HIDA Journal 2014 AUTUMN No.5

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HIDA JOURNAL24One Alumni Society in a Small CountryPresident Kazuo Kaneko of HIDAThere is a HIDA/AOTS alumni society in the small country of Nepal. I visited Nepal around the end of July. Nepal is not only a small country, it also has little in the way of trade transactions with Japan and lacks the active investment of Japanese companies. Consequently, when viewed from Japan Nepal is nothing more than a distant country. There is minimal support for infrastructural improvements, and one cannot catch sight of the trading companies and civil engineering and construction firms that are oftentimes seen at the initial stages in developing countries. Unfortunately, not even JETRO has a local office there.The reason that the President of HIDA is visiting this country is because it has an outstanding alumni society. My goal was to take part in a ceremony commemorating the recent publication of an investment guidebook by the alumni society. The alumni society somehow published this Japanese language guidebook—which describes the procedures and requirements necessary for investing in Nepal, as well as the appeal of investing there and other subjects—through its own efforts. I would imagine that branch offices of Japanese organizations and the like frequently prepare Japanese language guidebooks for Japanese companies. But it is rare to hear about cases where local people have published Japanese language volumes on their own. I believe that their taking the initiative to create a Japanese language investment guidebook before someone else did must have been an immense undertaking. This is a major accomplishment of the Nepal alumni society that was principally spearheaded by Chairman Ramesh Man Singh, a good-natured and straightforward leader. However, there was a change in executive officers at the general meeting of the alumni society that was held after the ceremony. The current Chairman stepped down while things were going smoothly, and Mr. Binod Man Rajbhandari was appointed as the new Chairman. I feel that the fact that the society renews itself in this manner and has an atmosphere in which it is easy for new members to participate is really quite ideal and exemplary when it comes to revitalizing the alumni society.Let me discuss my point of view for a bit. When I say that Nepal is a small country I mean it is only small in terms of its area, but the country has no shortage of mettle and backbone. It occupies an enormously important location in a geopolitical sense as it is interposed between India to the south and China to the north. It also features an abundance of nature, with diversity that stretches from an elevation at level ground up to 8,000 meters. It is similar to Japan in that it has both mountains and valleys, as well as cold and heat. For this reason there is a great deal of appeal in investment from Japan. It has an abundance of natural resources, and tourism resources in that people even refer to it as the “Switzerland of Asia.” It also has many crops and plant species that are similar to those in Japan. Nepalese cuisine that uses plenty of ingredients not only consists of Indian-style curries, but also many dishes that use vegetables. By way of example, the mushroom soup and other dishes that I ate on my recent visit were superb. What is more, I suspect that soba shops selling soba noodles made from locally produced buckwheat flour have spread only to Nepal, no other places outside of Japan, though the globe is certainly huge. Food processing, pharmaceuticals, and other industries could conceivably grow here through the use of the country’s abundant varieties of agricultural produce. Moreover, the Nepalese people have good taste in the textiles sector as well, and looking at the fashion products for women that are being exported to Japan gives me hope that they hold promise for the future.Actually, there was one other reason for my recent trip, and that is because young women started a Japanese-style bakery and I wanted to go visit the actual shop. Ms. Amira Dali, who was commended at the time of the 50-year anniversary program for AOTS,* started an activity to support agricultural communities called Love Green Nepal. Following this, five women set up a Japanese-style bakery in Kathmandu in order to achieve their self-reliance. These women from an ethnic minority in a remote agricultural community received an education and technical guidance from Japan before launching this outstanding bakery. While I imagine that they have had their fair share of difficulties thus far, I was amazed to see the five women working and growing day and night by dividing up the work of making the bread as well as performing the planning, sales, and business arrangements. The bread roll filled with bean jam I tried there was absolutely delicious. When I asked them what their goals for the future were, I was deeply moved from the bottom of my heart at the women’s replies that they wanted to become managers in the future. Seeing these women putting their own ambitions and efforts into practice makes me glad that I came to their shop.In this manner, the fact that the small country of Nepal has started to newly develop on the basis of its relationship with Japan is certainly the result of this alumni society. This trip made me vow that I would continue to value these ties moving forward.*A Success Story Convention that had the trainees themselves present activities they carried out after returning home to their countries as successful case examples was held to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of AOTS back in 2009.Ms. Amira Dali from Nepal was largely influenced by things like Japanese society’s sense of equality, work ethic, problem solving techniques, and other things she learned in Japan, and after returning home to Nepal she launched a program for regional development and environmental preservation in rural areas. When this initiative was introduced at the Success Story Convention she took home the grand prize in the Field of Social Contribution Activities. A mountainous landscape in Nepal that is similar to those in JapanThe Japanese language version of the Nepal Investment Guidebook created by the Nepal alumni societyIn front of PRAKRITI, a Japanese-style bakeryPresident’s Column

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