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

11 Feb 2020 Atmosphere Initiative
Reliable data generation through improved air quality monitoring skills within the HKH

Rising emissions of air pollutants from urban, industrial, and rural sources have been steadily affecting the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) ...

2 Aug 2017 Himalica
Nepal National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Delegation Visits Bhutan

From the Bhutanese side, the Secretariat of the National Environment Commission (focal agency for NAP) coordinated technical discussions and interactions, ...

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 ...

ICIMOD raises Mountain Agenda at the Global Solutions Summit

On the first day of the summit, ICIMOD hosted a panel session focused on challenges and solutions in the context ...

Himalayan Nettle Links Marginalised to Private Sector

  'There is commercial value to each and every thing if you have an eye for it', said Chief Executive Officer ...

16 Jul 2019 Atmosphere Initiative
South–South learnings for future collaboration in air quality and health research in the HKH

Day 1 of the workshop was dedicated to the existing literature on air quality and health, whereas Day 2 focused ...

28 Sep 2015 News
Investigating Lemthang Tsho (Lake) outburst in Bhutan

Early in the evening on 28 June 2015, a yak herder ...

20 May 2022 News
Bee engaged: Celebrating the diversity of bees and beekeeping systems

Each year, we mark 20 May as World Bee Day to raise awareness about the essential role bees play ...