Bhutan hosts first SAARC summit (28-29 May, 2010)

Bhutan will be hosting in 2010 the South Asian association for regional cooperation (SAARC) summit for the first time since the regional body was created in 1985.

“It will greatly enhance Bhutan’s international image as a sovereign, independent, responsible and equal member country,” said the prime minister Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley.This will be the first time that Bhutan will hold a conference where 8 heads of governments from Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Maldives will be attending.
Bhutan had skipped the opportunity to host the SAARC summit three times on the ground of the country’s infrastructure. The summit will be in Thimphu with the currently proposed dates being from April 28 to 29, 2010.

“We are now prepared in terms of the administration, infrastructure and the foreign ministry being ready to host the summit,” said the Lyonchhoen.

The summit is also important for Bhutan since it is actually obligatory for each member state to host the summit. The 2010 summit was actually Maldives’s turn to host.
He said that the meeting would also allow for bilateral meetings with all the leaders of various countries, including India.
On his meeting with the Indian prime minister and other heads of state during the summit, he said, “We will discuss all matters of mutual interest, bilateral matters, relation, review, appraise each other of global and regional issues.”
He said that the summit would promote good neighbourly relations among SAARC countries, as different countries could meet and discuss.
“It is also like a coming of age for Bhutan,” said the prime minister. He said the leaders would be visiting a country that had successfully and peacefully made a transition to democracy inspired by His Majesty the King.

By Tenzing Lamsang (Kuenselonline)

Decongesting Thimphu

Tunnel Proposal: Technical and possible financial help from Norway

Department of geology and mines (DGM) identified tunnel sites
Travel time within the country could be reduced from days to hours and even minutes if a government plan to build tunnels through mountains connecting major valleys is implemented.
The department of geology and mines (DGM) has already identified three potential sites for tunnels. The first and most probable is a tunnel from Thimphu to either Punakha or Wangduephodrang.
The second is a 12 km tunnel between Bumthang and Mongar bypassing the Thrimshingla pass, which is expected to cut 30 km of travelling distance on the East-West highway. The third is from Khasadrapchu in Thimphu to Shaba in Paro, with a tunnel length of nine kilometers, reducing travel time from 45 to 20 minutes.

 

Pre-feasibility studies have already been done by DGM, indicating that they can be done. “The Wangdue/Punakha tunnels can decongest Thimphu and allow people to settle in these two valleys and also reduce the travel distance and time by around 40 km,” said DGM chief geologist, Ugyen Wangda. Continue reading Decongesting Thimphu

Bhutan to allow 100% FDI for 5-star luxury hotels

Hundred percent foreign investment will be allowed in the construction of five-star hotels in Bhutan on a selective basis to overcome the shortage of financial capital in the domestic market and up the quality of services pro­vided to tourists visiting Bhutan.

However, in the four-star hotel category, as sug­gested by the hoteliers, the government agreed that foreign investments will be allowed up to 70%, in order to create opportu­nities for the local entre­preneurs. Continue reading Bhutan to allow 100% FDI for 5-star luxury hotels

Bhutan Revises Tourism Policy

The government and the stakeholders agree on an ambitious plan to bring in 100,000 high-end tourists by year 2012.

Bhutan will be sold as a high quality and low impact tourist destination which draws visitors throughout the year by building the necessary infrastructure, setting high benchmarks for delivery of services, diversifying products, and ensuring that its benefits reach a larger segment of the population.

The consultative meeting between the stakeholders of tourism and the government in Thimphu yesterday decided on numerous reforms that will take the industry forward in the years to come. Bhutan will be positioned as a responsible, unique, authentic and quality destination anchored on GNH philosophy with minimum negative impact on natural and cultural heritage. A nine-pronged approach will be adopted to bring in 100,000 tourists by 2012. These include developing an additional 2-3 circuits, promoting new products and defining Bhutan’s brand identity, value proposition and market to target audience. Aviation capacities will be built internationally and locally with domestic helicopter/airline services commencing soon to key destinations.

Continue reading Bhutan Revises Tourism Policy

Happiness and Hazelnuts

Daniel Spitzer digs into Bhutan’s soil to make a profit and sustain livelihoods

image
Courtesy: Article by David A. Andelman, Forbes Asia:Feb 05, 2010
Daniel Spitzer’s first shipment of 3,000 hazelnut trees arrived in Bhutan in December, each thumbnail-size and packed in 60 Pyrex petri dishes. The refrigerated plantlets headed straight for a hilltop laboratory-nursery just ten minutes from the airport. When they reach nearly 3 feet tall, they’ll be planted on a hilly tract in the remote eastern province of Mongar. Three years into the project, with six more ahead before marketable nuts begin dropping, it represents the first major foreign direct investment in Bhutan’s history and the realization of a dream the 53-year-old American entrepreneur has been nursing for three decades. Continue reading Happiness and Hazelnuts

Why should you visit Bhutan? What is unique?

Why should you go to Bhutan?

Whenever people (outside Bhutan) hear that I am from Bhutan, they immediately ask me “where is Bhutan?” followed by if they should go Bhutan. The answer to the first questions is simple and now growing roots in the minds of many outsiders as many Bhutanese venture out. They now know that Bhutan is somewhere in the Himalayas and not in the Pacific.

The next question: “So why should I go to Bhutan?” I have been asked this questions several times now that I am living outside Bhutan. In fact, if I got a dollar every time someone asks me this question I think I would be a rich man by now. So here I will try to reason out why you should go to Bhutan.
Bhutan is a tiny country (only about 46,000 sq. km) with [less than about 1 million people.] It is situated in the foothill of the world’s greatest mountains, the Himalayas. It is bordered on the north by Tibet (now part of China) and on the other sides by India. Bhutan is a very INDEPENDENT country. It became a kingdom in 1907 (i.e. 40 years before India got independence from British rule). Before that different parts of Bhutan were ruled by different local governors. I am so happy to point out that Bhutan was never colonized either by British or Japanese. Although small, Bhutan has lot to offer the travelers. Some of these reasons why you should visit Bhutan are listed below (not in any particular order though): Continue reading Why should you visit Bhutan? What is unique?

From Bangkok to Shangri-la: About Bhutan

From Bangkok to Shangri-la by Roger Beaumont*

27th Dec., 2009: I have wanted to visit Bhutan since I was 10 years old after being enchanted by a feature in a National Geographic magazine. So when destiny called on the phone to my studio in Bangkok last May, asking if I would be interested in helping The Centre for Bhutan Studies (CBS) and the United Nations Development Programme with an upcoming Democracy Conference in Paro, I shouted so loud in delight the house cat kamikazed through a glass screen and landed startled in shards of glass on top of a car in the soi below. I haven’t seen it since.

But between that phone call, the missing cat, and seeing Mt Everest and the mighty Jomolhari out of the Druk Air window three months later, it was all a true lesson in Buddhist patience.

At one point, I was asked to send a scan of my passport. I was in England at the time, away from my own computer and gadgets, so a friend of my mother’s offered to help. He is 86, and had just bought a scanner. He had been practising.

“I think we’ve got it,” he said, placing his third glass of wine on the desk. He then pressed send. Three days later, we received an email from the CBS, saying: “Thank you very much for the delightful picture of a tin of Heinz Baked Beans.”

When I arrived in Bhutan, the CBS was unable to find a place for me immediately, so I made base camp in the Thimphu Hotel for the first few days. It was cheap, loud and cheerful; a mix of Tibetan plumbing (no water, an alarming clanging of pipes, then a sudden, scalding torrent), slow service, and big smiles. I bought a small side-lamp; the connection started smoking. Then the toilet flushed on its own volition. I didn’t dare turn the TV on.

ROOM WITH A VIEW: The view from a temple Continue reading From Bangkok to Shangri-la: About Bhutan

Bhutan has a “Changemaker”

Dr. Chencho Dorji, a senior Psychiatrist at the Jime Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital becomes a “Changemaker” from Bhutan.

Dr. Chencho is Bhutan’s first Psychiatrist. His entry, Promoting Mental Health Treatment in Traditional Bhutanese Society has been declared as one of the three proud winners of the Ashoka Changemaker’s “Rethinking Mental Health: Improving Community Wellbeing” competition on December 16, 2009. The worldwide competition was organized and funded by Ashoka, a global association of world’s leading entrepreneurs, thorugh its intitative Changemakers.

More details on the winning entry can be found HERE.

Is Bhutan’s debt sustainable?

Though severely indebted, Bhutan is at a moderate risk of distress

13 December, 2009 – Bhutan is paying Nu 3.8 billion annually to service an outstanding debt of Nu 35b as of October this year, which is five billion less than the cost of the 1020 MW Tala project.

The debt, as a percentage of GDP, is 53 percent with hydropower debt at Nu 21.5b and non-hydropower debt at Nu 13.5b.

The debt figures do not take into account the Rs 5b borrowed this year from India to meet domestic rupee requirements, said Tshewang Norbu of the finance ministry. who made a presentation of the debt situation at a national workshop on strengthening responses to the global financial crisis. Continue reading Is Bhutan’s debt sustainable?

Denmark & UNDP grant for Local Governance

13 December, 2009 – The government of Denmark and UNDP, Thimphu, are supporting the Bhutanese government to maximise people’s participation in developing and managing their own social, economic and environmental well being, and to minimise the negative impacts of a changing environment.

The Danish government committed DKK 70 million (approximately Nu 600m) on November 20 and the UNDP has committed USD 860,000 (Nu 38.7m approx). Continue reading Denmark & UNDP grant for Local Governance