SecurityPal Launches Operations With US Ambassador in Nepal

SecurityPal recently announced the launch of its Security Operations Command Center (SOCC) in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The SOCC was inaugurated by SecurityPal Founder and CEO Pukar C. Hamal and the Honorable Ambassador Dean R. Thompson, US Ambassador to the Federated Republic of Nepal.

Read on for remarks from Pukar!

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Thank you, Susmita, for the kind words.

Hello & Namaste, everyone.

Firstly, I would like to formally welcome our chief guest, the Honorable Ambassador Dean R. Thompson of the United States of America, to SecurityPal.

Welcome, Mr. Ambassador; it is a great honor and privilege to have you here today.

We would also like to extend a warm welcome to the envoy representing the United States in Nepal, South Asia, and APAC. We thank you for your service and commitment to fostering a productive and values-driven relationship between Nepal and the United States so we can all prosper here and back at home.

Furthermore, I would like to welcome our distinguished guests and leaders from Nepal's civil society, private, public, and nonprofit sectors. We are honored to be in your presence today.

And of course, last but not least, our exceptional team & leaders here on the ground and those that have joined us from San Francisco, the Bay Area, and (my other hometown) New York City.

Thank you all for being a part of the SecurityPal story.

There is an ancient Greek proverb that says, "[a] society grows great when old people plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit."

SecurityPal and I are living proof of the trees planted by generations of Americans and Nepalese, from the founding fathers and their selfless dedication to building a society on the ideals and principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to my Grandfather, Martyr Ram Chandra Hamal, whose life was taken from him on September 25, 1973, in Kathmandu Central Jail (not too far from here actually) while he was fighting for voting rights and a more democratic Nepal.

It would be quite a sight if he were here today. His grandson exercising one of the most significant symbols of liberty and freedom: bootstrapping a free enterprise from the ground up in the most pre-eminent technology hub in the world – Silicon Valley –and announcing our arrival in APAC through Kathmandu while speaking in front of the sitting United States Ambassador to Nepal.

And as a newly-minted Grandfather himself, I can only imagine how proud the Ambassador's grandchildren will be of the trees he has planted and will continue to plant for many more decades.

I founded SecurityPal in March 2020. While the world was shutting down and reeling from the effects of a once-in-a-century pandemic, I quit my job to service a few customers from a tiny one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco.

And I would still be in that apartment were it not for me encountering a few incredible leaders here who redefined what it meant to be resilient, adaptable, and tenacious.

Leaders like our GM & VP of Operations here Laxman Basnet. I remember my early conversations with Laxman and how he believed with all his head & heart that we could massively scale our operations with talent right here in Kathmandu.

That we could, in fact, redefine what it means to build a technology-led company in the "yam between two stones."

We have been quite explicit from the very beginning here at SecurityPal.

We are in Nepal because there is great talent and opportunity here.

We're here to create economic value and grow a decades-long enterprise.

What I love most about America is that she does not care about who your parents are, where you are from, what your caste is, what your last name is, or any of that.

If you can create economic value, there is an opportunity for you.

And we have created quite a bit of economic value and opportunity here!

Over the past two years, we have invested in building up operations here in Kathmandu. And we have managed to do that while staying true to American and Nepalese values.

SecurityPal has built one of the country's most diverse and sustainable operations.

In fact:

• 31% of our team here are women
• Of which, 1/3rd are part of the leadership and management teams here
• More than 40% of our team members come from various ethnic communities (representing more than eight ethnicities):
• Including yours truly – my family hails from far western Nepal, a region called Darchula, and Nepali wasn't even the first language I spoke – it was "Darchule bhasha"

On the sustainability front:

• We minimize the use of plastic, including eliminating plastic cups from circulation
• Our office space maximizes sunlight and airflow; it is designed to decrease electricity use via cooling and heating systems
• We have dedicated charging stations in the basement to encourage the purchase and use of electric vehicles
• We operate two dedicated electric vans as a shuttle service to safely take our overnight staff to and from the office
• 70% of the materials used in this office's construction are recyclables

We are giving talent both here and in the United States exposure to a vast and global customer base; we service customers from Fortune 500 companies in the United States to fast-growing and prominent companies in Australia, Japan, European Union, the United Kingdom, and beyond.

While I am encouraged by what the team has accomplished here, this inauguration marks the beginning of our beginning.

SecurityPal is just getting started.

We appreciate the partnership and support of the U.S. Embassy through investments and commitment to groups like AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce here, and other US-based companies to build the foundation for a robust business ecosystem.

We truly feel blessed and honored to have the Ambassador here to inaugurate our 24/7 Security Operations Command Center in Kathmandu, which will provide our customer base with unbound support as they strengthen their cyber and information security capabilities.

With more than 25 years of experience in U.S. Diplomacy, Ambassador Dean R. Thompson has served as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

He previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, U.S. Consul General in Kolkata, India, and as the Chief of the Economic and Commercial Affairs section of the U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ambassador Thompson's other overseas service includes tours at the U.S. Embassies in Paraguay and Bangladesh.

Nepal is truly fortunate to have the support of such an experienced Diplomat here on the ground.  

I have to say, Mr. Ambassador, following you on social media and watching you share your joys of eating dal bhaat and momos while also representing the United States to the leaders, organizations, communities, and, most importantly, the citizens of Nepal is incredibly inspiring. It is clear how committed you are to Nepal's sovereignty, facilitating productive economic growth, and strengthening ties between these two great nations.

As someone born in Nepal but who grew up as a political asylee and now a proud American Citizen, it brings about incredible feelings for me that are difficult to put into words. Mr. Ambassador, consider myself and the team here your partners.

SecurityPal is a living manifestation of America's intentions in Nepal. The intention to invest in a free, independent, and prosperous Nepal. And to build a platform for Nepalese talent to shine on the world stage.

Please welcome to the podium the Honorable Ambassador Dean R. Thompson.

Thank you!