8 November, 2009 - The Republic of Korea will provide relief aid worth USD 100,000 (Nu 4.6 million approx) to Bhutan to help reconstruct infrastructure damaged by cyclone Aila in May this year.
The ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bhutan, Mr Paek Young-Sun, will visit Bhutan from November 9 -11 to handover the relief aid. Home minister Lyonpo Minjur Dorji will receive the aid on November 10 in Thimphu at the foreign ministry conference hall.
Meanwhile, the Sustainable Development Secretariat under the Gross National Happiness Commission will be foregoing some of its activities like institutional strengthening and capacity building this year to contribute to the relief fund.
An amount of USD 35,000 (Nu 1.6 million) was diverted to His Majesty’s Kidu Fund for the recent earthquake victims. The cheque was handed over on November 4.
The amount was part of the operational budget for Bhutan under the programme for South-South cooperation (PSC) financed by the Kingdom of Netherlands.
Bhutan has received a USD 3.4 million commitment for 17 projects under the South-South cooperation programme. Some of the project areas are sustainable tourism, sustainable consumption and production chain, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and access to sustainable energy and efficient energy use.
The total commitment from the Netherlands government is USD 13.2 million and the beneficiaries include Republic of Benin and Republic of Costa Rica.
