CPN (UML) Chair KP Sharma Oli publicly launched the website of the party’s think tank, the Policy Study and Research Institute Nepal (INSPIRE), in Kathmandu on October 15, 2026. INSPIRE Chair Bishnu Rimal said the institute will study challenges facing Nepal across several fields and use the website to bring policymakers and subject experts together and make policy debate public.
A platform for policy research and debate
The launch introduced the institute’s website as a public-facing platform for INSPIRE’s work. Rimal said the institute would conduct study and research on political, economic, social, cultural, technological and geopolitical challenges facing Nepal. Those areas set out a broad scope for its research, spanning issues within the country as well as Nepal’s position in a wider geopolitical context.
Rimal also described a role for the institute beyond conducting research: INSPIRE intends to convene policymakers and subject experts and open policy debate to the public through the website. The stated aim is to connect research and expertise with discussion of policy choices, while providing an online channel through which that debate can be made accessible.
The launch did not, in the information provided, identify particular studies or policy recommendations. Instead, the announcement focused on the institute’s planned areas of work and the purpose of its website. INSPIRE’s stated research areas include:
- Political and economic challenges
- Social and cultural issues
- Technological questions
- Geopolitical challenges facing Nepal
The range signals that the institute’s remit is not limited to a single policy sector. Rimal’s description places research, expert engagement and public discussion together as parts of the institute’s work. The website is intended to support that public dimension, although details about specific features or the timing of research projects were not included in the announcement.
Connecting policymakers, experts and the public
INSPIRE’s chair said the institute would bring policymakers and subject experts together. Such engagement is part of the approach Rimal outlined for examining challenges facing Nepal. The announcement did not specify who would take part in particular discussions, how those exchanges would be organised or what subjects would be addressed first.
The public-facing element is central to the purpose Rimal assigned to the website. He said it would make policy debate public, presenting the platform as a way to extend discussion beyond policymakers and experts. The institute’s stated plan therefore combines research on a range of national challenges with an effort to make policy debate more visible to the public.
The website’s launch marks the public introduction of INSPIRE’s online platform, but the details shared at the event remained focused on its broad mission. No specific research findings, recommendations or policy positions were identified in the announcement. The institute’s work, as described by Rimal, is to examine challenges across the listed fields and bring relevant expertise into policy discussion.
INSPIRE’s stated scope
The institute’s remit covers political, economic, social and cultural questions, alongside technology and geopolitics. Taken together, these areas frame INSPIRE as a policy research body with a wide-ranging agenda. The announcement offered no further breakdown of how the institute will divide its work among these subjects, or whether it will prioritise one area over another.
Rimal’s remarks also linked research to debate: the institute plans to bring policymakers and subject experts together, while using its website to make policy discussion public. Further information about the institute’s research programme, publications or planned events was not included in the launch details provided.
With Oli’s launch of the website in Kathmandu, INSPIRE has formally introduced its online platform and outlined the purpose it intends it to serve. Its stated priorities are to study Nepal’s political, economic, social, cultural, technological and geopolitical challenges, convene policymakers and experts, and open policy debate to the public through the website.
