The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay who is on a 9-day visit to the United States of America from 15th to 24th March 2015 to raise awareness for the ‘Bhutan for Life’ initiative met with the Bhutanese Community in New York on the day he arrived the United States. Speaking to hundreds of Bhutanese, Lyonchhen said that on his first visit to US after assuming office, the first thing he wanted to do on arrival at New York was to meet his fellow citizens. Lyonchhen extended his appreciation for the hard work put in by the Bhutanese living in the US.
Lyonchhen updated the gathering on the important developments, which were taking place back home. Lyonchhen spoke about economy, hydro power, good governance, agriculture, corruption, health, education, social issues etc. Lyonchhen urged the innovative, creative and skilled Bhutanese to return and invest in Bhutan. And for that matter, Mr. Nim Tshering, Principal Secretary from the Prime Minister’s Office and Mr. Gyeltshen Penjor from the Permanent Mission of Bhutan (PMB) in New York were identified as focal persons to whom questions related to investing in Bhutan was to be directed.
Lyonchhen also encouraged the community to open Foreign Currency Account with the banks back home. Information on how to open such account was shared with the community. Lyonchhen also responded to several questions imposed by the concerned Bhutanese living here.
On day two of the visit, Lyonchhen and his delegation met with the co-chair and members of Bhutan Foundation. Lyonchhen also met with Robert Kennedy Jr. , President of Waterkeeper Alliance. In the afternoon Lyonchhen interacted with some senior editors and reporters from the major newspapers in New York. Lyonchhen spoke about Bhutan and “Bhutan for Life” at the Harvard Club later in the evening.
Lyonchhen visited the Google Headquarters in California, San Francisco. At Google, Lyonchhen and his delegation were received by Mr. Urs Hoelzle, who is senior Vice President.
Addressing the staff working at Google, Lyonchhen spoke about environment, economy, and ‘Bhutan for Life’ initiatives amongst many others. After the talk, many of the participants expressed their desire to visit Bhutan. The address was followed by a question and answer session.
Google also made a presentation on data centers, ‘loon project’ and demonstrated the ‘self-driven car’ to Lyonchhen and his delegation.Given Lyonchhen’s commitment to promoting sustainable transport, Lyonchhen and his delegation also visited the TESLA Motors, where the delegation was given a tour of the TESLA factories.
On arrival at California, Lyonchhen and his delegation met and interacted with the potential partners of Bhutan for Life Project at a reception dinner hosted by a Board Member of WWF.
