The prime minister’s address on

THE STATE OF THE NATION, 2009-2010

July 1, 2010

It is with a great sense of honour and privilege that I report to the First Parliament of our Democratic Constitutional Monarchy and through it to my fellow citi­zens, the State of our Nation, 2009- 2010, upon having completed two years of democracy. As the Royal Government must always be guided by the goal of “Gross National Happiness” (GNH) and, as all state endeavours must be to create enabling conditions for the pursuit of happiness by our fellow citizens, my presentation is framed within the four pillars of GNH.

Under each pillar, I shall submit what and how changes have occurred and what might we expect in the near and distant future. In so doing, the Honourable Mem­bers and the nation will have an opportunity to assess the performance of the government and to share your wisdom so that these may further the quality and efficacy of government policy and action. Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you!

In the spring of this year, Anders Bergman and Tor-Erik Andersson
decided that the time had come for them to step down from the committee
of the SwedishBhutan Society and announced that they would not stand for
re-election. Anders and Tor-Erik have been members since the 1980s. Indeed,
Anders has been a member since the society was founded in December 1986! Read the rest of this entry »

Short summary in Swedish.  Read the rest of this entry »

25 May, 2010 – The documentary Bhutan: Taking the Middle Path to Happiness by Tom Vendetti (a Hawaii based producer, director, cinematographer and editor) was awarded two Emmys at the 39th annual northern California area Emmy awards on May 18. The documentary won in the historical/cultural program/special category; and the second Emmy was awarded to the composer-associate Christopher Hedge for the films musical composition/arrangement. Read the rest of this entry »

bhutan today

April 13, 2010 ·  

We may top the list amongst countries as the one that keeps historians busy by changing global history frequently.

The last time we did this was when we became the world’s youngest democracy. Read the rest of this entry »

Govt. does about turn

Liberalisation policy reversed with tariff rise to USD 250

Tourism Tariff 10 March, 2010 – The country’s tour operators are doubly happy about the government’s decision to strike down the tariff liberalisation proposal and instead raise it to USD 250 a tourist a day. Read the rest of this entry »

Ambassador Sonam Tobden Rabgye is requesting all friendship societies to kindly spread the word about the exhibition to people who might be interested, especially if they happen to be in or around Germany while the exhibition is on. In German.

http://www.museenkoeln.de/museum-fuer-ostasiatische-kunst/default.asp?s=320&kontrast=print

Bhutan was ranked 40th out of 163 countries in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced by a team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University in the US. Released yesterday at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Bhutan scored 68 on the EPI scores. Read the rest of this entry »

President Sarkozy, who ordered the French national statistics office, Insee, to come up with a new array of measurements, isn’t the only global leader who has questioned current metrics for wealth. Barack Obama raised the issue during his campaign for the U.S. presidency, and David Cameron, leader of the U.K.’s Conservative Party, has called for thinking about “general well-being” instead of just output.

So far, some banks and at least one country, Bhutan, have used quality-of-life indicators as a measure of a nation’s success and as an alternative to GDP. Bhutan employs an economic model it calls Gross National Happiness.

“After 30 years of applying this ancient principle, we’ve discovered it’s more important than gross domestic product,” former Prime Minister Kinzang Dorji said in a March 2008 interview. “GNH is a method of balancing sustainable growth against the often damaging results of rampant wealth.”

The Happy Planet Index, compiled by the London-based New Economics Foundation, an independent group promoting alternative forms of economic thinking, ranks Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica as the countries with the highest happiness rankings among 143 countries surveyed in 2009. The U.S. ranked 114th and Zimbabwe last. The HPI takes into account factors such as life expectancy, life satisfaction and resource consumption. Read the rest of this entry »