Changes to locals
Around 180 kilometers northwest from the Upper Trishuli 3A Project, there is another hydropower project that was financed by Power China Resources and which started commercial operations in January 2017.
The Upper Marsyangdi-A Hydropower Project, with an installed capacity of 50MW, began construction in January 2013 and is the first hydropower project invested by a Chinese enterprise.
Shisupal Chhetree, born in 1965 in northern Nepal, is a deputy manager of the Commercial Contact Department of Sinohydro-Sagarmatha Power Co, a subsidiary of Power China Resources.
Shisupal transferred to the project in 2013. Multilingual, speaking Nepali, English, Chinese, and some Hindi, his role to communicate with local government departments has been vital for the project.
“The project perfectly showed what ‘the Speed of China’ is in these nearly four years, as the Chinese firm brings in its advanced technology, experience and management,” Shisupal told the Global Times.
Shisupal’s bond with China can be traced back to 1991 when he was granted a scholar¬ship to study architecture at Tongji University in Shanghai.
He also encouraged his son to study in China, who has already returned to work in the same firm.
“The Nepalese have seen how hardworking and diligent the Chinese are. China’s development has shed some light on local people and brought changes to us,” Shisupal noted.
“We local people are really thankful for the Chinese firm to help enhance our living standards by providing more electricity, more importantly, creating jobs,” he said.
The Chinese firm hired up to 800 local employees when the project was under construction and their wages are 20 percent higher than the average in other local firms.
“We welcome more Chinese enterprises to come to Nepal in the future under the BRI,” Shisupal said.