The Danish government has ended its assistance of 22 years to Bhutan with a final commitment of 50 M Danish kroner. The 50M is the Danish government’s assistance for the transition period from July this year until June 2015.
A high level and the final consultation between the officials from the Bhutanese government and the Danish government was held on August 30, this year to review bilateral cooperation.
The Danish delegation was led by the head of department of Asia and the Pacific, ministry of foreign affairs, Martin Hermann whereas Bhutanese team was headed by Bhutanese foreign secretary Daw Penjor .
Bhutanese foreign secretary and Bhutanese team leader, Daw Penjor expressed their gratitude to Denmark for its assistance so far. He seemed very positive with the phase out program. To him, it means that Bhutan has been self sufficient; and now the assistance should be focused on more pressing situations in other countries.
Similarly, Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Commission secretary, Karma Tshiteem stated that Bhutan will no more be a recipient only but the relationship shall be changed to that of partnership, based on mutual benefits and shared values.
Bhutan has been receiving the assistance fro Denmark since 1989; and until the end of the 10th Five Year Plan, the total amount comes to be 1.9B Danish kroner. The Danish assistance has been utilized in key areas of health, education, good governance, environment and urban development.
The last consultation also endorsed the “framework for continued Danish-Bhutanese partnership” that provides cooperation in fields of global security; democracy; human rights; among others. The framework shall be approved by both the governments before it is signed at a ministerial level.
