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

8 Jan 2016 News
Himalayan Water Tower

Water generated in the high mountains of the Himalayas plays a critical role in ...

11 Aug 2015 News
Experts stress need for collaboration to protect the natural heritage of earthquake-affected areas of Nepal

Over 50 experts and conservation practitioners from the region stressed the need for greater collaboration to overcome the socio-ecological impacts ...

9 May 2017 News
ICIMOD Hosts 3rd CARIAA Annual Learning Review

HI-AWARE as part of the larger Collaborative Adaptation Research in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) organized its third Annual Learning ...

25 May 2015 News
ICIMOD provides relief to earthquake-affected local staff

In the aftermath of the Great Earthquake of 25 April that ripped through north-central Nepal, ICIMOD put together ...

19 Oct 2022 News
Kailash CAFE 2.0: Sharing knowledge of a sacred landscape

The Kailash Sacred Landscape region attracts researchers from various disciplines, which was evident in the variety of topics presented at ...

25 Feb 2015 News
Pilot project launched in Bangladesh

The pilot will be implemented in Bandarban District by the Bandarban ...

8 Sep 2015 News
Communities prepare for floods

As part of its ongoing effort to help communities in the Koshi basin cope with yearly flash floods, ICIMOD’s Koshi ...

11 Oct 2015 News
Translating Koshi Basin Programme research into actionable policies

  Discussions on the preliminary findings of a recent socio-economic survey conducted on 1,600 households in 11 districts around the Koshi ...