Back to news
12 Sep 2017 | News

Strengthening Ties with the Private Sector in Bhutan

Delegates from the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), a private sector body comprising of members from the Bhutanese business community, visited the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) headquarters in Kathmandu on 30 August 2017.

The visit was the first BCCI exposure trip organized outside Bhutan. It followed the June 2017 signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between BCCI and ICIMOD. The MoU was a commitment to strengthening private sector engagement in Bhutan through collaborative action in relation to ongoing BCCI and ICIMOD activities.

1 min Read

70% Complete
BCCI representatives at ICIMOD Photo Credit: Utsav Maden/ICIMOD

ICIMOD is committed to collaborating with private sector bodies in the Hindu Kush Himalaya to ensure sustainable development in the region. The delegation of more than 40 Bhutanese dzongkhag (district) representatives was headed by BCCI Secretary General Phub Tshering.

Basanta Shrestha, Director Strategic Cooperation, ICIMOD, welcomed the delegates. In his remarks, Shrestha stressed on the importance of fostering close collaborations with various businesses in Bhutan to upscale and improve the livelihoods of mountain people. BCCI Secretary General Tshering said that the BCCI and ICIMOD can work together to strengthen sustainable business opportunities and improve livelihoods in Bhutan. He said, “BCCI is confident that ICIMOD is the perfect partner for us. It will help us gain technical knowledge on value chains and market linkages, capacity building for mountain communities, and enterprise development for agro-based small- and medium-scale enterprises.”

Tshering emphasized that the partnership with ICIMOD would help Bhutan create business leaders who are agents for change in the future. Following the remarks, BCCI delegates had an insightful interaction session with ICIMOD colleagues working with various initiatives where they learned about the various ICIMOD activities in Bhutan. The session provided the delegates an opportunity to understand and explore the areas for future collaboration with ICIMOD.


Phub Tshering, Secretary General of BCCI, speaking to BCCI and ICIMOD representatives
Photo Credit: Utsav Maden/ICIMOD

As part of their business exposure visit, the BCCI delegates also visited the ICIMOD Knowledge Park in Godavari to learn about innovative technologies, mountain farming, and other practices that useful for sustainable development.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related content

Continue exploring this topic

17 Aug 2018 HUC
Yunnan University Hosts Second HUC Water Group Meeting

Established in November 2017, the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC) Thematic Working Group on Water (Water Group) is a regional initiative ...

30 Sep 2019 Livelihoods
Himalayan large black cardamom: Geographical indication key to developing value chain in the Kangchenjunga Landscape

During the workshop, Kinlay Tshering, Director of the Department of Agriculture, Bhutan, emphasized the need to capitalize on the unmet ...

15 Sep 2016 News
Flood Mapping Made Easier in Bihar

Bihar, India’s most flood-prone state, is under constant threat of flooding. Every year, floods destroy lives, livestock, infrastructure and bring ...

25 Apr 2016 News
A Landslide Report: Bringing Key Stakeholders Together to Reduce Nepal’s Landslide Disaster Risks

A year has now passed since the devastating earthquake in Nepal and it continues to struggle with enormous challenges of ...

Brick Entrepreneurs in Pakistan Learn to Construct and Operate Zig-zag Brick Kilns

The events created awareness and trained brick entrepreneurs and workers in operating zig-zag kilns and precise brick stacking practices, and ...

Third Regional Meeting for Kangchenjunga Landscape Initiative

Participants included high-level government officials from Bhutan led by Dasho Tenzin Dhundup, Secretary at ...

28 Mar 2016 News
Pakistani Delegates Visit CBFEWS Pilot Site in Ratu Khola

Exploring the different types of flood early warning systems in flood prone areas of Pakistan, three delegates from Pakistan visited ...

5 Aug 2022 News
Supporting the Kamala Basin Water Resources Development Strategy implementation project

On 17 May 2022, we held a hybrid inception meeting to strengthen the development, planning, and implementation of the