The signing of the Departments and the Secretariat APA for FY 2016-17 took place on 4th August, 2016 at the Ministry’s Conference Hall in the Tashichhodzong. The meeting was chaired by the Hon’ble Lyonpo which was attended by Dasho Secretary, Director General, Directors, chiefs and other officials of the Ministry.
The Hon’ble Lyonpo reminded everyone in the meeting about the significance of APA in increasing the performance of the Ministry while delivering its services. The Hon’ble Lyonpo commended the hard work done by the Departments and Divisions in the Ministry in the past and such hard work should be continued further in achieving the targets in the new FY 2016-17.

The APAs were signed between Dasho Secretary and Heads of the Department and Chiefs of Divisions under the Secretariat in presence of the Hon’ble Lyonpo.

Signing of the Ministry’s APA for FY 2016-17 between Hon’ble Lyonpo and Dasho Secretary

Signing of Department of National Properties APA for FY 2016-17 between Dasho Secretary and Director General Nima Wangdi

Signing of Department of Revenue and Customs APA for FY 2016-17 between Dasho Secretary and Director Yonten Namgyel

Signing of Department of National Budget APA for FY 2016-17 between Dasho Secretary and Director Lekzang Dorji

Signing of Secretariat APA for FY 2016-17 between Dasho Secretary and Chiefs

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Dasho Nim Dorji was appointed by His Majesty the King as the new Finance Secretary on 14th July, 2016.
Prior to his appointment, Dasho served as Director General of Department of Agriculture in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests. He also served as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.
Dasho started his career in 1989 as trainee officer in the Ministry of Finance. He became the Director of Department of Public Accounts in 2007 and the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance in 2012.
He holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Canberra, Australia.

Dasho Nim Dorji (second from the right) with other Secretaries appointed by His Majesty the King.

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PRESS RELEASE

A delegation led by Mr. Mahender Singh, Director General of Directorate General of Performance Management, (Customs and Central Excise), Government of India (GoI) visited Bhutan for verification and quantification of the Excise Duty Refund claim of RGoB for the year 2015 from 19th to 30th June 2016. The meeting between the delegates of RGoB and GoI was held on 29th June 2016 to discuss and finalize the Excise Duty Refund. The Bhutanese delegation was led by Mr. Yonten Namgyel, Director, Department of Revenue and Customs. The total excise duty refund agreed for the year 2015 is Nu. 2,916,923,214 (Two Thousand Nine Hundred Sixteen Million, Nine Hundred Twenty Thousand, Two Hundred Fourteen) only.

The refund amount of excise duty for the year 2015 has increased by Nu. 973 million as compared to Excise Duty Refund for 2014. The increase is attributed to the improved recording system of the Department of Revenue and Customs and due to maintenance of documents in a manner desired by the GoI delegates. The increase in the excise duty refund is due to the increase in the import of HSD and MS petrol. The import of HSD and MS Petrol from India has increased by 4551.6 KL and 2364.40 KL respectively. The Excise duty has increased by 534.3 million as compared to 2014 ED claim.
Further the import of vehicles has increased by 4156 vehicles as compared to imports for 2014 from 2919 to 7075 in 2015. The increase in import has attributed to the increase of Excise duty by 348.8 million from 112 million in 2014 to 460.8 million in 2015.

Although most of the commodities are subject to levy of excise duty in India, there are specific exemptions issued by way of notifications by GoI on goods of special interests (petroleum products, metallic waste products, food items, tools, spares and accessories, medicine and medical equipments) etc. Furthermore, since imports made by Hydro Power Projects in Bhutan are exempted from excise duty at source, no excise duty refund claims are made for imports made by these projects.

Apart from the above issue, other issues of mutual interests were also discussed. The GoI delegation called on the Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Finance Minister on 27th June 2016.

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His Excellency Namgay Dorji, the Hon’ble Finance Minister & Governor for Bhutan in Asian Development Bank (ADB) attended the Annual Meeting of ADB Board of Governors at Frankfurt, Germany from May 2-5, 2016. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Cooperating for Sustainability”. His Excellency attended the Governors seminar and roundtable meeting and attended the Main Business Sessions. His Excellency presented his Governors Statement in the Second Business Session.

His Excellency and delegation also attended the Tenth Informal Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers which was held on May 3, 2016 on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting. The theme of this year’s Informal Meeting was “Financing Development of Economic Corridors in the SAARC Region”.

His Excellency also held bilateral meetings with the ADB President Takehiko Nakao and the Indian Finance Minister Shri. Arun Jaitley. He also held other meetings with Multilateral Development partners on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting.

Over 3000 senior government officials from ADB Developing Member Countries, business leaders, journalists, academics, and representatives from civil society and development organizations and ADB senior management and staff attended this year’s Annual Meeting.

Hon’ble Lyonpo with the ADB President Mr.Takehiko Nakao at the Annual Meeting

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Royal Bhutan Lottery Limited was officially launched by the Hon’ble Finance Minister on 8th April 2016 in Phuentsholing. The launching ceremony was attended by the board directors of RBLL, representative from various Government sectors and business communities based in Phuentsholing.

The Royal Bhutan Lottery Limited has been established as a State Owned Enterprise under the Ministry of Finance. A multi-sectoral board of directors chaired by Finance Secretary with senior representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Home and Cultural Affairs and Economic Affairs has been formed.

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The Hon’ble Finance Minister, Lyonpo Namgay Dorji led the Bhutanese delegation to the First High Level Follow – up Dialogue on Financing for Development in Asia and the Pacific Region which was held on 30th – 31st March 2016 in Incheon, the Republic of Korea. The objective of this dialogue was to discuss the strategies for the implementation of the Agenda in Asia and the Pacific Region, with a focus on six key issues; regional tax cooperation, capital markets, institutional investors, financial inclusion, climate finance and South-South cooperation and triangular development cooperation. This dialogue provided policy recommendations for a regional plan of action on financing for development.
The event was co-hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. It was also attended by high-level representatives from other countries, including Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, as well as all relevant institutional stakeholders, non-governmental organizations and business sector entities.

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Inauguration of new Regional Revenue and Customs Office, Gelephu by His Excellency, Finance Minister on 1st February 2016.

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Civil Service Medal Recipients, 2015 of the Ministry of Finance with Finance Secretary and Department Heads.

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Press Release
Seventh Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers preceded by the Seventh Meeting of SAARC Finance Secretaries

The Seventh Meeting of the SAARC Finance Ministers preceded by the Seventh Meeting of SAARC Finance Secretaries was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 19th and 20th August, 2015 respectively. The meeting was inaugurated by Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. Sushil Koirala. The SAARC Finance Ministers meeting was followed by the Fourth Meeting of SAARC Development Fund Governing Council.

The meetings assessed the progress made in the implementation of recommendations of the Sixth Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers held on 20th August 2013 in Colombo, Sri Lanka including SAARC Development Fund (SDF). It also discussed on the cooperation in trade, economic and financial sectors among the SAARC member states and the way forward for allowing greater flow of financial capital and intra-regional long-term investments.
Dasho Lam Dorji, Finance Secretary led the Bhutanese delegation. In his statement, Finance Secretary urged all the member states to develop a holistic and comprehensive package of actionable measures by exploring the whole range of partnership available for deepening the regional cooperation. He also highlighted the status of macro-economic developments in Bhutan over the recent past and reported the status of cooperation in the field of financial sector pursued by Bhutan under the aegis of SAARC.
In discussion on establishment of SAARC Development Bank, the leader of Bhutanese delegation opined that consideration of a SAARC Development Bank is premature at this stage since SDF is just evolving and needs the support and guidance of all member states in its journey. Following which the member states directed the SDF CEO to prepare implementation strategic plan of SDF activities within the time frame of six months. Further, the meeting emphasized to strengthen the existing social window of SDF and expedite in operationalizing the economic and infrastructure windows.
The Eighth Meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers and Finance Secretaries will be held in Pakistan in 2016.
The Bhutanese delegation included representatives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance.

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PRESS RELEASE

On the Third International Conference on Financing for Development held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 13th to 16th July, 2015

The Third International Conference on Financing for Development began on the 13th of July 2015 at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Conference was opened by the UN Secretary-General H. E Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and the Conference elected the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, H.E. Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, as the President of the Conference. At the opening, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an ambitious and universally inclusive financing framework to implement the Sustainable Development Goal and highlighted the need for a social compact for greater social protection and a package for Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Hon’ble Finance Minister, Lyonpo Namgay Dorji led Bhutan’s delegation to the Conference which comprised of officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Gross National Happiness Commission Secretariat. In his statement during the general debate, Lyonpo emphasized the need to redouble efforts by countries around the world as well as international institutions, particularly assistance for the LDCs, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals towards a new era. Lyonpo also highlighted the unique development challenges faced by countries like Bhutan and appealed to the world to work together to eradicate poverty by the next decade.

Hon’ble Lyonpo Namgay Dorji also participated in the Round Table Meeting on the theme “Ensuring policy coherence and an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development”.

The Conference is expected to end on the 16th of July with the adoption of an outcome document which will be known as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. The document is expected to support the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

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