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“A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.” Andy Warhol thus summed up the popularity of the world’s most renowned brand, Coca-Cola. There is hardly anybody who has not had a Coca-Cola. Established in 1892, the company sells its flagship popular drink in over 200 countries. Anushka Nepal from ApEx talks to Adarsh Avasthi, country director, Coca-Cola Nepal, on what the company has been up to in the recent years.  Being such a global brand, it might be difficult to maintain the customer engagement. Can you share how Coca-Cola has been maintaining that with the consumers in Nepal? Yes, it is difficult to maintain such engagement among customers, but we believe in hearing them out to make our sales more relatable to them. For instance, in Nepal, we have been giving familiar names to our different sized bottles, like ‘Kanchu pack’, which is understandable to many Nepalis, and they can connect with the product. We also hear out good ideas from the customers themselves too. What better way to understand what customers want than that from a customer itself?   Dashain and Tihar are huge festivals in Nepal, and Coca-Cola never misses to launch a festival campaign each year. What campaign is the company running this year? This year, the star of our campaign would be Chef Santosh Shah, who in collaboration with Coca-Cola shared personal recipes for five different dishes that were specifically targeted for the festival. We also wanted to do something better this year, something that would help us connect with our customers on an emotional level. Which is why we decided to facilitate bringing migrant workers back home during this year’s festival. During this festive season, we wanted to give much more than just a pack of beverages. We wanted our customers to have a family to share that pack of beverage.  Was it a challenge to bring the migrant workers back home? How did the company manage to do so? Yes, it was challenging. We had to find them first in order to bring them back. But the company was determined enough to do so. We had a great team that worked really hard on making that happen. And thankfully, we were also able to capture those moments when families reunite after years. I think many of us were able to empathize too after watching that video. It definitely was not easy, but somehow it became possible. I believe it to be the work of a great team. I think it could also be an inspiration to other companies to do something like that in the future.  Throughout the years, we have noticed a lot of emphasis on social impact by Coca-Cola. Can you elaborate more on this. Our main focus as a company is to always strive to make our production process more sustainable. Most of our products in Nepal are manufactured in a glass bottle, which is sustainable. Also, we have been working alongside several NGOs in order to recycle plastic bottles. Those recycled bottles are again used in our production. Likewise, a lot of retailers in Nepal are women. We have been running a program called ‘Sakshyam’ with an objective to uplift at least 1,000 women with their businesses. For instance, if a woman retailer owns a restaurant, we want to facilitate her on how to make those food items more presentable for their consumers. In this way, Coca-Cola has decided to support women employment, and the program has been going good so far.  We are already nearing the end of 2022, are there any upcoming campaigns that consumers can anticipate?  I would not like to give away all the excitement just yet, but Coca-Cola has been planning to launch some exciting campaigns for the end of this year. Since the FIFA World Cup will be taking place soon, we have been working on a campaign that helps our consumers connect with the game on a more personal level. As we all know, Nepal is very much engaged in football and the World Cup definitely gets everyone on their toes. We are planning to launch a campaign that will not just be about the World Cup, but will be something that our consumers will be able to connect on a personal level. It will be mostly targeted for football fans. 

Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and soon spread globally. In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic, the fifth distinguished pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu. Now, after almost three years, the threat of Covid-19 has largely subsided. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talks to virologist Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, who is also the chief of Clinical Research Unit at Kathmandu’s Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, about the Covid-19 status both in Nepal and globally.

Can you explain the present global situation of the Covid-19 pandemic?

Though there are still active covid cases, it has significantly decreased compared to the previous years. Once the pandemic starts, there could be no end of cases, but that doesn’t mean it could hamper the lifestyle for ages. Most of those who have tested positive in recent times were asymptomatic or not seriously ill. 

Is there any possibility of the next deadly wave?

I don’t think so. Even if new waves were to arrive, there are negligible chances of it being deadly like the first and second waves. Not every mutation needs to be deadly. The logic behind this is many people have already tested positive which has created antibodies in their bodies. Besides, a large number of the world population has been vaccinated against covid.

Is there any time limit for a pandemic to end, and do you think it time to downgrade Covid-19 as a communicable disease?

There is no certain duration to ascertain whether a pandemic is over or not. It works on how long it affects humanity. But there is a WHO technical support group that works on the technical aspects of a pandemic. In the case of Covid-19, I personally think that the time has come to reconsider its status as a pandemic. Though few countries are still witnessing a significant amount of covid cases, the infection is not as deadly as it was previously, thanks to the protocols they have adopted against the disease. 

China is still adopting strict measures against Covid-19. What do you think is the reason behind this?

China has introduced a zero-covid policy, which emphasizes zero cases in the country. The policy aims to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. To achieve this goal, China has introduced harsh measures and implemented strict lockdowns and mass testing. I personally am not convinced with this policy. It is difficult to make a country with the world's largest population free of Covid-19 infections. There may be cases as the virus has been detected in the swabs. But the concern should be if the infection has entered the patient’s lungs. As I said before, there are some countries with significant covid cases but they are not deadly. This is because of the covid vaccines. I don’t think we should be comparing the present situation with the previous ones. The scenario has changed with the arrival of vaccines. 

Has Nepal become free of covid threat then?

I guess so because the stats say so. Over 70 percent of Nepalis have received a complete dose of Covid-19 vaccines, which is a very good number. Scientists and health experts have assured that the double dose of covid vaccines work. Many people have also received booster doses, just in case. From our experience, we know that the coronavirus is very tricky, as it changes its form regularly. So, it should be constantly kept under surveillance. But the general public is by and large safe. They should now be free from psychological threats.

The ruling coalition of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), CPN (Unified Socialist) and Rastriya Janamorcha Party are busy negotiating seats for the upcoming elections to the federal parliament. The main opposition, CPN-UML, meanwhile, is seeking to forge electoral alliance with fringe parties, especially in Madhes. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talked to political analyst Vijay Kant Karna to know what he thinks holds for the parties in Madhes in the Nov 20 polls.

How do you think the ruling coalition will settle the seats in Madhes?

Considering the population of 20 districts in the Madhes belt, it does not have enough constituencies. There are around 75 seats from the region, and the top leaders of the ruling coalition have been meeting regularly for a seat-sharing deal. Initially, they seemed to have a formula to divide the constituencies, that those who had won in the 2017 parliamentary elections would get the respective constituencies. But the Nepali Congress is reluctant to do so because many of its leaders would not get election tickets. The JSP has asked for 16 out of 32 seats in Madhes Province, but my prediction is that the party will settle for 12 or 14 seats. The Congress will have the second most number of seats followed by the Maoists.  It has been easy for the major partners in the ruling coalition to negotiate with the JSP since the other major Madhes-based party, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), is not in the alliance. Also, the JSP has no valid grounds to claim the seats won by LSP in the 2017 polls.

Will the ruling coalition outshine other political parties in the Madhes region?

It would have been no problem for the ruling coalition to get perfect election results if the ruling coalition had won all the seats in the Madhes region in the local polls. But that is not the case. They should convince their provincial leaders and cadres if they are to win all the seats in the federal polls. If the influential leaders do not get the election tickets, there will be many rival candidates who will split the votes. It all depends on how these parties will manage the alliance and their intra-party disputes. Yet, the chances of the ruling coalition performing better in the Madhes region are good compared to other parties.  

Where does the UML stand in Madhes?

UML Chairman KP Oli recently visited Madhes and tried to convince the voters. A few of the leaders from other parties have also joined the UML in recent times. But the UML position on the bill to amend the Citizenship Act and the move of the president not to authenticate the bill could affect the party’s election outcome. Many Madhesi voters are not pleased with what happened with the bill. 

Is there any hope for small parties and independent candidates?

I don’t think so. There are no real independent candidates in Madhes that I can think of. They are either established politicians who have changed or quit the party due to intra-party disputes. In the local election, too, a couple of candidates from the Janamat Party of CK Raut won the election. This victory was not due to the party’s organizational strength, it was due to the popularity of the candidates among voters. They would have won from whichever party. The same happened when Manoj Sah won the mayoral seat in Janakpur. He was a popular local Congress leader but his party did not give him the election ticket. So, he contested as an independent candidate and won. Remember, he was already an established politician. So, unlike in Kathmandu, Madhes is yet to see the rise of purely independent candidates.

Are the Madhes agendas still relevant for the voters?

The Madhes agendas will never be irrelevant for the voters in the region. But for the political parties, it will be difficult to collect votes by advocating those agendas as they had done in the 2017 polls. The Madhes-based parties did not get the votes in the previous election so that they can expand their bargaining power while forming government. The voters wanted their representatives to advocate for their agendas in parliament. So, yes, the Madhes agendas are still relevant to the voters. But whether they trust the political parties to champion those agendas is a different issue entirely.

Nepal government has appointed Milan Raj Tuladhar as its new Ambassador to Russia. Tuladhar assumes his office amid a critical time in history. Russia is waging a war in Ukraine, much to the disapprobation of the democratic countries around the world. Kamal Dev Bhattarai of ApEx talked to Tuladhar about the ongoing war, its implications to the larger world and the bilateral ties between Nepal and Russia.  How do you see the current state of Nepal-Russia relations?  Nepal and Russia share a deep and meaningful relationship since its establishment in 1956. Even during the difficult years of 1990s both in Nepal and Russia, we continued our bilateral engagements. Some of the countries had closed their embassies in Moscow during the period.  Russia has changed as a country since 2001 when the country started seeing a rapid growth in its economy. It, once again, became a superpower in the present multipolar world. So, our relationship with Russia is very important. Both countries place high priority on maintaining good relations. How has the ongoing war impacted bilateral relations?  Well, I have to explain what Russia has to say in this regard. Russia does not call it a war, but it is "a limited military operation". The insurgency in the eastern Ukraine called Donbas has been a well-known reality since 2014. In fact, the predominantly Russian-speaking people there have maintained their apprehension ever since the separation of Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991. In recent times, the situation has gotten more complicated for various reasons.  We have always stood for peaceful settlement of all conflicts. One notable point here is that Russia has been advocating for increasing cooperation in Eurasia, which also offers us a good opportunity to augment our cooperation. The ongoing situation in east Europe should not come in the way of the development of our mutual relations. What are your key priorities as a new ambassador to Russia?   Promotion of tourism is one of my key priorities. As per the record of the World Trade Organization, Russia was one of the largest tourism exporting countries before the covid pandemic. Post-pandemic, there is great potential in store for us. After I arrived here in Moscow, I have seen many such interests from the people here. In view of this, we have made available relevant materials in Russian language on our embassy website. I would also like to request hoteliers and other tourism entrepreneurs of Nepal to take some proactive action such as using Russian booking websites like Travel.ru and yandex.ru for providing links to their business and also establishing contacts with agents here.  Recently, there were issues with using booking.com and other sites here. Doing direct marketing with Russia would be highly profitable. We are talking about the market of 60m potential tourists here. I also see a scope for religious relations. Out of 22 republics, four republics have a dominant population of Buddhists. In other places also, there are a large number of Buddhist followers. As Nepal is the birthplace of Shakyamuni Buddha, there is a great potential of their interest in Nepal.  I recently visited one of the oldest Buddhist temples of the country in Saint Petersburg. I conducted Buddha Puja to consecrate the Buddha statue that I had brought from Patan as a gift to the temple.  I saw great interest from the monks and other large numbers of visitors there. This weekend, I will be visiting another Buddhist dominated area in Buriyati, in the Baikal region of Russia. The Russian Buddhists are also making a Russian temple in Lumbini. With all these activities, I hope that the peaceful path of Buddhism can help further strengthen our relations. [caption id="attachment_31763" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tuladhar handing over a Buddha statue to the head priest of the Buddhist Temple in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 2 Sept 2022.[/caption] What about cooperation in Trade and Investment? Russia is the biggest exporter of fertilizer, wheat and many other products in the world. It has been organizing distribution of 300,000 tons of fertilizer to Africa for free as international trade with Russia has been restricted as a result of sanctions. I see that direct trade with Russia can meet some of Nepal’s dire needs.  Similarly, there is also a great demand for Nepali tea, coffee, handicrafts, etc. There has to be an initiative from our side to find a long term-solution to our acute fertilizer shortage. I hope that there will be an increase in trade in the coming days. It is reported that Russia is unhappy with Nepal’s position in the Russia-Ukraine war. Do you sense that?  Nepal is a non-aligned country. We have committed to non-alignment, Panchasheel and adherence to the UN charter by enshrining their principles in our constitution. It is true that our position in February 2022 in respect to the Ukraine conflict did not go down very well here. Despite that, our long-standing ties with Russia need to be further developed for our own benefit.  What is the current status of Nepali students and workers in Russia?  There is a large number of Nepalis living in Russia. It all began with thousands of Nepali students coming here during the 1960s and 1970s for their studies. There are almost a dozen former ministers in Nepal who were ex-students of the Soviet Union. You will find hundreds of good doctors and engineers who were educated in the Soviet Union and later in Russia. Some of the Nepali people have settled in Russia. Because of a large number of Nepali diaspora, the Non-resident Nepali (NRN) movement started from Russia and it has become a worldwide organization now. Similarly, the high quality educational institutions in Russia are attracting more and more of Nepali students here. All interested students are requested to directly contact the institutions through emails if they wish to study here. The Russian Cultural Centre in Kathmandu can also help them. Here, I feel it is also important to talk about the recent phenomenon of distortions and extortions by some manpower agencies. They have been wrongly advising the Nepali youths that Russia can be a conduit to enter into other parts of Europe with present conflict as a pretext. This misinformation and exploitation have resulted in many innocent people landing in difficulty here. The rules here are very strict including the border security. Some of such misguided visitors were stranded without money and food here. So, I request the general public to be aware of such unscrupulous agents. We have placed a notice in this regard on our website as well.