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

12 Jan 2015 News
International Mountain Day 2014 Celebrations in ICIMOD’s Member Countries

China On the occasion of International Mountain Day 2014, the Chinese Committee on International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (CNICIMOD) organized ...

5 Aug 2015 KSL
Community based chyura and beekeeping enterprise improves rural livelihoods

Chyura, also called the 'Indian Butter Tree' grows abundantly around KSL-CDI pilot villages in the Bin and Munakot blocks of Pithoragarh. Chyura ...

31 Jul 2017 Himalica
Smarter Cardamom Farming Using SMS Advisories

Presently, more than 200 cardamom farmers subscribe to the service. Almost every day, they receive SMS advisories in the Nepali ...

Community Participation a Precursor to Sustainable Development and Effective Climate Actions

“There are unprecedented challenges to achieving three goals at a time: poverty reduction, climate resilience, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, ...

10 Jun 2016 News
Heat Measurement Campaigns Ongoing In India, Pakistan And Bangladesh

Extreme heat conditions in South Asia are making the headlines for the second year in a row (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/20/india-records-its-hottest-day-ever-as-temperature-hits-51c-thats-1238f?). The HI-AWARE ...

30 Jun 2017 News
Upper Indus Basin Network and Indus Forum Collaboration Meeting

The key objective of the joint meeting was to synergize the efforts of institutions and individuals affiliated to the Upper ...

3 Apr 2018 CBFEWS
Gilgit-Baltistan partnership in disaster risk management: key effort in enabling mountain people understand and respond to consequences of climate change

ICIMOD, AKAH, and GB-DMA signed a tripartite agreement at a partnership-signing ceremony in Islamabad on 27 February 2018. The team ...

18 Jul 2019 News
Combining top–down and bottom–up: Designing a watershed management plan for Dhankuta Municipality

In the first consultation meeting with the vice mayor, there was a consensus that the conservation of water sources is ...