Nepal should expand its international identity beyond Everest, Lumbini and familiar tourism imagery and present itself as a country of mountain knowledge, climate experience, living civilisation, cultural diversity, resilience, peace and constructive global engagement, the Foreign Secretary said at the closing of the three-day “Brand Nepal” seminar in Kathmandu. The recent Bhote Koshi floods, he noted, underscored both Nepal’s growing climate vulnerability and its capacity for resilience, community response and international cooperation.
The Foreign Secretary said Nepal already possesses significant soft-power assets, including its role in UN peacekeeping, community forestry, traditional knowledge, Himalayan and climate expertise, wellness traditions, creative industries, youth, science and technology, and diaspora networks. He stressed that national branding should not replace one narrow narrative with another, but instead create a coherent and authentic “narrative architecture” tailored to different audiences such as tourists, investors, governments, universities, cultural institutions and the diaspora.
He also highlighted the growing importance of public diplomacy and economic diplomacy, noting that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Public Diplomacy Division and Nepal’s diplomatic missions should play a more systematic role in projecting the country’s identity and connecting tourism, trade, investment, education, culture, climate and diaspora engagement. He said new technologies, including AI, and increasing competition for global attention require stronger coordination, clearer messaging and more institutional resources.
The speech further linked Brand Nepal to the government’s broader policy agenda, including the Brand Nepal Campaign, Sagarmatha Sambaad 2027, the Yadu Nath Khanal Lecture Series and the MoFA Knowledge Forum. The Foreign Secretary said the next phase must move “from narrative to delivery” by ensuring that Nepal’s international image is supported by credible policies, institutions, products, services and experiences, making national branding a sustained whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort.
