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 Feb 2016 News
Visiting Climate Smart Village

  A high-level delegation visited ICIMOD and CEAPRED’s pilot implementation on climate smart villages (CSV) in Patlekhet and Kalchebesi in Kavrepalanchok ...

23 Sep 2015 News
Kathmandu University MS Glaciology students present research proposals

Eight students from Kathmandu University were invited to ICIMOD 21 August 2015 to present their research proposals to a panel ...

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 ...

Technical Consultative Meeting on KLCDI Regional Programme Implementation Plan (2016–2020)

Internal Server Error The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server ...

26 Jul 2018 News
ICIMOD-Bhutan Partnership Day Celebrated

Prior to the board meeting, participants traveled to Haa and inaugurated an air quality monitoring station at Chelela. Dasho Rinzin Dorji, ...

29 Jun 2022 News
Joining hands for stronger disaster preparedness and response in Dolakha, Nepal

Discussions during a consultation meeting among Upper Koshi Basin stakeholders focused around understanding different types of hazards; exploring various measures ...

9 Aug 2017 Himalica
Regional Conference on Mountain Agriculture Kicks Off in Kathmandu, Nepal

He said, "Some messages coming out of the Himalica experience are very clear. Improving farmers', especially women farmers', access to ...

29 Apr 2016 News
Pakistan Celebrates World Meteorological Day (WMO)

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), in collaboration with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), organized World Meteorological Day (WMD) ...