It was a great honour and pleasure to welcome to The British College Kathmandu on Wednesday 14 December 2016, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Nepal, His Excellency Mr. Richard Morris.

Richard was appointed British Ambassador in 2015 after a 25 year career in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. In addition to serving in a variety of roles in the U. K. he previously served with the British Mission to the United Nations in New York, with British High Commission (Embassy) in Ottowa, Canada and in Bridgetown, Barbados; he was also HM Consul General in Sydney, Australia and in Mexico City before that.

Richard received his BA (Honours) degree in English Literature from Aberystwyth University in Wales and has a MBA from Aston University in England. His hobbies include long-distance running, reading, travel, music, and spending time with his wife, daughter, and two sons.

In his address to more than 100 undergraduate students of The British College & British Model College (GCE A’ level) Richard noted that 2016 has been a year to celebrate 200 years of the special relationship there has always been between Nepal and the United Kingdom. He informed our students that following the 2015 earthquake, the UK Government provided £70m of humanitarian assistance to Nepal and the UK Government are giving an additional £73m to help with reconstruction in Nepal. Indeed, the UK’s Department for International Development provides £100 million aid to Nepal annually. The British Parliament-legislated aid is targeted to relieve poverty. In Nepal this includes support to transformative economic development in the form of expenditure on infrastructure (housing, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals etc.). Areas such as water, skills and health in Nepal also receive important technical assistance from the U.K.  Organisations like The British College, the British School, the Nepal British Chamber of Commerce and the British Council provide quality support, information, knowledge, and advice to the Nepalese community and civil society in general. Boosting the tourist industry, forty thousand visitors a year come from the UK every year to enjoy the beautiful scenery, comfortable climate, diverse cultures and traditional hospitality of the Nepalese people. And of course many Nepalese presently living, working, and studying in the United Kingdom come home to Nepal every year to visit family and settle.

His Excellency the British Ambassador congratulated the students of The British College on their academic achievements in gaining high marks in their British university degree programmes from University of West of England and Leeds Beckett University, and wished all our prospective graduates the best of luck in their examinations with a rewarding and productive life in the future.