Subedi assumes responsibility as chief of IFA

KATHMANDU: Former ambassador Prakash Kumar Subedi has assumed responsibility as the Executive Director of the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA).

A cabinet meeting held last week appointed Subedit to the position.

Subedi is the 10th Executive Director of the IFA. Subedi, who retired from foreign service two years ago, also served as Nepal’s Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations in Vienna.

The government has been appointing capable former foreign service cadre as the chief of the IFA. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha recommended Subedi for the appointment adhering to the established process.

The position had been lying vacant for over a year. It had been without leadership since the term of Deputy Executive Director Rajendra Pandey was completed two months ago. Administrative heads and other officials had been handling the regular works of the IFA.

Former Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal had kept the IFA in complete disarray. Paudyal did not want to listen to matters related to IFA and even had disagreements with the Deputy Executive Director. As a result, the IFA could not function effectively. However, as soon as Shrestha assumed office at the foreign ministry, he has tried to move IFA forward as a think tank by appointing its head.

The Selection and Recommendation Committee formed for the appointment of the Executive Director had opened applications twice – on January 2 and February 4 – to fill the vacant position. The committee shortlisted the applications received on the basis of both vacancy notices. Subedi was finally picked for the post after going through different stages of the selection process.

The ministry had set distinct criteria for the Executive Director role, including requirements such as being under 65 years of age, holding a postgraduate degree from a recognized educational institution, possessing a minimum of 10 years of experience in international law, diplomacy, or economic diplomacy, demonstrating a significant contribution to Nepal’s foreign policy and affairs, and having at least five years of experience in a senior managerial capacity.

The IFA has been playing a role in capacity building and strengthening of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as facilitating diplomatic thought and discourse. Established in 1993 as a research unit of the foreign ministry, the IFA was made autonomous in 2012.