Plucky Bhutan seeks to reinvent its economy

The mountain kingdom is betting big on a new ‘mindfulness city’ to transform itself into a post-modern Shangri-La.

- Vikram Khanna

Cradled in the mighty Himalayan mountains, which you can see close up on either side as your plane descends into Paro airport, the kingdom of Bhutan competes with neighbouring Tibet to be the “roof of the world”. But now it also aspires to compete with the world’s business hubs.

Billed as the world’s happiest country which has famously preferred to maximise its gross national happiness rather than its gross national product, Bhutan is all set to reinvent its landlocked economy. In a bold experiment, it is creating the world’s first greenfield “special administrative region” (SAR), with separate rules and institutions from the rest of the country, including its own legal system and currency.

Called the “Gelephu Mindfulness City” (GMC), and spread across more than 2,500 sq km of lowlands close to the border with India in the south of the country around the town of Gelephu, the project aims to catalyse new drivers of economic growth, while retaining the kingdom’s emphasis on sustainability – it is the world’s first carbon-negative country – and well-being. Instead of polluting activities such as mass manufacturing, it will promote industries such as green energy and high tech, health and wellness, finance and wealth management, agritech and forestry, education, eco-tourism and the arts, as well as spirituality, which runs deep in Bhutan, a major centre of Vajrayana Buddhism.

GMC will be a “15-minute city”, according to its Danish architect Bjarke Ingels – meaning that people will be able to get to most places within 15 minutes, using green transportation. It will also be designed for walking and cycling and have green spaces for meditation and relaxation.

REVERSING EMIGRATION