The success of any visit by a leader to a foreign capital is judged by three counts. The first is on who the leader is meeting, the second is on the nature of the talks and the third is the press coverage. In that regard the Royal visit to New …

The Late King, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej served as Thailand’s longest reigning Monarch for a record 70 years since His Late Majesty’s enthronement on 5th December 1927. In this remarkable 70 year rule, despite evolving times with periods of volatile international and domestic circumstances, the institution of the Thai …

The Association of Bhutanese Industries (ABI) in a letter addressed to the Finance Minister and Economic Affairs Minister has requested to raise taxes on certain imported goods which are already being manufactured by local industries. The letter says that if there is a slight increase in the Bhutan Sales Tax …

The 2-5th October visit of the Indian foreign secretary Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar saw his call on meetings with Prime Minister Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay and the Foreign Minister Lyonpo Damcho Dorji leading to discussions on an array of mainly economic issues. The Foreign Secretary, according to a senior government official on …

In what will be a major change in the top management of the Punatsangchu Hydroelectric Project Authority (PHPA) I and II the 1020 MW PHPA II is expected to soon get a separate MD that will look after P II exclusively. In another major development the current MD of P …

The government calculated Nu 14 bn as the loss of revenue in the 12th plan due to the doing away of the refundable excise duty by India under their new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. However, industries say GST will also affect the profit margins of Bhutanese industries and …

Ever since the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India, Bhutan’s main trading hub of Phuentsholing and neighboring Jaigaon has been in turmoil, especially with an understaffed and inadequately prepared Jaigaon Land Custom Station. This in fact led to more than 300 trucks being held up at …

The Bali declaration of 7th September 2017 in the World Parliamentary Forum meeting had 17 points on its stated agenda of Sustainable Development. However, what gathered the attention of the international and regional press was on the sole 10th point naming Myanmar and expressing concern over violence in Rakhine state. …

The Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) along with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is currently in the midst of reworking the revenue figures for the 12th plan which had earlier been projected at Nu 251 bn out of a plan size of Nu 300 bn. The GNHC Secretary Thinley Namgyel, …

India’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) earlier this year cleared the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the 2,560 MW Sunkosh reservoir project. This is significant as Indian officials until recently have parried questions on the status of the mega reservoir project saying that the DPR is still with the CEA. Now …