Bhutan, the small, non -coastal state cultivated between India and China, may be famous for the “total national happiness”, the alternative Measure The country claims a complete understanding of economic development of GDP.
But the country wants to be known for more than just spiritual tourism and Himalayas. Bhutan now hopes to attract foreign investment, promote new industries, and enter the global economy.
It is a very slope of climbing of the isolated Himalayas, which has recently struggled with a brain drain A problem like the youthful young people travel abroad for new opportunities.
“Geography is a challenge to us, the demography is a challenge to us,” said Ujjwal Deep Dahal, CEO of Druk Holdings and Investments (DHI), Bhutan’s sovereign wealth fund. He added that Bhutan and DHI need to “learn to deal with the world with our move.”
However, Bhutan and the sovereign wealth box – through global standards – have benefited from the country’s strengths, including the cheap and widespread electrical energy, which in turn can feed investments in data and mining centers in Bitcoin. The key to the country Plans It is the mental city of Gilivo, and it is a new area to connect Bhutan with companies in South and Southeast Asia.
“The size does not matter”
The most prominent Sovereign wealth boxesLike those from Norway, Saudi Arabia or Singapore – they are giant global investors. These funds transport hundreds of billions of dollars from the money, which were obtained from pensions, natural resources, or foreign exchange reserves, to search for high returns and invest in strategic industries.
DHI is smaller compared to these global giants. Much smaller.
DHI was founded in late 2007, up to 3 billion dollars of management assets, and has classes in 24 different Bottani companies.
In comparison, Temasek in Singapore has $ 300 billion of management assets, with shares in the most prominent companies in the country, such as Singapore Airlines and DBS.
But Dahl sees the opportunity in the size of the small DHI. “The size does not matter,” he said. Instead, DHI can focus on “efficiency and how we grow.” However, Temasek sees a role model for DHI.
Dahal said: “We look very much, in terms of ruling, in terms of getting rid of investments. But after I said that, the economy of Bhutan and Singapore are completely different.” “We need to consider the operation of DHI in a way that complements the challenges.”
His Excellency Bhutan and the depletion of brains
Bhutan Reckon The total national happiness through a survey of 300 questions that are managed every few years. the Newest The GNH Index, released in May 2023, was a degree of 0.781 of 2022, above 0.743 mentioned in 2010.
The individual grew from the country’s gross domestic product from $ 2,435 to $ 3,711 during the same period – witnessing a sharp decrease in 2020, the height of the epidemic.
Pessimism around the economy means that the country, with a population of less than 800,000, is currently going through a source of immigration. About 13,500 bottles, equivalent to 1.6 % of the country’s population, moved to Australia in 2023. He fought the country, which is still covered in forests, with low income, job lack, and youth unemployment.
Tourism is one of the main sources of income in Bhutan, but it has not yet recovered from the roaming epidemic. The country has reported 145,000 tourist expatriates last year, as less than half of the arrivals were recorded 315,599 registered in 2019. The country also has a mixed view of the tourism industry, as it promotes a “high -value, low -influential” tourism model to avoid emphasizing the country’s infrastructure.
Black stakes
DHI runs many companies that are the key to the economy in the country, such as Bhutan Power, Bhutan Bank, and Biotan Telecom. DAHAL believes that DHI can be a platform to sculpt Bootan in Amnesty International and Economy online today.
For example, Duhal, who has a background in engineering and hydroelectric energy, hopes that Bhutan can be a place that green energy companies can explore “interesting technologies”, such as pump storage and hydrogen capacity, and their commercial viability test.
“We can quickly test it in Bhutan, solve the problem in Bhutan and take it globally or regionally,” Dahal argued.
It focuses especially on Electrical energyNow the main source of Potan for electricity generation. Bhutan currently It has 2.5 gigawatts of the current capacity, and 3 additional GB is under construction.
DHI also made some unconventional bets. Bhutan is one of the largest sovereignty in the world in Bitcoin. The country began mining cryptocurrency in 2019, when its value was just less than $ 10,000. Its value is now about $ 97,000 as of May 7, 2025.
Bitcoin mining is usually thick for energy, but Dahal claims to be encryptive mining in Bhutan, due to its use of hydroelectric energy and other green energy, helps compensate for carbon emissions in other places.
“Bitcoin is parallel to digital gold,” Duhal said, noting that the coded currency strategy in the country is part of a diverse approach to alternative investments.
DHI, as Bhutan’s investment arm, supports the development of the mental city of Gilivo, a special administrative area that hopes to be an economic corridor to southern and southeastern Asia. The city, which extends about 2,500 square kilometers, is trying to combine economic growth, sustainability and a comprehensive living, and provides space for companies such as health care, technology and green energy.
“We are trying to bring an innovation strategy to DHI to build emerging companies with international founders, academics and innovators, and gather them to build a culture and economy start operating,” said Dahal.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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