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Switzerland
in Bhutan |
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Bhutan's Development |
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Bhutan's Development |
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Bhutan-Switzerland
Cooperation |
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Swiss
assistance will continue till the 10th Plan
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October
2006
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Swiss resident coordinator, Mr. E Werner Külling
The
Swiss Association for International Cooperation, Helvetas might withdraw
bilateral assistance to Bhutan after the 10th Plan comes to an end (in
June 2013) according to officials of Helvetas Bhutan.The
resident coordinator of Helvetas in Bhutan, Mr. E Werner Kuelling, said
that Switzerland had signed the Paris Declaration, which mandated that
the cooperation between industrialised and developing countries should
be more harmonised in future. "It says that the industrialised countries
should give more budget financing to the developing countries and not bilateral
project funding," he said. |
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"As
per the Paris Declaration Switzerland committed to withdraw bilateral project
funding and go more in multilateral funding and budget financing," Mr.
E Werner Kuelling said.
"But
it doesn't mean that we don't want to provide financial aid to Bhutan anymore,"
Mr. Kuelling added. "Helvetas would continue the bilateral projects and
it is up to the government to tell us what they really want and need."
When
Helvetas initially told the government that they would withdraw by 2008
or 2010, "there was a strong reaction from the Bhutanese government," said
Mr. Kuelling. "The government wanted us to continue the partnership when
the country was going through unprecedented transition and we agreed to
stay till the end of the 10th plan."
"After
the 10th plan we are open but nothing is certain, we will have to wait
and see," said Mr. Kuelling. "The government might tell us that it will
take over the projects or they might want us to stay. However, both the
government and Helvetas have to be willing and happy if we are to stay
after the 10th plan."
Mr.
Kuelling said that an area of interest for Helvetas was 'good governance',
which needed building up infrastructure at the gewog, district and national
level and to train people at all levels.
"Just
building up local infrastructure would not work," he said. "We have to
implement things in a more practical way to ensure that it is successful."
As
the former Secretary General of Helvetas, Switzerland for a long time Mr.
Kuelling said Bhutan had achieved the best results compared with all the
22 countries that Helvetas was operating in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Bhutan's
success, he said, could be attributed to its excellent leaders Bhutan has
had.
Cooperation
between Switzerland and Bhutan sprang up in 1950's through friendship between
the third King and a rich Swiss businessman, Mr. Fritz Von Schulthess.
Later, few rich Swiss members provided money for development activities
in Bhutan and the "foundation pro Bhutan" was established. In 1975, Helvetas
took over the activities of the foundation.
Initial
areas of cooperation were in rural development, renewable natural resources
(RNR) and education. Future projects were also with a focus on RNR in agriculture,
forestry, livestock and environment.
In
recent years, Helvetas has committed about USD 5.00 million to USD 6.00
million annually said Mr. Kuelling.
Author:
Tashi Dorji, Kuensel, Bhutan's National Newspaper, 2006
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Member
of the Swiss Parliament visited Bhutan
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July
2006
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HM Queen Ashi Tshering Pem Wangchuck during a speech in Switzerland (2004)
left:
the Bhutanese ambassador to the UN in Geneva (Switzerland),
right:
Mr. Mario Fehr, member of the Swiss Parliament |
| On
July 28, 2006, Mario Fehr, member of the Swiss National Council (first
chamber of the Federal Assembly) and his wife visited the National Assembly
of Bhutan. |
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After
formal exchange of greetings, the Secretary General of National Assembly
had given brief introduction about National Assembly and its Committees.
The
Federal Assembly (The two chambers of the Swiss Parliament) in Switzerland
consists of two chambers, the National Council and the Council of States.
The two Councils are on the same level.
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| Mr.
Mario Fehr, in the midst of members of the Royal Family during a cultural
event organized by HELVETAS and the "Society Switzerland-Bhutan" in Switzerland
2004. |
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| Source:
NAB, 2006 |
top
June
2006
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| Swiss resident coordinator, Mr. E Werner Kuelling
Switzerland
is contributing Nu. 2.8 million to the labour ministry to consolidate and
improve the relevance and quality of vocational education in the country.
The
financial assistance will be used over a period of 18 months starting from
this month. The ministry of labour and human resources will implement the
project. |
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The
ministry's director of occupational standards, Sangay Dorji, said the assistance
will be used to strengthen the skill level of the training division, develop
competency based curricula and instructional skills. The assistance, he
said, will also be used to implement and manage the Bhutan Vocational
Qualification framework.
Overall
the assistance will consolidate and complement the contributions of the
Bhutan-German project.
Resident
Coordinator of Helvetas, Mr.Werner Kuelling, and Director General of Department
of Aids & Debt Management, Mr. Sonam Wangchuk, finalised the agreement.
| Contributed
by KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper, 2006 |
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| more information on Bhutan |
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