Himalayan Consensus Summit 2016

Songqiao Yao

Songqiao Yao is the founder of WildBound, an innovative environmental education venture based in China that brings young adults on expeditions to different ecosystems. She was a faculty member of Homeward Bound, the largest all-female expedition to Antarctica to raise awareness of women’s leadership in science. She actively campaigned on environmental justice and climate change as a researcher and youth delegate at UN conferences. She helped build the environmental NGO International Rivers’ China office.

Sonam Jatso

Sonam Jatso has served as a civil servant, a businessman, a social entrepreneur, a community service organizer, a politician and an occasional writer. He plays an active role in Bhutan’s private sector development, participating extensively in public discourses on democracy and his country’s Gross National Happiness based policy making. He has also been at the forefront of Bhutan’s democratic journey as founding member of the country’s first political party and as a candidate for parliamentary elections. Besides that, he runs a community service program called “BIRDS” that promotes social entrepreneurship in Bhutan.

Meeta S. Pradhan

Meeta S. Pradhan is a Senior Fellow at The Mountain Institute. She is also the GESI Advisor to the “Study on State of Social Inclusion in Nepal” – a national level study being implemented by the Central Department of Anthropology of Tribhuvan University in Nepal. Previously, she has held technical and senior management positions, gathering experiences in management, design, monitoring and evaluation of multi-sectoral development programs as well as research focusing on poverty alleviation, gender equality and social inclusion.

Ajaya Dixit

Ajaya Dixit works on the interface of development, politics and policy as the Executive Director at ISET-Nepal. He mainly directs the organizing of Himalaya Knowledge Conclave: Graduate Students; and mentoring of young Nepali professionals through Abishkar. His areas of interest are water resources studies, environment and climate change adaptation and resilience building at sub-national and local level. His monthly column, Climate for Change in Nepali Times deals with the impact of global warming in Nepal.

Jony Mainaly

Jony Mainaly is a lawyer and academic and legal researcher with focus on Environmental law, human rights and climate change law and policy. Currently, she is a Lecturer at National Law College, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. She has worked as a Consultant for the Government of Nepal and other bilateral agencies, as the thematic lead for Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan process and as an Expert for the integration of climate change adaptation in sub-national plans in federal Nepal.

Kezang

Kezang brings to the table combined tri-sector management and leadership experience having worked in the public sector, running his own private businesses and having successfully led civil society projects including the EU-funded IISD Green Public Procurement in Bhutan project. He co-authored the country case study chapter on “Gross National Happiness and SCP in Bhutan” in the book “Sustainable Asia: Supporting the Transition to Sustainable Consumption and Production in Asian Developing Countries (2017)”.

Kushal Harjani

Kushal is the Co-Founder of Doko Recyclers, a social enterprise that attends to the need to manage waste in Nepal. Being an entrepreneur at heart, his expertise lies in designing sustainable and evidence-based practical solutions that combine his previous work experience in the private and social sector. Prior to founding Doko Recyclers, he worked for different development and environment-oriented organizations like Seven Summits Women Team, ABARI Bamboo and Earth Initiative and Rebuild Nepal.

Amina Maharjan

Amina Maharjan is a Migration Specialist and leads the group ‘Resources, Capabilities and Institutions’ within the Livelihoods Theme at ICIMOD. Her areas of interests include migration and development, migration and environment linkages, Trans-Himalayan mobility, migration governance for safe and orderly migration, productive use of remittances, and women migration. She has experience leading multi-country and multi-partner research consortia in migration in the HKH region; and engaging with policymakers and planner at the local, national, regional and global level on the broad theme of migration.

Duncan Overfield

Duncan Overfield is responsible for leading regional operations, the development of strategic regional partnerships as the Deputy Head of Asia Regional Department, DFID-UK. His expertise lies in design and implementation of complex and large scale projects and programmes, strategic partnership development and management, regional cooperation and integration economic and development policy.

Shanti Karanjit

Shanti Karanjit was appointed as the Portfolio Manager (Resilience and Environment) at UNDP Nepal. Her work focuses on environmental management, specifically on climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk management in related areas. She previously worked in India and Timor-Leste.

Pietro Mona

His Excellency Pietro Mona is the Ambassador for Development, Forced Displacement and Migration at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Prior to this, he was Deputy Head of the Global Program for Migration and Development at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. He has worked as Migration and Development Expert at the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States in Nigeria and Migration Policy Adviser at the Human Security Division, FDFA.

Sagar Prasai

Sagar Prasai is the Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in India. He has previously worked as the Foundation’s Deputy Representative for Nepal and has an extensive experience in governmental, multilateral organizations including UNDP and National Planning Commission. His current work involves regional cooperation and integration in South Asia with a particular focus on transboundary water, trade, and energy.

Sujeev Shakya

Sujeev Shakya is regarded as a Thought Leader who speaks and writes extensively on business, development, economics and management. He is the author of ‘Unleashing Nepal: Past, Present and Future of the Economy’ and ‘Arthat Arthatantra’ (It’s the Economy).

Elisabeth von Capeller

H.E. Ambassador Elisabeth von Capeller is the Ambassador of Switzerland to Nepal. She is the Head of Department for Cooperation with Eastern Europe and Assistant Director of the Swiss agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Bern. Prior to this, she was the Head of South Asia Division and Head of Conflict and Human Rights, SDC.

Diva Shrestha

Diva Shrestha is the Program Director of Nepal Leadership Academy. She also manages the Youth Engagement for Youth Employment Campaign. Previously, she worked in different senior leadership roles in admissions and financial aid offices of Nazareth College, Bucknell University, and Colby College in the U.S. She served as a board member for Nepal ko Yuwa (Daayitwa U.S.) and co-led the Nepal Rising campaign.

Paul I. Norton

Paul I. Norton was appointed as Chief of Mission representing the IOM in Kathmandu, Nepal, from July 2016. He held the same position in Papua New Guinea, Sudan and the Kyrgyz Republic. His service includes 25 years in IOM with postings as the Senior Regional Programme Coordinator for South Asia; Regional Representative to the Central Asian Republics; Head of Office, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Kuwait; and Deputy Chief of Mission, Indonesia. Prior to working with IOM, he performed duties for the USRAP and U.S. Peace Corps.

Nikita Bajracharya

Nikita Bajracharya is the Investment Manager at Dolma Advisors Pvt. Ltd. and she manages portfolios of pharmaceutical, IT and energy sectors in Dolma Impact Fund. Her expertise lies in business assessment, growth planning, capacity development and unlocking values within businesses. Previously, she worked for the inward investment and promotion of local entrepreneurs in the Dundee region of Scotland.

Richard S Howard

Richard S Howard was appointed as Director at the ILO Country Office for Nepal. He has 20 years of management and research experience in Asia and the Pacific in the private sector, non-government organizations, and the ILO. His expertise includes gender equality and non-discrimination, migration, indigenous people, sexual and reproductive health and HIV and AIDS.

Valerie Julliand

Valerie is the UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal representing the UN Secretary General and coordinating all UN activities in Nepal. She held the same position in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. She has served the UN for 24 years in various areas and capacities including East, West and Southern Africa, the Caribbean and Central America.

Peter Budd

H.E. Ambassador Peter Budd is a Career Officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Previously, he served as Deputy Head of Mission in Baghdad, Pretoria and Port Vila. In Canberra, he was Director at Property Tender Unit and Estate Section. He has also served as Director at Pacific Regional Section and Director at Fiji taskforce.

Laurence J. Brahm

Laurence J. Brahm is an international crisis mediation lawyer, developmental economist, and founding chairman of the Himalayan Consensus. Having served as a senior advisor to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection drafting Ecological Civilization– China’s policy blueprint for renewable energy conversion, he received China’s Social Responsibility Award in 2016. His Searching for Shangri-La film expeditions received the National Geographic Air and Water and Conservation Fund Award in 2016, for which he was elected Fellow International of the New York Explorer’s Club.

Amish Raj Mulmi

Amish Raj Mulmi is an editor and writer based out of New Delhi. He is the Consulting Editor at Writer’s Side Literary Agency. He writes a fortnightly column for the Kathmandu Post and his articles have appeared in Roads and Kingdoms, National Geographic Traveller, The Wire, Scroll.in and Mint Lounge among others. Previously, he worked for Juggernaut Books and Hachette India.

Sixit Bhatta

Sixit Bhatta is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tootle, a ridesharing application in Nepal. He envisions tootle as a cutting edge technology that will enable people with ‘freedom of movement’ and also create jobs and engage youths with a firm belief that sharing mobility would help transform our cities and urban design. Previously, he worked on radio network design and engineering at United Telecom Limited and on Digital financial services at Nepal Investment Bank.

Roland Schäfer

H.E. Ambassador Roland Schäfer is the Ambassador of Germany to Nepal. Previously, he was the Deputy Managing Director for the EEAS in Brussels. He has held several posts in Berlin such as a member of the task force for the Intergovernmental Conference at the Foreign Office, as Head of Political Division at the Federal Chancellery and as Head of Division for bilateral relations with France. Recently, he served as Deputy Head of the German Embassy in Buenos Aires and in Tel Aviv.

Philippus Wester

Philippus Wester is the Regional Programme Manager of ICIMOD’s Mountain Knowledge and Action Network. He is also the Coordinator of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP), which has recently produced the first Comprehensive Assessment of the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Action to Sustain a Global Asset (www.hi-map.org). He is the Principal Investigator and Project Leader of Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience (HI-AWARE) Research on Glacier and Snowpack Dependent River Basins for Improving Livelihoods (www.hi-aware.org).

Mahendra P. Lama

Mahendra P. Lama, a noted development economist, is a Senior Professor in School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. He served as the Member of the National Security Advisory Board of Government of India and Chief Economic Advisor for the Government of Sikkim. Previously, he was a High End Expert at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Sichuan University in China and also a Member of the Eminent Persons Group from India on Nepal-India Relations.

Laurence J. Brahm

Laurence J. Brahm is an international crisis mediation lawyer, developmental economist, and founding chairman of the Himalayan Consensus. Having served as a senior advisor to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection drafting Ecological Civilization– China’s policy blueprint for renewable energy conversion, he received China’s Social Responsibility Award in 2016. His Searching for Shangri-La film expeditions received the National Geographic Air and Water and Conservation Fund Award in 2016, for which he was elected Fellow International of the New York Explorer’s Club.

Kul C. Gautam

Kul Chandra Gautam

Kul Chandra Gautam is the Advisory Board Member at Nepal Economic Forum. He is a distinguished international development professional and a seasoned diplomat. He serves on the boards of several national and international organizations and public-private partnerships. Previously, he was the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Anushka Prasad

Anushka Prasad is the Founding Director of the China India Foundation, which works to increase mutual understanding between people of India and China by creating avenues for collaboration. Previously, she worked at Ashoka University to lead strategic initiatives to build its governance structures, government relations and university policy.

Mahendra P. Lama

Mahendra Lama

Mahendra P. Lama a noted development economist, is a senior Professor in School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. He served as the Member of the National Security Advisory Board of Government of India and Chief Economic Advisor for the Government of Sikkim. Previously, he was a High End Expert at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Sichuan University in China and also a Member of the Eminent Persons Group from India on Nepal-India Relations.

Veronica Cody

H.E. Ambassador Veronica Cody is the Head of European Union delegation to Nepal. She previously served as Head of Division for Regional Affairs, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan within the European External Action Service.

Tobby Simon

Tobby Simon is the Founder and President of Synergia Foundation – a strategic think tank that works in the area of geopolitics and security. Also the President of the Synergia Group – a company that provides business advisory services, he is also a Commissioner with the Global Commission for Internet Governance (GCIG) and a member of the Tri-Lateral Commission.

Ambica Shrestha

Ambica Shrestha is currently the President of Nepal Heritage Society and a Hon. Consul of Spain to Nepal. She founded the Federation of Business & Professional Women’s of Nepal (FBPWN) which is a member of International BPW in 1974 and became the first woman to be elected president of a Rotary Club. She, along with her husband, opened the Dwarika’s Hotel using traditional Newari style of architecture incorporating ancient woodcarvings to protect and save the heritage. This hotel is now called a living museum and has won the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Heritage Award.

Eckart Roth

Eckart Roth is a reinsurance professional with 25 years of experience in the regional and international reinsurance markets. Prior to co-founding Peak Re, he assumed various senior management roles with large insurance and reinsurance companies in Europe and Bermuda with a focus on developing and implementing innovative risk management solutions.

Allen T. Cheng

Allen T. Cheng is the Asia Bureau Chief of Institutional Investor Inc. and also the Managing Director of II Magazine Group in Asia and Editor-in-chief of IIChina.com. He has more than 24 years of journalism experience covering business, finance and politics in the U.S. and Asia. Over the course of his career, he has worked for several Fortune 500 media companies and is the co-author of a major magazine package on global sovereign wealth funds which won the award for magazine investigative journalism in 2009.

Ramesh Bhusal

Ramesh Bhushal has more than fifteen years of experience in environmental journalism and serves as Nepal Editor for The Third Pole, a GeoJournalism news site that focuses on the Himalayas. He is an expert member of the Environment Protection Council, headed by Nepal’s Prime Minister and has previously served as a climate negotiator for the Nepali government at the UNFCCC.

Giuseppe Savino

Giuseppe Savino has been an Investment Banker for 30 years and is working as a consultant on migration for the International Organization on Migration (IOM) in Nepal since 2014. He is also a Senior Distinguished Fellow at Nepal Economic Forum, Nepal’s premier Economic Thought Center.

Shruti Nada Poddar

Shruti Nada Poddar is the founder of Shruti Foundation, musician, a healer, a cultural exponent and educationist, and a leading practitioner of indigenous knowledge systems. She also convenes the foundation’s WE-ASC “Education Culture” Congresses for global advocacy of human values, holistic education, pedagogy and local learning paradigms.

Sumnima Udas

Sumnima Udas is an international journalist and TV personality with 12 years of experience leading CNN International’s news and features coverage from New Delhi, Hong Kong and New York. She was most recently based in New Delhi as CNN International’s South Asia correspondent covering key political, economic, social, environmental and general interest stories from the region and beyond.

Sujeev Shakya

Sujeev Shakya, Secretary General of the Himalayan Consensus Institute, is regarded as a Thought Leader who speaks and writes extensively on business, development, economics and management. He is author of ‘Unleashing Nepal: Past, Present and Future of the Economy’ that is used as a guide to understand Nepal’s economic paradigm. He is the CEO of Beed Management, management consulting and financial advisory services firm working in Nepal, Bhutan and Rwanda, and is also Chair of Nepal Economic Forum.

Christopher Flensborg

Christopher Flensborg is a pioneer in Green Bonds and has developed concepts and mechanisms to enable mainstream investors to address climate investments in their portfolios. As the current head of SEB, he has been involved in climate investment strategies worldwide, from development to execution.

Nirupama Rao

Nirupama Rao is a retired Indian diplomat, Foreign Secretary and Ambassador. In her long diplomatic career, she held several important assignments including being the first woman spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi; the first woman high commissioner from India to Sri Lanka; and the first Indian woman ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

Iain Reynolds

Iain Reynolds oversees Peak Re’s pricing and risk accumulation for all lines of business across all territories and has over 20 years of experience in catastrophe modelling. He previously spearheaded the Catastrophe Modelling team for South East Asia, Korea and India at Guy Carpenter Singapore.

Khem Lakai

Khem Lakai is the Founder of GATE, Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Education, and is committed to exalt Nepal on the Global Map for Excellence in Hospitality Training. He has been promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in Nepal as an ambassador of World Innovations Forum.

Claudia Hiepe

Claudia Hiepe heads the German Development Corporation in Nepal and engages in various civil society initiatives in Germany. Before joining German civil service, she worked for ten years at a University and with the UN on climate change and food security in West Africa and South East Asia.

Passang Dorji

Passang Dorji is a consultant who serves as the Board Member of Drukair Corporation. He is the Former Director of Investments at Druk Holding and Investments and has served as Board Director for prominent corporations across several sectors in Bhutan.

Mahima Shrestha

Mahima Shrestha is committed to enhancing connectivity between people to facilitate sustainable changes and find solutions to complex problems. She has an extensive background in media and crisis communications and has previously worked with government, multilateral, private and non-profit organizations in a wide range of sectors including aviation, hydropower, tourism, investment climate reform, education, telecommunications and healthcare.

Mandira S. Shrestha

Mandira Shrestha

Mandira Shrestha has more than 20 years of research activities covering broad areas of water induced disaster risk reduction and water resources management. She has lead programmes in transboundary flood risk management, satellite rainfall estimation, application of remote sensing in water resources management and coordinated international trainings in disaster risk reduction.

Manjeev Singh Puri

H.E. Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri assumed charge as Ambassador of India to Nepal on 2017. Prior to this, he was Ambassador of India in Brussels from 2014-2017, accredited to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg. He has previously served as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the UN in New York from 2009- 2013.

Mashfee B. Shams

Mashfee Binte Shams

Her Excellency Mashfee Binte Shams entered into the foreign service in 1991. Along with representing Bangladesh in many bilateral and multilateral meetings, she has served in several of its missions abroad in different capacities, including as the Deputy High Commissioner for Bangladesh High Commission at New Delhi, India.

Madhukar Upadhya

Madhukar Upadhya has over twenty years of experience working with the government and has managed projects like the Bagmati Watershed Project. He is currently working as a Regional Climate Change and Institutional Expert, UNDP Nepal. He previously served as the Chairman, ISET-Nepal and as Research Director, Nepal Water Conservation Fund.

Matthew R. Norley

Matthew R. Norley is a renewable energy specialist for Dolma Himalayan Climate Fund, a project supported by DFID to develop the first renewable energy investment platform for Nepal and the Himalayan region. He has previously worked at Arup UK.

Long Xingchun

Long Xingchun is a Senior Fellow, Professor and Director of the Center of India Studies, China West Normal University Base. His research interests include relationship between China and South Asian countries, India’s politics and foreign policy, public diplomacy and communication. He also serves as the consultant and planner for China Global Television Network on international events.

Laxmi Gurung

Laxmi Gurung is an expert in agri-eco-tourism of high mountainous regions. She works as a Peacekeeper in Mustang District under Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction and is involved in the development of Mustang society. She also facilitates, contributes and supports research, academic works in the region.

Monika Schaffner

Monika Schaffner is an integrative geographer who connects and builds bridges between concepts, culture, mindsets and individuals with her consulting firm Connecting Spaces. She leads and connects environmental and spiritual projects with a key intention to safeguard natural and cultural heritage in mountain spaces.

Kulman Ghising

Kulman Ghising is best known for managing the electricity demand and reducing load shedding in major towns of Nepal. He has more than 23 years of professional experience in power generation, transmission, distribution and trading business including contract management, dispute settlement and financing in hydropower projects.

Nicholas Rosellini

Nicholas Rosellini took up his assignment as the UN Resident Coordinator, and UNDP Resident Representative in the People’s Republic of China in 2016. Prior to this, he served as UNDP Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, and most recently also as Director of the Bangkok Regional Hub.

Khemraj Upadhyaya

Khemraj Upadhyay

Khemraj Upadhyaya has been working for a decade and a half on uplifting social and economic status of marginalized people through poverty reduction, conflict management, and disasters preparedness. His major experiences include leading country programmes in Nepal, Disaster Resilience in Bangladesh, Tsunami response in Sri Lanka and Maldives, food aid policies in the UK.

Huang Youyi

Huang Youyi is a national political advisor of China and serves both the China Economic and Social Council and the Academic Degrees Commission of the State Council as a member. He is the Executive Vice President, the Translators Association of China. He was previously the Vice President and Editor-in-chief, China International Publishing Group.

Gregory K. Tanaka

Gregory K. Tanaka is a former banker, lawyer, an acting law school dean and author of the book Systemic Collapse and Renewal (in press). He is the Director of the Center for the Study of Democracy and Social Change, an institute that tests and replicates models for “community-based democracy”.

Govind Raj Pokharel

Govind Raj Pokharel has over twenty-seven years of experience in public policy, international development and academia. He is the Former CEO, National Reconstruction Authority; Former Executive Director, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre; and Professor of Industrial and Mechanical Engineering, Tribhuvan University.

Philip Yiin

Philip Yiin is a certified functional health consultant and LivingFood specialist with many years of experience helping clients achieve their goals from reducing and eliminating their dependency on drugs to weight management and bio-identical hormone modulation through LivingWell protocols. He is a co-founder, Institute for Functional Health Malaysia and continues to generate awareness in active wellness.

Eklabya Sharma

Eklabya Sharma is an ecologist with over 35 years of experience in developing, managing, and implementing programmes mainly on sustainable natural resource management in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. He has expertise in research and development related to mountain ecology, climate change impact assessments and resilience building.

Pramod Jaiswal

Pramod Jaiswal is a Senior Fellow at the Pangoal Institution, Beijing and Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. He specializes in South Asia with a focus on Nepal and China’s role in the region. He has previously worked at Fudan University and Institute for Defence Studies Analyses and has authored ‘Nepal-China Relations, 1990-2009’.

Rajan Man Bajracharya

Rajan Man Bajracharya is the winner of the Nepal data-driven farming prize. He is the Managing Director and System Architect at Pathway Technologies and Services and has recently co-founded a social enterprise called “Digital Data System for Development (DDS4Dev)” to democratize digital data infrastructure in Nepal and beyond.

Deepak K.C.

Deepak KC has more than fifteen years of experience working in design, planning and implementation of programs related to climate change, environment conservation and management, multi-hazards risks assessment. He is currently leading the Integrated Climate Risk Management Programme Team at UNDP’s Energy, Environment, Climate and Risk Management Unit.

Ramesh A. Vaidya

Ramesh Vaidya’s research interest is in the economics and policy of climate change and the consequences for water resources in the context of regional economic cooperation. He has previously served as the Member for Water, Energy, and Infrastructure at National Planning Commission, and, subsequently, as Nepal’s Ambassador to Japan and Australia. He is the Founding Vice Chairperson of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre’s governing board. He has represented Nepal in several international events, including the UN Commission on Sustainable Development meetings.

David J. Molden

David J. Molden is the Director General of ICIMOD. He is a researcher and development specialist with skills in water resource management and sustainable mountain development. He has extensive work experience in the fields of livelihoods and natural resources management in Asia and Africa.

Christopher Thomas

Christopher Thomas is a global executive with over 15 years’ experience in Asia spanning aviation, loyalty-lifestyle, and online travel sectors. He is an expert in business and political strategy development and has been assisting leading travel companies through Aviation Talent, a specialist executive search and selection firm.

Randall Bluffstone

Randall A. Bluffstone is the Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Economics and the Environment at Portland State University in US. His research and teaching interests focus on environmental and resource economics, including climate change, energy, pollution control and deforestation in low-income countries.

Ranjan Mishra

Ranjan MISHRA

Ranjan Mishra is the Founding President of Nepalese Scientific Association in Switzerland (NepSAS), a voluntary organization established to facilitate technology transfer between Switzerland and Nepal. He is keen in developing and employing novel technologies to convert local problems into business opportunities.

Ravindra Sapkota

Rabindra Sapkota

Ravindra Sapkota is a Co-founder of Everest Biotech and Shikhar Biotech and has more than 15 years’ experience in the production of polyclonal antibodies. He leads the strategic transformation of Shikhar Biotech from producing polyclonal antibodies to providing comprehensive biotechnology products and services.

Bipul Chatterjee

Bipul Chatterjee is an Indian economist who heads CUTS International, a leading international non-governmental organisation working on economic policy research, advocacy and networking with its headquarters in Jaipur, India and centres in Geneva, Hanoi, Nairobi, Lusaka and Accra. His current area of interest is boosting sub-regional trade and economic integration in the Bay of Bengal.

Renaud Meyer

Renaud Meyer started his assignment as the Country Director for UNDP Nepal in the year 2015. During his career in UNDP, he has held crucial roles including as Senior Deputy Country Director, UNDP Afghanistan; Country Director, UNDP Philippines and Deputy Country Director, UNDP China.

Robin Gravesteijn

Robin Gravesteijn is working under UNCDF’s SHIFT and Cleanstart programmes in Bangkok. He manages a data and analytics hub that uses financial inclusion data to inform development policies and practices of financial service providers, investors, and regulators in South East Asia.

Rurik Marsden

Rurik Marsden has previously worked for DFID in Myanmar and South Sudan as well as at the UK delegation to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Prior to his work in Nepal, he worked in DFID’s research and evidence division as Deputy Director with responsibility for oversight of DFID research on conflict, governance, growth, education and humanitarian innovation.

Ryan Nadeau

Ryan Nadeau is a non-profit founder, techie, entrepreneur who has led numerous philanthropic projects in South Asia. He serves on several boards, is a consultant, but spends most of his energy at Galvanize where he leads its strategic partnerships, business development and global diversity initiatives.

Chhali Maya Thami

Chhali Maya Thami is a trained taskforce of community-based Disaster Risk Management and has been involved in cardamom farming initiated by UNDP Nepal. She is the Treasurer of Livelihood and Disaster Reduction Committee in Sorung Khola sub-watershed of Dolakha; Chairperson of Red Cross Society Regional Coordination Committee in Dolakha; and Chairperson of Niko Savings and Credit Cooperative Ltd. in Dolakha.

Sabyasachi Dutta

Sabyasachi Dutta is Founder Director of the Asian Confluence, a regional initiative promoting an open space for cultural and intellectual exchanges and enhancing understanding of the Eastern and North Eastern region of India. He facilitates programs, talks, discussions and symposia with scholars and leaders of culture and thought, from India and abroad.

Carol A. Wolfson

Carol Wolfson

Carol A. Wolfson is a business consultant and philanthropist who founded Second Chance Animal Aid and has over three decades of experience in the Asia Pacific region. She is a Founding Board Member of the Himalayan Consensus Institute being one of its primary private donors and fundraisers.

Sonika Manandhar

Sonika Manandhar is a computer engineer and a software project manager with nearly 8 years’ experience in software engineering and project management. She is the founder of a non-profit organization focused on empowering people with disabilities.

Bhim B. Nepali

Bhim Bahadur Nepali

Bhim Bahadur Nepali is a social worker who looks over the management and execution of different programs at Share and Care Nepal, an organization committed to empower and transform the lives of poor and vulnerable communities. He has developed and introduced an innovative online Learning Management System for SCN’s use to expand knowledge on Community Development and Mobilization.

Basanta Shrestha

Basanta Shrestha provides strategic management leadership, partnership and private sector development so as to bring about transformative change in ICIMOD. Under his leadership, he has developed highly successful partnerships with the regional and international agencies towards sustainable mountain development in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region.

Shruti Jha

Shruti Jha is a medical microbiologist working in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. She is a tech-enthusiast seeking innovation in order to achieve contextualized solutions of local problems. She is associated with Nepalese Scientific Association, Switzerland.

Arun B. Shrestha

Arun Bhakta Shrestha is a Senior Climate Change Specialist and Regional Programme Manager for River Basins and Cryosphere in ICIMOD. His main areas of expertise include climate change, glaciers and glacial hazards, glacial lake risk mitigation, atmospheric environment and water resources management. He is on the editorial panel for Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk and Journal of Hydrology Meteorology.

Sugat Ratna Kansakar

Sugat Ratna Kansakar has held the position of Managing Director in Nepal Airlines Corporation for over two years now. He previously served as the Executive Chairman of NAC and a Board Member of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Prior to his engagement with NAC, he was the Managing Director of Nepal Telecommunication Corporation.

Sujit Acharya

Sujit Acharya is the founder chairperson of Energy Development Council, Nepal’s umbrella organization for the energy sector. He is also the founder and CEO of IDS Energy Private Limited, a Nepali energy company that promotes clean energy projects. He previously served as a board member of Nepal Electricity Authority – Ministry of Energy, Government of Nepal.

Amuda Mishra

Amuda Mishra is an entrepreneur working on advancement of girls and young women and their ideas through innovation, social enterprise and gender inclusive leadership. She is the initiator of ‘EmpowHER’, young women leadership and idea incubation program; and ‘NiDARR’, a smartphone gender-based violence reporting tool in Nepal.

Amina Baniya

Amina Baniya, representing the group CareTech and Winner of Swiss- Nepal Technology Workshop 2018 is fervid on exploring the mysteries of life science. Converting the knowledge thus obtained to assist humankind has been her passion so far. She is determined to introduce our product in near future, an idea representing young scientific minds of Nepal.

Sunil K.C.

Sunil K.C. was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank, a joint venture with FMO Netherlands and one of the largest A Class Commercial Banks in Nepal, in 2017. He is also the board member of NMB Capital, an investment banking wing of NMB Bank and has almost 27 years of experience in banking.

Alaina B. Teplitz

Her Excellency Alaina B. Teplitz was nominated to be the United States Ambassador to Nepal in 2015 to build upon 70 years of partnership and cooperation, enhance prosperity, encourage democracy and ensure stability. She joined the State Department in 1991 and is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor.

Surendra R. Joshi

Surendra Joshi

Surendra Raj Joshi has worked over 20 years in development sector with a specific focus on livelihood diversification, integrated resource management and climate change adaptation. He has first-hand experience in value chain development of high-value mountain products as well as design and implementation of programmes aiming to improve the lives of rural communities.

Sushil Bajracharya

Sushil Bajracharya has over twenty years of experience in the insurance industry and is extensively engaged in underwriting and innovation sector of Nepal. He is currently involved in large infrastructure projects, hydropower and more recently heritage projects.

Abdullah Tuncer Kececi

Abdullah Tuncer Kececi started his journey with Turkish Airlines in 1990 as a cabin crew and later worked as a simulator engineer in its Flight Training Center. He was appointed as the Regional Marketing Manager for the airlines in Nepal and later as its General Manager in 2016.

Umesh C. Rai

Umesh Chandra Rai

Umesh Chandra Rai joined Yeti Airlines in 1998 as the Finance Controller. In 20 years of his journey with the group, he has held a wide range of responsibilities besides managing the airlines, helping it establish its holidays division and acquiring the Gokarna Forest Resort and the Jomsom Mountain Resort.

Wang Yushui

Wang Yushui has been working for infrastructure developments in different developing countries for more than 10 years. He is currently associated with the Bheri Babai Diversion Multipurpose Project, a National Pride project that has employed Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the first time in Nepal to excavate the tunnel through fragile rocks of Siwaliks, the youngest mountain chain.

Yeshey Tshogay

Yeshey Tshogay is a Bhutanese woman entrepreneur with businesses in ICT and Consulting, Tourism and Hospitality and most recently in agribusiness. Previously an electrical engineer, she has recently established a social enterprise called Bhutan Organics that produces a line of natural foods and works in close collaboration with local communities.

Yu Hong

H.E. Ambassador Yu Hong was appointed as the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Nepal in 2016. She has previously served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Counselor, Division Chief and Deputy Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs.

Anustha Shrestha

Anustha Shrestha has been working for over 6 years on various research related to climate change, water governance, disaster risk reduction and right to information. She has extensive field experience with skills on facilitation and rapport building and is interested in transboundary water issues, local water challenges, air pollution and mountain hazards.

Anil Pokhrel

Anil Pokhrel provides policy and technical support for water management, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation. He has over twenty years of experience working with multiple Nepali and international organizations, ADB and the World Bank. He works for Plan8 Risk Consulting.

Arnico Panday

Arnico Panday and his team work on improving understanding of emissions sources, atmospheric processes and change, and their impacts in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region along with finding mitigation and policy solution. They focus on building awareness, capacity, and regional collaborations on the same.

Aayushi KC

Aayushi KC is a young entrepreneur who is all set to revolutionize the recycling industry in Nepal with her venture, Khaalisisi. With the big vision to implement ‘zero waste’ in Nepal, Khaalisisi aims to bridge the gap between waste sellers and waste entrepreneurs for efficient recovery and mobilization of recyclable trash.

Vincent Wierda

Vincent Wierda is the Regional Coordinator of Financial Inclusion programmes of UNCDF in Asia. He has extensive working experience in the field of clean energy financing and financial inclusion in Asia and Africa. His additional experiences are in SME promotion, business development, agricultural value chains and rural development.

Amrita Tripathi

Amrita Tripathi is passionate about raising awareness on mental health issues with her online site, The Health Collective. She is a journalist and a writer of contemporary fiction with books like Broken News and The Sibius Knot. She also writes for various digital media platforms and provides consultations on the same.

Tshering C. Dorji

Tshering Cigay Dorji

Tshering Cigay Dorji has been instrumental in accelerating the vibrancy and bringing together technology and youth entrepreneurship in Thimphu TechPark, Bhutan’s First IT Park . He has over 14 years of experience in programming, teaching, information system design, database administration, research and corporate management.

Robert W. Parenteau

Robert W. Parenteau is a Chartered Financial Analyst who serves as an investment strategist to institutional investors through his consulting firm, MacroStrategy Edge. He leads the Finance Working Group at 1000 Landscapes, a regenerative economy design hub at EcoAgriculture Partners.

Pradeep S Mehta

Pradeep S. Mehta is a writer, speaker, trainer and organizer in the social science field and currently serves in the Board of Trade and Steering Committee on Ecomark of the Government of India. He is a former honorary adviser to the Commerce and Industries Minister of India and to the Director-General of the WTO.

Franz J. Hahn

Franz J. Hahn is responsible for setting the strategic directions and leading Peak Re to achieve its goal. In his long career, he has focused experience in building successful reinsurance business in Greater China and the broader Asia Pacific. He previously worked as a member of the Insurance Advisory Committee to the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong.

Bibek Debroy

Bibek Debroy is a well-known economist who has had ample experience working in several political and economic institutes around India, including Department of Economic Research and National Council of Applied Economic Research. He has authored as well as edited several books, papers, and articles and also has been a Contributing Editor/Consultant to many newspapers.

Arnico Panday

Arnico Panday is Senior Atmospheric Scientist and Coordinator of the Atmosphere Initiative at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Until recently, he was also a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has conducted postdoctoral research at MIT and at Princeton University’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and provided advices to the governments of Rwanda, Bhutan and Nepal.

Kamran Lashari

Kamran Lashari is currently engaged with restoration and promotion of cultural heritage. He has been working as the Director General of Walled City Lahore Authority for the last four years and is trying to rehabilitate the Old City of Lahore. He was also the pioneer in the field of horticulture and beautification of Lahore and the first Director General of Parks & Horticulture Authority.

Eckart Roth

Eckart Roth is the Chief Risk Officer of Peak Re. He is a seasoned reinsurance professional with 25 years of experience in the regional and international reinsurance markets and a proven track record in building and implementing comprehensive risk management systems during his previous experience with various global reinsurers.

Christian Manhart

Christian Manhart has been working with UNESCO since 1987. In 2005, Manhart has been appointed to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, as chief of communication and partnerships and later in charge of museums and international conventions for the protection of cultural objects. Since August 2014, he is UNESCO’s Representative to Nepal.

Franz Josef Hahn

Franz Josef Hahn is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Peak Re, responsible for setting the strategic directions of the company, overseeing the day-to-day operations, and leading the company to achieve its long-term goal. With 30 years of involvement in the reinsurance industry, he has focused experience in building up strong teams and successful reinsurance business in Greater China and the broader Asia Pacific.

Kurt Luger

Kurt Luger is the founder of EcoHimal and the Professor of Communication Science at the University of Salzburg, Austria. He is also the Chairholder of Cultural Heritage and Tourism at UNESCO. He is a visiting Professor in several universities like Pepperdine University Malibu, USA and Tribhuvan University Kathmandu, Nepal. He holds the position of Chairman in the Institute for Interdisciplinary Tourism Research and in Research Group Media, Communication and Tourism.

Mahendra Lama

Mahendra P Lama, a noted development economist, has been a Professor of South Asian Economies in the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is at present High End Expert at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Sichuan University in China. He was the Founding Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Sikkim in India in 2007 and became the youngest Vice Chancellor of a National University in India.

David Molden

David Molden is the Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) an inter-governmental knowledge organization dedicated to mountains and people of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. He is a researcher and development specialist with skills in water resource management and sustainable mountain development with an interest in integrating social, technical, and environmental aspects of natural resources management. He is now working at the interface of science, policy and practice to help bring knowledge into use for societal benefits.

Narayan Dhakal

Narayan Dhakal is the Executive Director of EcoHimal and the Managing Director of Farming for Health. He has more than 26 years of working experience in different dimensions of tourism and development sector. He has successfully led projects, especially integrated with innovative initiatives, promoting cooperation and involvement of grassroots, community-based organizations. Having travelled more than 71 districts of the country, he has a comprehensive knowledge of Nepal, its rural development necessities and strategies to empower individuals from grassroots level.

Bidhyabaridhi Sigdel

Bidhya Baridhi Sigdel

Bidhyabaridhi Sigdel is Investment Director at Dolma Impact Fund I. He has been in professional finance and accounting in India and Nepal for more than 15 years and currently represents Dolma Impact Fund as a board member in its several portfolio companies. Previously, as the Head of Business at Kailash Bikas Bank, he oversaw the high performing bank’s credit portfolio and was also a member to various top management level committees.

Christopher Flensborg

Christopher Flensborg joined SEB in 2003 and is Head of Climate & Sustainable Financial Solutions. He has been and is involved in climate investment strategies worldwide, from development to execution – from borrowers to investors. As a pioneer in Green Bonds, working closely with The World Bank, he has developed concepts and mechanisms enabling mainstream investors to address climate investments in their portfolios. He is a frequent speaker and has addressed institutions like the UN General Assembly and the OECD – and has been invited as guest speaker at leading educational institutions globally.

Daniel C Taylor

Daniel C Taylor is President of Future Generations University. He grew up in the Himalayas and has been engaged in social change and conservation for 5 decades with a focus on empowerment-based, community-based applications with a particular scholarly interest in Mahatma Gandhi. He founded and led The Mountain Institute for 20 years. In Himalayan conservation, he led the creating of Nepal’s Makalu-Barun National Park, China’s Qomolangma (Everest) National Nature Preserve, Lhasa Wetlands National Nature Preserve and Four Great Rivers Ecosystem Project.

Thomas Schrom

Thomas Schrom works as a cultural expert with the UNESCO office in Kathmandu. Since establishing an architectural and design studio in Nepal in 1991, he has earned recognition for authenticity in restoration and reconstruction and for the successful adaptation of traditional buildings for modern reuse. His internationally supported projects include the Patan Museum (Nepal) and the Tower of Trongsa (Bhutan). Thomas Schrom is known also for his design of museum exhibitions and publications concerned with Asian art, architecture and cultural studies. Recently he designed the publication “Himalayan Style” that covers architecture and design in Nepal, India, Bhutan and China.

Guneshwar Prasad Mahato

Guneshwar Prasad Mahato is the CEO at Nexus Technology P. Ltd which is an energy and water hub started in 2015. He has 17 years of experience in WASH sector and continues to develop awareness about it through his work.

Suman Shakya

Suman Shakya is co-founder of One Planet Solution/SmartPaani, a private company that provides sustainable water management and alternate energy solutions in Nepal. SmartPaani is the proud winner of Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneur Award in 2014 and currently, part of 2nd cohort of SPRING Accelerator, UK for South Asia. Suman Shakya is also an entrepreneur, consultant and trainer involved with Rooster Logic, Nepal Entrepreneurs’ Hub and Nepal Rises.

Vincent Wierda

Vincent Wierda joined CleanStart as Programme Manager in 2013. He believes strongly in market-based solutions in development. He has long worked in the field of financial inclusion, starting in 1998 in Ethiopia, and with extensive subsequent experience in both Asia and Africa. He has additional experience in SME promotion, business development, agricultural value chains and rural development.

Cas De Stoppelaar

Cas de Stoppelaar is Consul General of Nepal to The Netherlands. He is also the chairman of the Himalayan Tiger Foundation, working mainly in Bardiya National Park. Apart from being the co-founder of Summit Hotel, he has also started Summit Trekking and the Dutch magazine ‘Himalaya’. He has written many articles about Nepal in Dutch newspapers and has published two books and one novel about Nepal.

Gregory k. Tanaka

Gregory K. Tanaka (MBA, JD, PhD) is the founder of the Sierra Consensus Institute in San Francisco, California. Formerly a banker, a lawyer, and an acting law school dean, he is the author of Systemic Collapse and Renewal: A Narrative Account of How Race and Capital Came to Destroy Meaning and Civility in America and Foreshadow the Coming Economic Depression (in press). A director of the Center for the Study of Democracy and Social Change, which tests and replicates models for “community-based democracy,” he enjoys trout fishing, hula and playing the ukulele.

Jörg Giovanni Frieden

Giovanni Frieden

Dr. Jörg Giovanni Frieden is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Nepal. Previously, he has worked at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) as the Country Director for Mozambique, Chief of the Eastern and Southern African Division and Resident Director of its Cooperation Programme in Nepal. He was also the advisor and representative of H.E. Mrs Calmy Rey, President of Switzerland, in the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and Executive Director for Switzerland at the World Bank.

Sun Yuxi

Sun Yuxi is one of China’s most senior diplomats and experienced experts in crisis and conflict management. He has served in the positions of Special Envoy to Afghanistan, and as Ambassador to India, Afghanistan, Italy, Poland, as Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, and now serves as President of the China-Poland Friendship Association. As senior diplomat he has played a key role as a member of China’s delegations to major international forums, including the UN General Assembly, G20 Summit, APEC, Asia-Europe Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum, SCO Prime Ministers’ Meeting, and the Prime Ministers’ Meeting of China and Central Europe.

Hon Wai Wai

Originally from Hong Kong, Wai Wai has been living in Nepal and India since the early 90s. In 2013, she started working with her colleague Luo Wen Hua on the project of Digital Archiving in the monasteries in Tibet that included Jokhang, Drepung and Gonkar Chode. They archived the collections of statues, thangkas, murals and architecture. In August 2015, she released a book to commemorate the restoration of the golden roof of the Jokhang, which received a Creativity Award at the Hong Kong Print Awards 2015.

Michael Kobold

Michael Kobold is the founder of Soarway Foundation, a non-profit organization tasked to help Nepal on disaster risk reduction and preparedness. At the age of 19, he founded Kobold, the first U.S.-based watch company in 50 years to manufacture its watch cases in-house. He has also collaborated with the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes on the bestselling book, The Secret Hunters about the Holocaust. Michael graduated from Carnegie Mello University in only three years despite being diagnosed with dyslexia and ADD.

Yu Hong

Yu Hong is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Nepal. She has previously served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as as Counselor, Division Chief and Deputy Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs.

Bhushan Tuladhar

Bhushan Tuladhar is the Regional Technical Advisor South Asia for UN-Habitat’s Urban Basic Services Branch. He has 25 years of experience of working on various urban and environmental issues and has served as the head of Environment Department at Kathmandu Metropolitan City and the Executive Director of NGOs such as Clean Energy Nepal and Environment & Public Health Organization. He is currently a Board Member of Sajha Yatayat, a public transport cooperative, and is involved in education and various advocacy campaigns on sanitation, air quality and energy related issues.

Bibek Chapagain

Bibek Chapagain has been a product development engineer, project management and energy expert in the United States and Nepal over the last two decades. He has worked in the mechanical engineering division of New England Power Company and as the Director of Renewable Energy Promotion Support Office in Nepal for Winrock International. As the Energy Advisor at the Norwegian Embassy his work includes close coordination with Government, Multilateral Banks, Intergovernmental agencies, and the private sector and Non-government.

Dasho Ugyen Tshewang

Ugyen Tshewang is a development scientist, an environmentalist and a manager with more than 29 years of experience in co-ordinating and assessing programs in rural farming and mountain livelihood, conservation science, climate change and environment. He has published scientific papers in more than 10 international journals and has led and coordinated more than 35 publications of laws & regulations, project proposals and plan documents in his professional career. He worked as the secretary of the National Environment Commission of Bhutan for five years.

Mats Eriksson

Mats Eriksson is the Regional Programme Manager at International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. He has over 20 years of experience working with natural and water resource management and has published more than forty scientific papers.

Pushkar Shrestha

Pushkar L Shrestha is a social entrepreneur and an organization development strategist. He is one of the founders of Gorkha Gaun, and has more than 15 years of experience working with different communities of Nepal through NGOs in various leadership capacities. From 2006 to 2012, he led the strategic growth of Room to Read Nepal, an INGO that focuses on changing the lives of rural children with education opportunities and is currently the Executive Director of Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD), a local NGO which works in improving the lives of the urban poor.

Renaud Meyer

Renaud Meyer is the Country Director for UNDP Nepal, coming from Kabul where he served as Senior Deputy Country Director for UNDP. He started his UNDP career in 1998 in Lebanon and has also worked in Philippines, China and New York. Before joining the UN, he worked in Tunisia for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ryan Nadeau

Ryan Nadeau is a non-profit founder, international human rights activist, techie, and entrepreneur. Ryan is currently working at Galvanize, a leader in industry-focused learning. He leads strategic partnerships, business development and is leading the organization’s diversity initiatives in San Francisco. His focus is to increase the representation of Women, African Americans, Latinos, Veterans, and members of the LGBT community in tech and help large organizations reskill their technical talent.

Tshering Tashi

Tshering Tashi is a writer and researcher based in Bhutan. He has written several books on the country and his articles are regularly published by the national newspaper. He is currently one of the Directors of the Mountain Echoes Literary Festival.

Tze Wei Ng

Tze-wei Ng is the Deputy Director for Asia for PILnet: The Global Network for Public Interest Law, an international non-profit dedicated to engaging lawyers and law students in public interest. Based out of Hong Kong, Ng is responsible for managing PILnet’s Hong Kong program and coordinating other regional projects, including the annual PILnet Asia Pro Bono Forum. Prior to PILnet Ng was Beijing correspondent for South China Morning Post covering China 2007 to 2012. She is also a qualified lawyer in Hong Kong and England & Wales. She holds a LLM from Columbia Law School specializing in human rights and international development.

Celine Cousteau

Céline Cousteau is a multifaceted social and environmental activist working with a variety of mediums from documentaries to art and design. She is the Founder and Executive Director of CauseCentric Production, creating cause focused multi-media content. Céline has also co-founded The Céline Cousteau Film Fellowship, a non-profit program whose mission is to empower young aspiring filmmakers, creatives, and activists to inspire change through filmmaking. Previously, she has worked as a Guest Designer for Swarovski, ambassador for The TreadRight Foundation, and Member of the World Economic Forum Council on Oceans. Céline sits on the advisory boards of The Himalayan Consensus and Marine Construction Technologies. She is currently working on an impact campaign for her latest film, “Tribes on the Edge”.

Mahendra K. Shrestha

Mahendra K. Shrestha is the Chairman of Himalayan General Insurance and has been involved in the financial sector in Nepal for over two decades. From starting an insurance company in 1993 (Founding Managing Director of Himalayan General Insurance) to leading the reform process for a commercial bank that had been declared a ‘problem bank’ by NRB, Mahendra has led and helped shape some leading organizations in insurance and banking. Over the years he has been involved in a number of additional sectors including hydropower, telecommunications, health, manufacturing industries and media. In addition to being a part of all major local chambers of commerce, he has also served as President of Nepal Britain Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Kjell Tormod Pettersen

Kjell Tormod Pettersen is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Norway to Nepal. He has worked as Senior Advisor to the Department for Security Policy and High North issues. He was also Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing.

Viktor Andersson

Viktor Andersson is ESG Specialist at SEB, Sweden.

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