Bridge To Bhutan

Starting today all imported vehicles entering the country will be subjected to a revised sales tax and custom duty, according to a finance ministry notification. This includes those vehicles ordered months ago that have not reached Bhutan as of today.

The sales tax and custom duty were increased, based on the cylinder capacity or cc (cubic centimeter volume of the engine cabin), and categorised vehicles into petrol and diesel run vehicles.

However, vehicles imported from India will only have to pay an increased sales tax. Sales tax for petrol and diesel vehicles imported from third countries is up by five percent for vehicles up to 1500 cc, and by 15 percent for vehicles above 1501cc.

Custom duty for petrol and diesel vehicles up to 2500 cc has been increased by 10 percent, and by 30 percent for vehicles above 2501 cc. (more…)

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There are countless non-profit art organizations in the world. While most of them utilize the power art holds for positive and productive social purposes, VAST Bhutan stands apart from the rest.  I have had the privilege of witnessing the workings of VAST, first hand, over the last six weeks. It is always an incredible thing to participate in social services, but VAST’s volunteers have reminded me how true activism through art can benefit a world.
VAST has initiated several special projects alongside the regular classes that are taught by its volunteers- projects that are born out of the core of true humanitarianism.  Last year, volunteers came together to develop a rice bank to help the needy. They also built a home for a family in Punakha.  While both of these projects were incredible, VAST’s ‘Make a Wish’ project deserves particular recognition.

For futher information on VAST bhuan please visit:   http://www.vast-bhutan.org/

(Courtesy: BusinessBhutan)

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Koka, Wai Wai, Coke, Lays potatoes and Rockbee connoisseurs will have to find a GNH food alternative

Bhutanese consumers could soon end up paying higher rates for alcohol and foods classified as junk like carbonated drinks, potato chips, chocolates etc.

The Ministry of Finance along with its Department of Revenue and Customs are in the process of drawing up a list of alcohol and junk food products for taxation based on cabient instructions.

The Prime Minister Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley in a press conference said the government had identified a list of food items as junk that would impair the health of especially children and so would be taxed higher. He gave the example of soda water.

“The new taxation policy structure, which Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu will be reporting to the National Assembly, has differentiated what constitutes healthy consumer items and what constitutes items that will accelerate the kind of problem for Bhutan associated with life style diseases,” said Lyonchen.

“When Lyonchen has said that taxation should be there on these products to discourage their use, the tax will have to be more than moderate to do so,” said Nima Wangdi, finance ministry’s director general.  On the taxation structure the DG said the ministry had options of up to 150% tax.

The Director General said that all manufactured and processed food items that are addictive, fatty, unhealthy, having harmful chemicals like mono sodium and too much sugar would fall under the category of junk food. (more…)

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Thimpu, April 25 (IANS): Bhutan hopes the upcoming 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) here will help revive the country’s jaded tourism industry.

For the first time, this Himalayan kingdom will host a summit of the eight-member grouping April 28-29. The summit will mark the 25th year of the establishment of the regional body.

The tourism sector has been a nonstarter in Bhutan due to limited resources and lack of infrastructure, although the country is endowed with beautiful landscapes and rich wildlife.

Bhutan now hopes more foreign tourists would visit this landlocked country after it gets wide publicity during the summit.

The authorities in Thimpu have already gone into a rigorous drive to upgrade the infrastructure in view of the international conference.

Markets, restaurants and hotels were renovated to show the warm hospitality of the people of Bhutan when the dignitaries would come here for the summit, Kinley Dorji, secretary at Information and Communication Ministry, told Xinhua.

The infrastructure that has been upgraded would serve the tourism sector in the future, he said.

According to National Statistics Bureau of Bhutan, tourist arrival in the country is increasing every year. In 2009, more than 28,000 tourists visited the country, compared to 27,636 in 2008.

‘Within three years, we are hoping to increase tourist arrival by three times to 100,000 annually,’ said Dorji.

Since 1947, Bhutan has followed a ‘high value, low volume’ tourism policy, he added.

Tourists’ arrival in the country has been within the capacity of its socio-cultural and natural environment to absorb visitors without negative impacts. Tourism is Bhutan’s largest commercial source of convertible currency earnings.

Source: Yahoo News

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