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

19 Oct 2015 News
ICIMOD Proposed to Host Web-based Hazard Platform

  In Nepal, landslides are one of the most common natural hazards, causing serious economic damage and affecting thousands of vulnerable ...

24 Feb 2016 News
Rewarding Conserving Dhankuta Upstream Communities

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Dhankuta municipality have combined to manage upstream water sources and possible ...

HEROES data – weather data from Bhutan – now available for public download

The Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research (UWICER) has made weather data from Bhutan available ...

8 May 2015 News
ICIMOD’s earthquake response task force maps potential helicopter landing sites

A team of GIS and remote sensing experts at ICIMOD are mapping possible helicopter landing sites for village development committees ...

31 Aug 2017 News
ICIMOD and UCAS Symposium on Resilience in the HKH at International Congress of Ecology

Eklabya Sharma, the Deputy Director General of ICIMOD, delivered a keynote speech at the conference. Sharma talked about the importance ...

15 Jun 2015 News
HI-AWARE scoping study in the Teesta and Gandaki basins

A HI-AWARE team, together with local partners, undertook field visits to the Teesta ...

7 Feb 2020 KSL
Including neglected voices in natural resource management planning

Women are primary users of natural resources; yet their voices are rarely sought when plans are prepared to manage natural ...

21 Jun 2016 News
ICIMOD Supports the Celebration of International Biodiversity Day in Afghanistan

ICIMOD, together with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and theUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), celebrated the International Biodiversity Day in Kabul on ...