Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Prime Minister Meets with Prime Minister Thinley of Bhutan

Prime Minister Taro Aso held talks with Mr. Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan, at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the beginning, Prime Minister Aso welcomed Prime Minister Thinley's visit to Japan and stated that friendly relations have been advancing since 1986, when the two countries established diplomatic relations, through VIP visits and economic exchanges.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Aso stated that Japan regarded it highly that Bhutan had been making sincere efforts toward the establishment of democracy, through endeavors such as the National Assembly Election held last March. Prime Minister Thinley said that he appreciated that Japan, as a development partner, provided assistance in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, and education, as well as for the transition to parliamentary democracy.

He also explained that Bhutan used Gross National Happiness (GNH) as an index for development policy, to which Prime Minister Aso stated that the GNH was a very interesting concept and that he thought that Japan could learn a lot from it.

Related Link

• Japan-Bhutan Relations