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

28 Feb 2016 Himalica
Beekeeping Makes for Better Lives Nepal

Beekeeping is an income generating option in several areas across HKH region. A group of experts from the Initiative International ...

8 Oct 2015 News
Putting Disaster Risk Management in the Hindu Kush Himalayas within the Sendai Framework

Introduction The spate of deadly disasters in the past 10 years stands testimony to the region’s vulnerability, especially that of isolated ...

15 May 2015 News
A preliminary assessment of potential lower Pisan landslide dam outburst flood

In the aftermath of the 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April 2015, ...

2 Apr 2021 Bhutan
Training Bhutan’s forest field officials in mapping human-wildlife conflict hotspots

  Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) and its impacts on people and biodiversity are multifold, especially in ecologically significant regions like the Hindu ...

18 Nov 2016 News
Lima Adaptation Knowledge Initiative (LAKI) Priority Setting Workshop on Adaptation Knowledge Gaps in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Adaptation knowledge gaps have been identified, repeatedly, as a barrier to widespread and successful adaptation actions. The 

30 Jan 2017 Himalica
A Regional Orientation Training on Ecosystem Services Assessment Held in Udayapur, Nepal

The Support to Rural Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in the Himalayas (Himalica) programme of ICIMOD organized a regional orientation ...

29 Mar 2015 News
Workshop on Application of Geospatial Technology in Climate Change Research

  In March 2015, the Cryosphere Initiative of ICIMOD and the Centre for Climate Change & Spatial Information (CCCSI) of Sherubtse ...

5 Dec 2015 HICAP
Adopting Climate Smart Village Approach for Restoring Landscapes

Members of the Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA) presented and discussed different aspects of climate-smart ...