Bridging the Gap: Bringing Israeli Innovation to Nepal’s Local Governments

Muni Expo 2026: A Grassroots Blueprint for Nepal-Israel Tech Collaboration

Nepal was one of the first South Asian nations to recognize Israel diplomatically, doing so in 1960. For decades, delegates from both nations have fondly described this relationship by noting that the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea, and the highest, Mount Everest, belong to these two small, mismatched countries. The poetry of that comparison has historically carried the relationship further than its policy substance has.

Our ties have deepened in practical ways through the “Learn and Earn” program, which trained thousands of young Nepalis on Israeli farms. Tragically, this connection was cemented in shared grief on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists murdered ten Nepali students and abducted Bipin Joshi, whose body was returned to his family in October 2025. That history is part of why this relationship matters to me, and why the gap between Nepal’s affection for Israel and our institutional follow-through is deeply frustrating.

As MUNI EXPO 2026 approaches this June 23–24 at Expo Tel Aviv, the event is taking place against the backdrop of significant national and geopolitical shifts. The theme, “Winning Partnership,” focuses heavily on crisis recovery, technological resilience, and global collaboration. It is exactly the kind of environment where Nepal must transition from being a passive observer to an active, benefiting partner.

Nepal’s Tech Maturation: What We Have Learned

In recent years, Nepal’s IT and innovation sector has evolved into a key economic pillar, with software and IT service exports nearing the $1 billion mark. This rapid growth, driven by local fintech platforms and increased digital adoption, culminated in a significant milestone: the establishment of the dedicated Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. This institutional shift was propelled by the relentless advocacy of figures like Mahabir Pun, who successfully pushed for a dedicated 1% innovation allocation in the BS 2083/84 federal budget.

The journey to this point has been a steep learning curve for Nepal. We have learned that we must transition from service to product. Our IT ecosystem realized that relying purely on low-cost BPO and outsourcing limits scalability. Consequently, the industry has successfully pivoted toward creating proprietary software-as-a-service (SaaS) products, local fintech solutions, and AI development.

Yet, we have also collided with severe policy bottlenecks. Industry growth consistently outpaced government regulation. Cumbersome tax laws, the lack of international payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe, and a massive brain drain taught the state a harsh lesson: policy stability and digital infrastructure are prerequisites for survival. Fortunately, there is now a conscious effort toward a brain drain reversal. The government recognizes that supporting remote work and freelancing for global firms within Nepal is vital to retaining our talented youth and transforming into a true knowledge economy.

The Delegation Disconnect: Why Municipalities Miss Out

Despite these national tech strides, our local governments are missing out on global technological dividends. For years, Nepal has sent delegations to participate in Muni Expo. In 2019, a Nepali delegation that included elected ward presidents and municipal staff from Dakshinkali, Chandragiri, and other local governments traveled to Israel. Six years later, in July 2025, a larger delegation of mayors and senior ministry officials followed. They toured impressive facilities and received assurances of cooperation from the Israeli government.

Everyone involved called it a milestone. Yet, I keep returning to a question that nobody in Nepal has answered publicly: what actually came back?

Across a decade of visits, not a single pilot project or Israeli municipal technology has made its way into an actual Nepali municipality to stay in continuous use. We have not heard of implementation or endeavors of continuity. This disconnect happens because delegations are often dominated by national ministries. But the technology on display at Muni Expo—data-driven emergency response, smart resource allocation, and advanced GIS—is most desperately needed by the hundreds of local municipalities that administer land and manage crises at the ward level.

How Nepal Can Benefit Further: The Path Forward

If Nepal is to truly take advantage of platforms like Muni Expo, we must focus our learning and implementation in three critical areas:

• Investing in R&D and Education: Nepal currently invests a fraction of its GDP into Research and Development. To move up the value chain, we must shift our academic focus away from traditional rote learning and toward modern science, AI, and practical engineering.

• Strengthening Digital Governance: Despite strong internet penetration, citizen-facing government services, land administration, and local governance remain deeply reliant on paper processes. Digitizing public services—leveraging initiatives like the World Bank Digital Transformation Project—will streamline our daily operations and drastically improve transparency at the municipal level.

• Integrating Tech with Core Industries: While the IT sector thrives in Kathmandu, we must learn to apply Israeli AgriTech and innovation to vital traditional sectors like agriculture and tourism. This is the only way to build lasting, climate-resilient economic models for our rural and semi-urban communities.

My Mission for Dakshinkali at MUNI EXPO 2026

I focus on my home, Dakshinkali Municipality, because it illustrates this gap precisely. It is easy to conclude that advanced Israeli tech doesn’t apply to a municipality where the most urgent tasks are roads, irrigation, and school enrollment. I argue the opposite. The same GIS tools Israeli cities use for smart planning are exactly what we need for mapping flood-prone parcels. The data-driven emergency toolkits built for Israel’s security crises have direct analogues in landslide and earthquake-prone Nepal, where local governments are the first responders.

This year, as a representative for Dakshinkali Municipality-serving as a City Council Member, Municipal Executive Member, and Coordinator of the Social Development Committee-I intend to hold my participation to a strict standard.

I am not traveling to Tel Aviv to collect photographs or repeat poetic lines about our historic friendship. I am going to ask what a concrete partnership with an Israeli AgriTech company or GovTech provider would actually require for a municipality of terraced hills and modest budgets. I would rather come home with one working pilot for one Nepali municipality than with one more assurance for the record.