI)—in Houston, Texas. GRI has successfully completed land acquisition, development plan and entitlements for a $120 million dollar project—The Regatta in Galveston, Texas.

As a partner and CEO of Grisham & Jha Group (GJG), Jha focuses on business development.

Jha is also engaged in Nepal where he has launched the Post-Tension Services-Nepal (PTSN) in Kathmandu. The primary goal of PTSN, according to Jha, is to introduce American methodology and technology in the area of modern building design and construction. Currently the general secretary of NRNA ICC, Jha is now eyeing a bigger role in the association. According to him, he is vying for the vice-president’s post in the upcoming election.

Associated with the NRN movement since its very beginning, he says eight years of NRN movement has been a “mixed bag.”

“In certain aspects, there has been a good progress, i.e. in terms of expanding networks,” said Jha. “But transforming these networks into investments and technology transfer failed to take-off the ground.” Jha said the new leadership has to be a global manager who can maximise this potential and chanellise the resources.

Jha believes that there is a possibility of bringing in huge investment in Nepal, but says the country lacks a collective mechanism. He, however, laments that the environment in Nepal often times discourages potential investors. “Even my company is trying to come to Nepal, but there has been no response in the last one-and-a-half years from the government,” he said.

KUL ACHARYA

United Kingdom

As the number of Nepalis is growing in the UK, a number of Nepali entrepreneurs have started consolidating and expanding their businesses with restaurants being the predominant investment sector. It is estimated that there are over 200 Nepali restaurants across the UK.

Kul Acharya is one such NRN entrepreneur who has made it big in the UK in the restuarant business. Acharya is the director of Holy Cow Catering that has seven outlets in different parts of London, particularly serving Indian food.

A resident of Parbat district, Acharya is also the chairman of the NRNA, UK chapter. Acharya entered the restaurant business in 2006 and has not looked back since. In the last five years, his restaurant business has developed into a chain with seven outlets.

Residing in London since the past 12 years, Acharya started the business with home delivery services with five friends. “Now, I run seven outlets and employ 172 people, a majority of them are Nepalis,” he said.

However, things were not easy for Acharya. “Doing business in the UK is vastly different from doing it in Nepal,” he says. Like Acharya, a number of Nepali entrepreneurs are doing good business in various sectors and have been able to provide employment to Nepalis and others.

According to Acharya, around 15-20 percent of Nepalis living in the UK are engaged in the business. “There are about 15-20 percent Nepalis engaged in businesses in the UK and restaurant is the major sector for them,” he said. There are an estimated 120,000 Nepalis in the UK, while Nepali entrepreneurs are seen consolidating and expanding their businesses.

Posted on: 2011-10-12 08:32

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