Royal Address by the King of Bhutan

Highlights from the Royal Address on the 112th National Day 1. Foremost concerns a. Economic Growth: Our neighbours, India and China, are experiencing unprecedented economic growth, propelled by technological advances in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Automation, Big Data, Blockchain, Quantum Computers, and FinTech - Digital Currencies, Digital Wallets, Digital Banking. The world is changing rapidly. We cannot afford to avoid what we don’t yet understand, and hope for the best. Such an attitude will cost us our national objective of self reliance. We have to create economic opportunities for the next generation. It’s time to recalibrate ourselves to succeed in the fast-paced world. The government, lawmakers, the private sector, the people, and experts in various fields must work collectively to chart out a clear economic roadmap for the 21st Century- this will help every individual and entity to understand their respective roles and work towards a common nation...

Today, we are all gathered here with the people of Samtse to celebrate the most auspicious occasion of our 111th National Day. The presence of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo makes today even more special. This year, His Holiness the Je Khenpo is also among us, so this is a truly auspicious celebration – illustrative of the harmony and kinship that exists among our people. On this special occasion, I extend my Tashi Delek to all Bhutanese celebrating in the twenty dzongkhags, and those who are studying and working abroad. Our National Day celebrations are special because they provide an occasion for all Bhutanese people to recall and reflect on the immense sacrifices made by our forefathers in building this precious nation of ours and to rededicate ourselves to the service of the Tsawa-Sum. This year has been a momentous election year with the successful conduct of elections to both the National Council and the National Assembly. This success is attributed...

I am very happy to be here with all of you today to celebrate the 14th Convocation of the Royal University of Bhutan. As always, I will begin by reflecting on our past. Knowledge of our past is important as it helps us to understand where we are today as a nation and perhaps also develop a sense as to where we may be headed as we look to the future. It is well known that our forefathers, under the leadership of successive Monarchs, have worked tirelessly through the generations to bequeath to us a strong and successful nation. When I reflect on our achievements, it is evident that our success as a nation can be attributed mainly to the wisdom, foresight and courage of our forefathers to always take the right decision at the right time.  For example, when the global development agenda was focused largely on enhancing material wellbeing, measured solely by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Bhutan introduced the novel concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), a holistic per...