First of all, on the behalf of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and my own, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your presence at this seminar jointly organized by CNI and Miyamoto Global Relief. Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule. I would like to welcome especially Dr. Miyamoto at this program.

Without elaborating – as all of us are acutely aware Nepal has suffered its greatest disaster – now named the Great Earthquake- on 25th April and subsequent aftershocks.  In living memory no other

disaster across South Asia can equal the loss and impact on millions of lives when considered on a National Context.  Over 30% of our population has been impacted.  While we can look at the numbers and evaluate statistics – it is only when we go down to the individual level can we truly begin to appreciate the magnitude of the impact.  There are a million tragic stories to be told- and each story breaks our heart.

 At CNI – as is our responsibility – we have stepped forward to serve our country in whatever way possible during this crisis.  Initially the Nation’s focus was on relief and CNI has led from the front distributing various materials itself – as well as partnering with several other organizations.  Immediately we also started a process of wide engagement across all stakeholders including various Government Bodies, Multilaterals, NGO’s, Civil Society and the Private Sector.

Moving from relief to Rehabilitation CNI has partnered with HCI and Habitat for Humanity to support these NGO’s in the process of rebuilding shelters and homes.  CNI members are also closely involved in process of rebuilding and providing temporary and permanent shelters in the affected districts.

CNI has offered various Policy Recommendations and Policy Support to various Government Bodies and Institutions.  CNI is working as a key stakeholder in various discussions with Global Multilateral agencies and the Government to create National Level Recovery Plans.  In this process CNI has submitted a number of technical papers and reports including Reconstruction Planning, Plans for a Business Recovery Center, Policy Recommendations, and Various Business Surveys etc.

In the context of this recovery obviously a key element is rehabilitation and reconstruction.  Post-Disaster Reconstruction is a complex process.  It requires multi-sectoral involvement, significant resources, and a wide range of skills.  Many of these specific skills may not available in countries like ours where we have not seen such devastation before.  We must work with global and local experts to truly understand the complexities around this herculean effort.

Today CNI has organized this seminar : Reconstructing Nepal : Global Perspective.  The objective of this seminar is to allow us to learn from various Global Experiences and indeed experts who have extensive experience with other disasters.  Miyamoto both as a Non Profit and as an engineering firm brings in vast experience to share – and I hope for all of us there will be substantial learning during this seminar.

 Lastly I would like to add that every Post-Disaster situation is unique.  So we are not looking at this seminar as a dictate on how we move forward – but rather learning from the Global Experience and Skillsets which Miyamoto brings.  We as Nepalese must learn from such seminars and workshops and various other mediums and then move forward with a plan and process that is Synergistic and harmonizes with our country, our challenges, our requirements and our people.

Basnyat is a president of CNI. Excerpt of welcome remarks delivered at a Seminar on Reconstructing Nepal Global Perspective in a seminar.