ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

BhutanSubscribe to Bhutan

Deepening Regional Integration

In a major bid to facilitate cross-border transportation and trade, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal signed the landmark Motor Vehicle Agreement in June 2015. Is this agreement capable of unlocking the huge trade potential of these countries and deepening regional integration in a region known to be the least integrated in the world? This note attempts to address some of these questions, reviews the salient features of the agreement and discusses the challenges involved in its implementation.

Bhutan's Gross National Happiness

Despite Bhutan's deliberate policy direction of promoting non-economic goals embodied in gross national happiness over gross domestic product, does GNH still incorporate the promotion of material well-being through adequate living standards based on economic progress? This article examines whether GDP is an incompatible policy objective or outcome when balanced with GNH's equitable and sustainable economic progress, good governance, ecological protection and cultural preservation policy objectives.

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