Bhutan 2020
A Vision of Bhutan in the Year 2020
Bhutan 2020: A Vision for Peace, Prosperity and Happiness is a twenty year perspective strategy which sets the preferred direction for where Bhutan wants to be in the year 2020 starting from the base year of 2000. To reinforce the guiding direction for the Tenth Plan, it would be useful to recall here briefly some of the desirable long term outcomes for the Kingdom envisioned in the Bhutan 2020 Vision. The Tenth Plan period after all straddles the critical half-way point on to the year 2020 and presents an opportune time to refresh and recollect that special vision and assess what needs to be done to accomplish the milestone goals targeted in that vision. In particular, the Vision 2020 development targets set to be achieved by the end of the plan period are highlighted in the later section on Tenth Plan Targets.
The Vision 2020 projects that Bhutan will emerge to become a respected and active member of the international community and a country recognized for its role in promoting peace and stability in the region. It envisages that Bhutan‟s sovereignty and borders will be firmly secure, based on constructive and mutually beneficial relationships with its neighbours rather than on military capability.
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The vision further anticipates that Bhutan will have demonstrated to the world that it is entirely possible to embrace the benefits of modernization without being overwhelmed by accompanying negative influences, while proudly maintaining a distinct identity that is well recognized, valued and respected.
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In terms of societal outcomes, the vision visualizes the emergence of a compassionate, tolerant, self-confident and egalitarian Bhutanese society with its people living in harmony and unity and imbued with a common sense of purpose and destiny.
Economically, the vision pictures that hydro-power led development and growth will have helped the country achieve a high degree of self-reliance, with much of the responsibility for the financing of development in its own hands. Bhutan by 2020 is expected to be able to sustain rising social-sector investments, meet its growing physical infrastructure development requirements and stimulate the further expansion of and growth in economic activity in order to continually raise the standard of living and quality of life.
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The availability of low-cost hydro-power energy and resource endowments deriving from electricity export revenues are anticipated to help transform the industrial landscape in Bhutan with the development of a wide range and host of clean industries and high-technology enterprises.
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Exports to international markets of high-value Bhutanese niche and eco-based products are also projected to contribute significantly to the national economy and gain notable prominence for their quality.
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The private sector is expected to grow significantly and become more dynamic, providing the major impetus for the growth in the manufacturing sector that is expected to contribute around one third of GDP by 2010.
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Another prominent area of private sector engagement, the tourism industry is envisaged to contribute to a quarter of GDP by 2017 with revenues increasing by 150% from prevailing levels in 2000.
As such, the Vision 2020 pictures that while the country‟s economic future will be rooted in and driven by hydro-power based investments, the economy will also be well-balanced and sufficiently diversified by a thriving horticulture and organic based high-value agriculture sector, a solid and clean manufacturing base and a burgeoning hospitality industry. These non-hydro power sectors are also expected to contribute in very significant ways towards generating productive employment for the growing numbers of youth entering the labour market.
Socially, the Vision anticipates that in 2020, providing equitable access to and delivering improved quality social services across will no longer be an issue. The Vision 2020 expects that the country will in that time boast a health care system comparable to those in developing countries with highly developed indigenous medicine expertise and capabilities.
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By 2020, child and maternal mortality indicators and life expectancy figures are expected to approach levels comparable to the current average for all developing countries in 2000.
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With regard to education, the Vision 2020 envisages Bhutan will have the full range of institutions required for the formation of all relevant knowledge and skills. The vision expects that education will evolve in ways that successfully develops the innate potential of Bhutanese children and instill in them an awareness of the country‟s rich cultural values and heritage and a deep appreciation of the importance of ethical and moral choices in their lives.
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The vision further foresees the imperative for a transformed learning environment wherein education will have better prepared the country‟s youth for employment and helped them develop a natural curiosity and aptitude to continually learn and acquire new knowledge and skills.
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In terms of some of the important education targets, the Vision 2020 sees the full attainment of enrolment levels at Class X by 2012 and realization of full adult literacy levels by 2017.
In terms of the state of the natural environment, the Vision 2020 is optimistic that the natural environment and natural resource endowments will still be richly intact, with 60 percent of the country forested and sizeable tracts of protected national parks and reserves harbouring an incredibly rich bio-diversity, the envy of many nations. The vision anticipates that the environmental conservation approach will be dynamic rather than static and will not merely treat natural resources as something to be preserved but as an immense asset that can also be sustainably and wisely utilized for socio-economic development. Bhutan in 2020 is expected to not only have its rich culture still vibrant, alive and clearly visible in Bhutanese lives, but that it will be richly infused with contemporary relevance and meaning. The vision perceives the latter to be particularly important for young people. It envisages that the country‟s rich traditions, values, ideals and beliefs must ideally live on in the minds of Bhutanese youths - referred to appropriately in the vision as cultural custodians - and become a positive force and source of inspiration for them. In terms of activities, the vision placed a high priority towards the active promotion of traditional arts and crafts, architectural styles and national language and the conservation and protection of the historical monuments, sites and artifacts while improving accessibility to this rich legacy. The inventorying and recording of this cultural legacy, including the rich oral traditions and folklore were also viewed as being very important.
In terms of good governance outcomes to be attained by 2020, the Vision anticipated the full development of the country‟s governance and legal institutions and the emergence of a system of jurisprudence based on a body of law respected by all. It also foresaw that these developments would ultimately give rise to new dimensions of the existing traditional concepts of representation and democracy in the country. The Vision however did not quite anticipate that it would happen as early as this, the vast extent of it or the noble manner of its initiation through the ongoing democratization processes and the formulation and adoption of a written constitution, the Tsa-thrim Chenn-mo. The Vision further envisaged that the ongoing decentralization processes would be completed by 2020 with local governments fully and effectively empowered and responsible for many of the development planning and management functions. Through this it is expected that the Bhutanese people would genuinely “own” the development process, thereby helping fulfill both long term national goals and local aspirations and priorities.