CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 02/2023

LE MONDE XYX BHUTAN | INTERVIEW
H.E. Tenzin R. Wangchuk
“Bhutan pursued a model of sustainable development.”
CD: This year, Bhutan graduates from a “least
developed country” to a country with a middle
income. What are the main reasons for this
success?
Wangchuk: This is a journey which started
in 1961, when we started our planned development.
We received a lot of impetus in our
development in terms of resources after we
became a member of the United Nations in
1971. Needless to say, Bhutan was among
the poorest countries in the world at that
time. There are several reasons why Bhutan
has progressed rapidly. Foremost is the leadership
of the Bhutanese politics in the form
of our monarchy and the successive kings.
The monarchy provided a system of governance
which was stable and efficient. The
factors of good leadership as a necessary
precondition for a nation’s progress cannot
be overstated. With little or no resources of
our own, we were dependent entirely on development
assistance and as a LDC we had
easier access to grants and concessional loans.
Unquestionably, our development partners
played a catalytic role in Bhutan’s economic
progression. The government
pursued a people-centric and structured
process of development and used the resources
wisely all through the five decades
which brought about the desired changes in
our economy and society.
Poverty was also reduced to a big extent. How
was this achieved?
I must state that the incidence of abject
poverty in Bhutan is non-existent and at
worst very negligible. Yes, we have been
successful in addressing poverty in Bhutan.
Apart from the resources invested during
the past 12 five year plans, the government
implemented several targeted interventions
such as provision of land to the landless,
enhanced socio-economic projects in
the poorer villages, enhancing access to
cheap finance and fiscal incentives, provision
of rural subsidies, free access to health
and education. These concerted efforts
have helped us reducing poverty in Bhutan.
“Happiness” is a lead motive in Bhutan and was
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the United Nations
in Geneva and Austria explains the rise of his country from the poorest
nations and the meaning of “Gross National Happiness”.
Interview: Otmar Lahodynsky
FOTOS: XYXXYXYXY
enshrined in the constitution. What does it mean
in concrete terms?
Our constitution states that ‘The State
shall strive to promote those conditions
that will enable the pursuit of Gross National
Happiness (GNH)’. In essence, the concept
of happiness as a development paradigm
was pursued decades before our
constitutions were drafted and that it finds
a mention there reflects the unique Bhutanese
ethos passed down through generations.
The principal tenet of GNH is
finding the right balance between noneconomic
and economic aspects of well
being. In recent years, we have developed
the GNH index to measure well-being and
to help design state policies. While happiness
can be abstract, GNH is not.
Foreign Policy: So far Bhutan did not establish
diplomatic relations to any of the five permanent
members of the UN-Security Council. What are
the reasons behind this?
Bhutan has diplomatic relations with
only 55 countries including the EU. That
we don’t have diplomatic relations with the
P5 members of the UNSC is not by design.
We have been expanding our diplomatic
relations in a staggered manner based on
national imperatives and we will keep expanding
our diplomatic relations with
other countries in the future.
Does Bhutan’s geographical position between
India and China raise any problems? How would
you characterise your relations to these two big
powers?
All countries have some issues with
their neighbours and so does Bhutan. But
in our case, I would not define issues as
problems. Rather issues of all nature give
us a basis to engage with our neighbours
and if pursued in the right spirit, it is solved
easily. I would say that we have a symbiotic
relationship with India and without a
doubt India is our closest friend. We also
share a very cordial relationship with China
based on mutual respect for each other’s
sovereignty.
Your country is successful with renewable energy
and will reach CO2-neutrality this year. How did
you achieve this?
Long before the idea of sustainability
was debated upon and matured to become
an important subject of global governance,
Bhutan pursued a model of sustainable development
that emphasised on preservation
of our environment. Our constitution
mandates that 60% of our land cover
should be maintained under forest cover at
all times. Our steep terrain and fast flowing
rivers afford generation of eco-friendly
hydroelectricity. India has been the primary
investor in our water energy sector. Austria
also financed a hydropower plant. Bhutan
is among the few countries which are
carbon negative and we have committed to
remain carbon neutral as part of our nationally
determined contribution to the
UNFCCC.
For 33 years, Bhutan and Austria have had a
partnership with development goals. How
important was this cooperation?
Austria has been a valued development
partner for Bhutan and much has been
achieved with Austrian assistance across a
broad range of sectors. Austria, like many
other countries, extended development assistance
to Bhutan at a time when the level
of development was low and when we needed
financial support the most. Today,
Bhutan is on the verge of graduating from
the category of LDCs and our progress to
this stage can be attributed to the support
we received from our partners including
Austria. The government and people of
Austria will always have our gratitude.
How will Bhutan manage the important tourism
sector and avoid a mass influx?
Bhutan has always been wary of the illeffects
of mass tourism. In the early years,
Bhutan was a relatively unknown destination.
Also the limited carrying capacity of
tourism infrastructure in Bhutan saw manageable
inflow of tourists. However, over the
years, the carrying capacity greatly increased
and we saw growing tourist arrivals. To
address the problem of mass tourism and
associated issues, the parliament in 2022,
passed the Tourism Levy Act which requires
every tourist to pay a daily sustainable development
fee of US$ 200. Tourism is an important
sector of our economy and we are
aware of the need to maintain Bhutan as a
high-end tourist destination.
Bhutan faces a wave of migration of younger,
well-educated people to Australia and other
countries. Does your government plan any
counter measures against this brain-drain?
Migration is a human behaviour which
can be traced back to the homo sapiens and
is associated with our continuous search for
better livelihood and economic security. In
Bhutanese context, the rise of young people
migrating to other parts of the world is a recent
phenomenon but for the same ancestral
reasons. And this trend is not without concerns.
However, the government intends no
immediate counter measures. But in the long
run, it is our priority to arrest this trend and
we intend to achieve this through high and
rapid economic growth so that every Bhutanese
can find gainful employment in the
country. Notwithstanding the best of economic
opportunities, Bhutanese will continue
to migrate and the bright aspect of migration
is the benefit of remittances from abroad.
H.E. TENZIN R. WANGCHUK
Since August 2020 Permanent
Representative of the Kingdom of
Bhutan to the United Nations in
Geneva and Ambassador to Austria,
Switzerland and Norway. From 1993 to
2003, he served in the Ministry of
Finance, coordinating and managing
development assistance to Bhutan.
From 2004, he worked for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he
was appointed Director of the
Department of Multilateral Affairs
in 2018.
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