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

25 May 2016 News
Developing Nepal’s Hydropower Potential

Significant contributions in drafting and presenting ‘Hydropower Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines (HP-EIA) of Nepal’ to the Government of Nepal (GoN) ...

30 Jul 2018 HI-RISK
Communicating flood early warning in the Ratu watershed

The team’s first stop was Bardibas, where ICIMOD has set up a community-based flood early warning system (CBFEWS) on the ...

28 Dec 2016 News
UAVs to Map and Monitor Glaciers in Manang Valley

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is exploring the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to better understand ...

3 Jul 2017 Himalica
Roadmap for Tourism Development of Bandarban Hill District Launched

Menon called on the private sector to join forces with the government to develop the country's tourism infrastructure around its ...

22 Jun 2017 News
Hashoo Foundation and ICIMOD Partner for Sustainable Mountain Development

The two organizations will work jointly to engage in programmes of mutual interest and mobilize resources and expertise. They will ...

24 Dec 2015 Livelihoods
Bee farmers in KSL-India Learn Modern Methods of Beekeeping Management

  Rural communities in the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL)-India have a rich tradition of beekeeping with the indigenous honeybee, Apis cerana. Over ...

27 Jan 2016 KSL
A Need to Protect Nepal’s Diverse Resources

Nepal harbours abundant biodiversity. Diversity exists largely due to the unique climatic conditions and geography in the Himalayan range. Indigenous ...

4 Feb 2016 Climate change
Myanmar Journalists Learn Climate Change Communication

A five-day training for 20 Myanmar journalists on reporting climate change adaptation was organised by the International Centre for Integrated ...