Bhutan PM wants population to grow with economic hub

New city also aims to create jobs for youth, improve nation's accessibility

- Clement Tan

If Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay had his way, the Himalayan kingdom would eventually see a big jump in its resident population - helped by its proposed economic hub on its southern border with India.

Bhutan, one of the world's few carbon-negative countries, is hoping to leverage its masterplan for "Gelephu Mindfulness City" to generate growth in the long run and create economic opportunities for its young.

Bhutan's cornerstone economic project contains "mindfulness" in its name to reflect its sustainable approach to urban development, in keeping with the country's focus on living in harmony with nature.

Increased economic activity may inevitably raise questions about the feasibility of Bhutan's longstanding practice of living sustainably, but the country also faces socio-economic challenges of stemming high youth unemployment, reducing the prospect of its young people moving overseas and enticing the Bhutanese diaspora to move back home.

In Singapore partly to drum up interest in the new economic hub, Mr Tobgay spoke with The Straits Times on Sept 19 before leaving for New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

He said he hoped to see one million to two million people eventually living and working in the new economic hub to be constructed near the town of Gelephu, which currently has a population of around 10,000. The country's population is now just under 780,000.

"Invitations, I understand, are going out to founding investors," Mr Tobgay added. He declined to discuss the identities of wealthy individuals invited to invest in the proposed city, though he said there has been interest from India.