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

10 Jun 2020 Cryosphere
Ice-dammed lake in Hunza created by Shisper Glacier surge breached for the second time in 2020

Clearly reinforcing the critical importance of glacier monitoring, an ice-dammed lake formed by the surging of Shisper Glacier breached for ...

16 Aug 2017 News
Engaging the Private Sector in Nuwakot

The participants were given a brief background of the Dhungetar Reconstruction Project. This was followed by an interaction with the ...

Strengthening Farmers’ Knowledge on “Animal Nutrition and Health Care for Improving Dairy Production” in the Kangchenjunga Landscape, India

From 16-18 November 2017, around 50 dairy farmers from Ribdi-Gorkhey, India, convened in Ribdi for a three-day hands-on training and ...

11 Jul 2016 News
Landslide Dam Assessment in Chin State, Myanmar

A team of scientists recently visited the landslide dam in Chin State, Myanmar to assess the risk associated with the ...

29 Apr 2016 News
Pakistan Celebrates World Meteorological Day (WMO)

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), in collaboration with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), organized World Meteorological Day (WMD) ...

30 Dec 2015 Himalica
Developing Community-led Micro-plans for Improving Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation

As a strategy for ensuring the sustainability of Himalica pilot interventions on livelihood improvement and climate change adaptation, Himalica supported ...

25 Jun 2018 Cryosphere
CMP-B professionals trained on HEC-RAS Flood Modelling

ICIMOD is currently supporting a socio-economic and vulnerability assessment of the Punatshangchu basin as part of the Cryosphere Monitoring Programme ...

14 Oct 2016 News
Better Business Practices in Surkhet

Twenty-five participants took part in ‘Entrepreneurship and Business Planning Training’ training in Surkhet 17-21 September 2016 as a capacity development ...