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 Oct 2015 News
Community led Micro planning training in the HKH

  A three-day regional Training of Trainers (ToT) on Community-led Micro-planning organised by the Rural Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation in ...

17 Mar 2017 Himalica
Brand HIMALICA – Green Products from the Mountains soft-launched at the Sixth Nepal International Trade Fair

Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurated the Sixth Nepal International Trade Fair in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, Nepal, on 16 March ...

Workshop to improve brick kiln policy and technologies

A workshop on Brick Kilns Policy and Advocacy Network (PAN) was jointly organized by Climate and Clean Air ...

27 Jul 2016 News
Bringing Nature into the National Curriculum

A half-day workshop to explore how nature camp and environmental issues could be better incorporated within the National Education System ...

15 Sep 2016 News
HI-AWARE at the ’33rd International Geographical Congress’, 2016

Amina Maharjan, agricultural economist, and migration specialist with HI-AWARE, participated in the 33rd , held in Beijing between 21-25th August ...

12 Apr 2016 News
ADAPTHIMAL Partners on the Job Training at ICIMOD

Partners Uttarakhand Gramya Vikas Samiti, Integrated Livelihood Support Project (UGVS-ILSP), India and High Value Agriculture Project in Hill ...

20 Jun 2017 Himalica
Himalica Contributes to the Local 12th Five-Year Plan for Tsirang, Bhutan

BOX 1: Climate-resilient technologies and good practices identfied from the Himalica Pilot site in Barshong for local 12th ...

23 Mar 2017 Himalica
Himalica Books on Cardamom Launched at Sixth Nepal International Trade Fair

David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, and Harish Chilwal, Project Coordinator of the Environment Conservation ...