CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 02/2023

LE MONDE BHUTAN
MUSTANG MACH-E
VOLLELEKTRISCH IN DIE ZUKUNFT.
Incense sticks (left);
Tamshing Tshechu-Festival in
Bumthang.
Successful cooperation
Bhutan is one of eleven priority countries of ADA
(Austrian Development Agency): After more than 30 years,
the successful cooperation is now coming to an end as
Bhutan leaves the group of 46 Least Developed Countries
(LDC). Sustainability in development and consideration for
the traditions shaped by the Buddhist religion were always
in the foreground. For example, ADA financed ecologically
sound pressurised hydropower plants, such as the Basochhu
plant with a capacity of 60 megawatts. Other plants like
Tala (1020 MW) or Mangdechu (720 MW) followed.
The expansion of renewable energy also included thermal
insulation for buildings. 14 solar water heating systems were
installed in public institutions, among them monasteries.
Together with the Bhutanese power company Druk Green
Power Corporation (DGPC), Austrian company BERNARD
installed 3D measuring instruments on dams and in the
underground working chambers of power plants. Rock
movements can thus be detected in good time. ADA
contribution: EUR 1.789.070
Not financed by ADA, but other Austrian sources: Bhutan
Automation & Engineering Ltd, Andritz Hydro, India and the
Druk Green Power Corporation entered a joint venture on 16
October 2017, to set-up a facility in Bhutan to manufacture
and supply secondary equipment for hydropower plants.
As part of the project “Strengthening access to justice for
victims of gender-based violence in Bhutan”, a two-month
tailoring course for women was financed in Rinchengang
(project partner RENEW; with funding from the Austrian
Ministry of Social Affairs/Jugend Eine Welt). The training
promotes their economic independence and enables them to
generate an independent
income. One male
participant, Asha Lhatu,
acquired skills to produce
traditional flags (thangkas).
Tala hydropower plant;
Thangka-tailor in
Rinchengang.
Paddy field in Paro.
meaning that only high earners can visit Bhutan.
This is to avoid undesirable developments like in nearby
Nepal, which suffers from overtourism. Today,
round trips and trekking tours are organised by
smaller tour operators, with an emphasis on ecology
and sustainability.
At least in one area, the country has opened up to
modern times. Until 1999, Bhutan officially had no
televisions, no satellite TV, no Internet and no television
stations. In 1989, the Bhutan government even
ordered the destruction of all television antennas
and satellite receiving dishes as part of an effort to
protect Bhutan’s national culture. Video cassettes
were smuggled in from India.
Bhutan was the last country in the world to permit
television within its borders. Television was officially
introduced in Bhutan in June 1999. The first
television broadcast was of a ceremony marking the
25th anniversary of the King’s Coronation. The first
broadcast featured a speech by the king in front of
15,000 of his subjects at a stadium.
Cell phones were introduced in November 2003
and are now part of everyday life even in remote areas.
The expansion of internet and mobile phone networks
was justified by the government with positive
effects on school teaching and telemedicine-services.
The country with the thunder dragon on its flag is in
no real hurry to modernise. Perhaps this is one of its
biggest attractions for foreign visitors.
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Cercle Diplomatique 2/2023
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