NDRI celebrated its 20th Annual Day on the 11th of April 2023 at Hotel Himalaya, Lalitpur, Nepal. The event was conducted in a hybrid modality, and the program was divided into two halves: - the first half was the Keynote Lecture entitled “Learning from Thailand’s Development Experience: Do’s and Don’ts for Developing Countries” delivered by Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich, President of Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), Bangkok, Thailand (available at https://ndri.org.np/publication/details/20th-annual-day-celebration, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWPmElJmKFg) and the second half was the Panel Discussion Session on “Role of Think Tanks in the Economic Development of Nation”. Ms. Divya Laxmi Subedi, Research Associate, NDRI served as the Master of Ceremony for the program. 

The Panel Discussion session started with a background presentation by Dr. Krishna Pahari, Lead of the Livelihood and Food Security Program at NDRI to set the context for the session. He started with the history and evolution of think tanks and highlighted how think tanks have transformed from ancient to modern day to work on various contemporary issues. Dr. Pahari mentioned how think tanks were established to bridge the gap between policy and power. He added how NDRI was established to influence policies through evidence-based research. He also mentioned the challenges and opportunities that think tanks in Nepal faced due to various factors and how the regional think tanks’ collaboration was possible. 

Dr. Divas B. Basnyat, Lead of the Water and Climate Program at NDRI, moderated the session and introduced the panelists. Key personnel from leading Think Tanks in the region actively participated as panelists namely: Dr. Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh; Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Director General, The Energy and Research Institute (TERI), India; Dr. Deepak K. Khadka, Senior Research Fellow, Policy Research Institute (PRI), Nepal; Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan; and Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich, President, Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), Thailand. The panel discussion session highlighted the important role that Think Tanks can play in knowledge creation, collaboration, and public sector rejuvenation for generating a high impact on the overall development of a nation.  

Dr. Fahmida Khatun started by congratulating NDRI for its 20 years of service and how CPD had also completed 30 years as a think tank. She added that the role of think tanks in Bangladesh was like that in Nepal. She said that think tanks are not directly involved in the operation of economic policies but the whole objective of think tanks is to bridge the gap as mentioned by Dr. Pahari. She mentioned that it indicates how open a society is to listen to different voices and new ideas, to absorb and accommodate them. She added the stronger the society more the eagerness to listen. Dr. Khatun said that the difference between a think tank and a research organization is that a think tank takes the research forward to disseminate to the policymakers with more practical implementation. She added how the think tanks in Bangladesh evolved through a long-time facing military regime where expression of free thought was not so easy. She also mentioned how the founder of CPD was able to influence policies and sit and discuss issues with broader stakeholders with vibrant ways of producing the issues. She expresses that for effective policy influencing it was necessary to have evidence and analytically rigorous research at the national, regional, and international levels. Dr. Khatun mentioned that CPD had been addressing dialogues and conferences to aware the public things like the Budget briefing of Bangladesh and concluded with examples of how CPD had been influencing policy making as a think tank. 

Dr. Vibha Dhawan started the introduction of TERI which had 50 years of experience and was established by the Tata group of industries as a nongovernment organization and had been established as a knowledge-based organization. She mentioned that to set policies knowledge-based solutions are required for which think tanks play a crucial role. Dr. Dhawan exclaimed that it is essential for a government to promote think tanks to gain knowledge-based policies. While working with the government and ensuring the policies are being implemented it is necessary to know what a society wants because sometimes it is a very different popularism than the government requires. She also added an example of the population below the GDP and how the government had to be sensitive in addressing that population. She added another example saying that the requirements of developing countries are different than those of developed countries in terms of Climate Change Mitigation. As an organization, she mentioned that TERI is working on the country’s need for Sustainable Development Goals. She added that we must look at solutions like Shipping and how to make it as green and clean as possible and thus reduce the energy load with nothing going to be wasted. She also mentioned that we cannot just raise issues, but we must produce doable and reliable solutions. 

Dr. Deepak K. Khadka mentioned that the position of advocacy isn’t enough. He stressed reliability through rigorous research. He added that a strong epistemology and ecosystem are required to make an impactful advocacy. Dr. Khadka added how the number of NGOs grew with the liberalization in Nepal. Generally, the output is only counted but viewing other components like resource, utilization, and impacts is also essential. He added that the major players in the policy research ecosystem are Academia, Government, and NGOs among which there are 134 research organizations. Dr. Khadka emphasized that the Government of Nepal must include policy research under its public services and must include accessible databases. Dr. Khadka concluded by saying the position of advocacy is only enough with a strong epistemology and ecology. 

Dr. Abid Q. Suleri started by congratulating NDRI. He mentioned how SDPI worked very closely with the government but not for the government which gives it enough intellectual freedom and flexibility to remain part of the solution and to find out whether the public sector policies are in the right direction. With 30 years of experience, he added that labeling and branding your message as a think tank is also necessary. He added that a think tank was required to be not only a knowledge broker but also a peace broker at times. Dr. Suleri explained that people are rather interested in 240 characters as in Twitter than a bulky 50 paged document and how think tanks had to rebrand themselves which SDPI has mastered. He added that they were there to support the government and do not oppose the government and must be working toward a common goal.  

Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich, asked to look at three indicators, Knowledge creation should be practical, contextual, detailed, and sequential. He mentioned how we all are going through political instability. Collaboration and cocreation are the only solutions. He added that it is also essential for rejuvenating the state’s capacity. It is the decision makers who make policies for our development so we should talk with political parties when they are in opposition. That is the only time when they will be willing to listen.

The discussion continued with a round of questions to the panelists by the in-person and virtual participants. In response to a question on funding for research;  Dr. Suleri mentioned that in the context of NGOs in Pakistan, the relationship with external funding can be complex. He added it was important to consider whether external funding is necessary or if domestic resources could be used instead. He added an example, if we are advocating for women's rights in Pakistan, it may be more effective to use domestic funding rather than external funding. It's important to distinguish which type of funding is appropriate for each cause. He said that for SDPI in Pakistan, the issue is not access to policymakers, but rather ensuring that the research produced is accurate and relevant. He said that if you have access to policymakers, it's important to produce quality research to avoid tarnishing your image. He also added that this may be a common challenge for other organizations in the region as well.

Similarly, Dr. Dhawan emphasized the importance of partnership and learning from each other's experiences, particularly in developing parts of the world where conditions are similar. She noted that joint projects with institutional ownership and funding tend to succeed in collaborations. However, without funding, institutes cannot support each other in other countries. She suggested working together to figure out funding and taking messages from one place to another to replicate success stories. She also mentioned that core technologies can work in partnership without difficulty. The speaker expressed their eagerness to work with many countries in different disciplines on a case-by-case basis. 

Dr. Khatun mentioned that the regulatory authority for think tanks and non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh is the NGO Affairs Bureau, which is under the Prime Minister's office. She mentioned that obtaining permissions for grants is a real problem, but the regulatory bodies understand that think tanks' impact is different from NGOs that provide direct services. She also highlighted that Bangladesh has reduced its dependence on foreign aid and will have to compete for commercial loans from international markets once it graduates from the Least Developed Country category in 2026. She emphasized collaboration as a strength but mentioned that the financial landscape for think tanks is squeezing, and the modality has changed. She also expressed that private sector funding can create a conflict of interest, and the culture of philanthropy has not yet developed in Bangladesh, but some global philanthropic foundations can support good ideas with solid relevance for the country and the world. 

Dr. Khadka suggested that while there may be friction or mistrust from an organizational platform, the government is using all the human resources available from NGOs. He also gave an example of a policy research consultant service purchased for NPR 6 billion, while the budget is only NPR 60 million. He suggested that there is a need for quality assurance for such services and proposed that the PRI could be the institution to do so. He mentions that every year, consultants from NGOs carry out projects worth 100 times more than what they do, indicating that the government is utilizing all available resources. Dr. Khadka concluded by saying there is no mistrust between the government and NGOs. 

Dr. Tangkitvanich emphasized the importance of collaboration in solving complex problems that require a consensus among various stakeholders. Collaboration helps to unite resources and major forces in society to tackle the problem. To create a successful collaboration, trust is crucial, and understanding each party's strengths and weaknesses is essential. He suggested starting with meetings with stakeholders, like-minded people, and people who want to reform. He also mentioned by forming a coalition, they (TDRI) were able to invite political party leaders to discuss the problem of education reform and educate them. He concluded by stating that collaboration is a must for reforms to move forward. 

Dr. Basnyat concluded the panel discussion by summarizing the key messages delivered suggesting the Do’s and Don’ts for a think tank. Dr. Basnyat mentioned that the 180 years of think tank experience that was shared among the think tanks in the panel was very informative. Think tanks should take the research findings forward. Think tanks must look at solutions (doable, reliable) rather than just raising issues. Think tanks are not here to oppose the Government but are here to support the Government. Think tanks have to be provided intellectual freedom. Think tanks have to provide independent policy recommendations to the Government. Knowledge creation should be practical, contextual, detailed, and sequential.   

Finally, Dr. Basnyat concluded by quoting the words of the panelists that collaboration and co-creation is the only solution since we all work in unstable political environments. 

The program ended with a Vote of Thanks by Dr. Rabita Shrestha Mulmi, Senior Research Specialist, NDRI. The program witnessed a wonderful in-person and virtual gathering of representatives from various diplomatic agencies, research institutes, Think Tanks, academia, development partners, media, professional associations, and government agencies. Altogether, there were more than 100 participants representing various countries such as Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Qatar, Japan, Canada, and the USA. 

Media Coverage: 
https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/think-tanks-can-play-major-role-in-guiding-govt-policies