Melbourne, Australia – Bikash Bhandari, the current CEO of Queensford College, came to Australia in 1999 to pursue an international degree. Like numerous students, he too dreamt of going abroad, earning an international degree, making progress careerwise, being financially stable, and having a quality life. However, the starting journey of pursuing his dream was a journey with hurdles. Being an international student in Australia, the responsibility of balancing studies as well as work simultaneously is common, and so was the case for Bikash Bhandari. As a result of his continuous hard work and resilience, he has been able to become not just the CEO of Queensford College but also a very successful businessman. While having a conversation with Bikash Bhandari, the CEO of the Queensford, which is the title sponsor of Nepal Festival Sydney 2022:
- Why Title sponsor Nepal Festival Sydney 2022?
It was a case of supporting our community and some of its significant events, like the Nepal Festival.
Over the years, we have supported and sponsored numerous events organized by our community.
Participating in such events would allow more people to know our service offerings which could
benefit anyone looking to train, upskill, reskill and enter the workforce.
Generally, young people, once they come from overseas, directly want to link back to their
community, culture and traditions and sponsoring such an event could be a perfect place for
institutions like us to connect to the younger population who are exploring various study and career
options. Since we operate in the vocational Education and training industry, many students who
directly come to university may not have any idea about that. In many cases, there can be better
career outcomes in VET than from a University Degree. This will allow them to explore more and see
if it fits their career aspirations. Another objective is to work closely with our community in helping
and bringing people together. - To become a title sponsor in Nepal Festival, a lot of investment is involved. What are your
marketing plans and strategies to promote your business at the festival?
Not all investments are decided based on commercial cost-benefit analysis. As explained in previous
questions, this is more of community support, engagement, bringing cultural harmony and
connecting as many people as possible. Our marketing plans will be modest to ensure people
remember us for their training needs on the qualifications we could train on. Our focus will be
educating more and more people about the benefits of vocational education. - Who will be your target audience for the Nepal Festival?
Of course, Nepalese people, as the festival says “Nepal Festival,” also everyone who participates in
the day. We hope the organizers can bring in people from other cultures too. - Many education businesses from the Nepalese community are also participating in the Nepal
festival. How do you feel about this?
We see all our other education businesses as partners complementing each other’s efforts. It is an
excellent opportunity to promote the event as a joint effort from all businesses in education or other
sectors. We believe in everyone’s win; everyone can win, and everyone should win. I wish all other
businesses to join and make this event super successful. - Nepal festival is held every two years. To what extent do you think the Nepal festival has
promoted Nepali art, culture, language, attire, and food?
I believe the Nepal festival is an excellent platform to promote Nepali art, culture, language, attire,
and food. For all Nepalese origin, it is an opportunity to link back and experience the culture and
traditions. For second-generation children of Nepalese origin, it is an excellent opportunity to find
their identity and know exactly who they are. Living in Australia for over two decades, I could say it
has changed a lot; events like this have contributed to promoting Nepal, Nepalese cultures,
language, attire, our delicacies & one that is super famous is our MOMO. - In your opinion, how do you think the Nepal festival can be made further unique and supreme?
I believe every event has been better than the last one, which is evident that it’s in the right
direction. Every time this festival comes around, it pulls a large crowd, and the participation from the
broader community, the fantastic food, the fun, and the list have been absolutely on the next level. I
see these events are planned and held on tight timelines, which can be improved to allow adequate
preparation, rehearsing, making sure that every hiccup is addressed, and starting and following up a
strict schedule will enhance the experience of the participants. However, this is a community event
run entirely not for profit with the help of many volunteers. Hence, hats off to those who contribute
their precious time away for their families and some even contribute financially to benefit the
community. - Finally, what would you like to say to everyone working hard for the Nepal festival?
I want to thank the NRNA team for providing us with this incredible opportunity to be a title sponsor
for this event. We would also like to be grateful to all the team members working tirelessly to make
this event a grand success and make the Nepalese community very proud.
