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In an exclusive interview with CNA, Mr Tshering Tobgay says the city will be modern and represent a “new form of urban living”.
THIMPHU, Bhutan: Businesses that want to set up in Bhutan’s new special economic zone will have to do so “by special invitation”, said the kingdom’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay.
The Gelephu Mindfulness City, a bid to revive the country’s pandemic-hit economy, will cover 1,000 sq km, making it bigger than Singapore.
The city will be modern and represent a “new form of urban living”, Mr Tobgay told CNA in an exclusive interview.
The zone will allow Bhutan to open up to the rest of the world while keeping the kingdom “true to our values and beliefs, our traditions and spirituality, our sense of sustainability”, he said.
“(It will be) a city in which humans live in harmony with other humans and bring out the best in other humans … a living space in which humans live in harmony with nature, where spirituality and sustainability can live in harmony with human growth and progress, happiness and wellbeing,” he said.
Businesses that want to set up in the city must line up with such beliefs, he added.
“Businesses must be consistent with the ideas on which Gelephu Mindfulness City is being started on. So you can't just have a mindfulness city based on high ideals and values, and then have any and all types of businesses coming in. They will be vetted,” he said.
“For Gelephu Mindfulness City, there's a special invitation.”
The city will be built near the town of Gelephu, along Bhutan’s southern border with India, and does not have a completion date as yet.
“I do believe that we can create an urban living space not necessarily to be a model for the rest of the world, but definitely an inspiration for the rest of the world,” he added.
When asked how Bhutan would attract like-minded partners to the city instead of those who view money as their only driving factor, Mr Tobgay said there are others who understand that there is a deeper meaning to life.
“My experience is … the more successful people are, monetarily or otherwise, financially or otherwise, the more they seek out other worldly things. They also seek out nature, they want to be with nature. They want to live a sustainable life,” he added.
The city is already drawing interest, said Mr Tobgay.
“We have many people who are interested already. So you can rest assured that a lot of the investment is going to be by invitation,” he said.
He stressed that the city is not an experiment or sandbox because those terms refer to ideas that are being figured out.
Instead, “it's the start of a journey, an epic journey,” he said.
When asked if the mindfulness city could sound too good to be true, Mr Tobgay pointed to goals Bhutan has achieved, including adopting a philosophy of gross national happiness and balancing sustainable economic growth with social progress and equity.
“Don't you think that the concept of having a country (that is) not just carbon neutral, but carbon negative sounds too good to be true? Don't you think that a country, one of the poorest in the world, being able to provide free universal education and free universal health care … sounds too good to be true?” he asked.
“Don't you think that a country that has an absolute monarch that imposes democracy on its people – that's too good to be true? This is reality for Bhutan.”
While overall unemployment is manageable at about 5 per cent, youth unemployment is at an “unacceptably high” 29 per cent, said Mr Tobgay. Youth who are graduating are overqualified for jobs, creating a mismatch and making them look for opportunities abroad, he added.
On the bright side, Bhutanese youths have skills and mindsets that are valued elsewhere, he said. However, there is a risk they will not return, he noted.
They are needed so the country with a population of about 800,000 can rebuild, he said.
“We hope that they will come back, they're always welcome. But in the meantime, we have a country to run," he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asi...ful-capitalism-sustainability-economy-4409886
THIMPHU, Bhutan: Businesses that want to set up in Bhutan’s new special economic zone will have to do so “by special invitation”, said the kingdom’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay.
The Gelephu Mindfulness City, a bid to revive the country’s pandemic-hit economy, will cover 1,000 sq km, making it bigger than Singapore.
The city will be modern and represent a “new form of urban living”, Mr Tobgay told CNA in an exclusive interview.
The zone will allow Bhutan to open up to the rest of the world while keeping the kingdom “true to our values and beliefs, our traditions and spirituality, our sense of sustainability”, he said.
“(It will be) a city in which humans live in harmony with other humans and bring out the best in other humans … a living space in which humans live in harmony with nature, where spirituality and sustainability can live in harmony with human growth and progress, happiness and wellbeing,” he said.
Businesses that want to set up in the city must line up with such beliefs, he added.
“Businesses must be consistent with the ideas on which Gelephu Mindfulness City is being started on. So you can't just have a mindfulness city based on high ideals and values, and then have any and all types of businesses coming in. They will be vetted,” he said.
“For Gelephu Mindfulness City, there's a special invitation.”
The city will be built near the town of Gelephu, along Bhutan’s southern border with India, and does not have a completion date as yet.
CITY ALREADY DRAWING INTEREST
The area, which he described as a “blank canvas”, has many waterways and two big rivers – one of which can generate large amounts of renewable energy – and protected forests, he noted. There are also farms and rice terraces, Mr Tobgay noted.“I do believe that we can create an urban living space not necessarily to be a model for the rest of the world, but definitely an inspiration for the rest of the world,” he added.
When asked how Bhutan would attract like-minded partners to the city instead of those who view money as their only driving factor, Mr Tobgay said there are others who understand that there is a deeper meaning to life.
“My experience is … the more successful people are, monetarily or otherwise, financially or otherwise, the more they seek out other worldly things. They also seek out nature, they want to be with nature. They want to live a sustainable life,” he added.
The city is already drawing interest, said Mr Tobgay.
“We have many people who are interested already. So you can rest assured that a lot of the investment is going to be by invitation,” he said.
“MINDFUL CAPITALISM”
While he said that the city will not be an antithesis of capitalism, what will be practised is “mindful capitalism”.He stressed that the city is not an experiment or sandbox because those terms refer to ideas that are being figured out.
Instead, “it's the start of a journey, an epic journey,” he said.
When asked if the mindfulness city could sound too good to be true, Mr Tobgay pointed to goals Bhutan has achieved, including adopting a philosophy of gross national happiness and balancing sustainable economic growth with social progress and equity.
“Don't you think that the concept of having a country (that is) not just carbon neutral, but carbon negative sounds too good to be true? Don't you think that a country, one of the poorest in the world, being able to provide free universal education and free universal health care … sounds too good to be true?” he asked.
“Don't you think that a country that has an absolute monarch that imposes democracy on its people – that's too good to be true? This is reality for Bhutan.”
HELP FOR ECONOMY
The upcoming city could bring to life an economy struggling with high youth unemployment and brain drain.While overall unemployment is manageable at about 5 per cent, youth unemployment is at an “unacceptably high” 29 per cent, said Mr Tobgay. Youth who are graduating are overqualified for jobs, creating a mismatch and making them look for opportunities abroad, he added.
On the bright side, Bhutanese youths have skills and mindsets that are valued elsewhere, he said. However, there is a risk they will not return, he noted.
They are needed so the country with a population of about 800,000 can rebuild, he said.
“We hope that they will come back, they're always welcome. But in the meantime, we have a country to run," he said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asi...ful-capitalism-sustainability-economy-4409886
