Bhutan offers hydro-power, to take docs

Bhutan offers hydro-power, to take docs


Wednesday, 12 January 2011
ANIS ALAMGIR

Dhaka, Jan 11: Bhutan Tuesday offered its vast hydro-electricity to Bangladesh while it agreed to recruit at least 100 Bangladeshi doctors for its hospitals in Bhutan for a minimum period of two years.
During the summit-level talks, Bhutan assured Bangladesh that it would extend necessary cooperation to Dhaka in the hydro-power sector. With a preoccupied Bhutan unable to walk the walk on this front at present, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested her Bhutanese counterpart to consider Bangladesh in future projects either as an investment partner or as a direct buyer of power. Dhaka and Thimpu signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the health sector after the official talks led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her counterpart Jigme Y Thinley at the Prime Minister Office in the morning.
The doctors will be either recruited directly by the Bhutanese government or sent by Bangladesh on deputation.
Another MoU on cultural exchange was also signed at the function.

The Bhutanese Prime Minister, Jigme Y. Thinley, arrived here on Monday for a four-day state visit. He is leading a 20-member delegation including the health minister, Cabinet secretary, foreign secretary and a six-member business team.
An official, who had attended the meeting, told The Independent that there was no timeframe for sending doctors there, but Bangladesh had verbally agreed that recruitments for the purpose would be done jointly soon by the health ministry of Bangladesh and the Bhutanese authorities.
The terms and conditions for the medical jobs in Bhutan will be finalised later. Sources said that earlier Bhutan had offered Tk. 1.2 lakh a month for a senior doctor.
According to the official, the talks covered the entire range of economic and political cooperation between the two close neighbours.
A foreign ministry official said Dhaka had agreed to allow use of its port facilitates by Bhutan and would soon hand over a draft agreement to Thimpu in this regard.
The foreign secretary of Bhutan, Dasho Daw Penjo, signed the deals on cultural cooperation with secretary-in-charge of the ministry of cultural affairs, Suraiya Begum. He also inked the MoU on health sector cooperation with health secretary Humayun Kabir.
Both the Prime Ministers witnessed the signing ceremony. Foreign minister Dipu Moni, health minister AFM Ruhal Haque, information and cultural affairs minister Abul Kalam Azad, Prime Minister’s finance and planning adviser Moshiur Rahman, ambassador At-Large M Ziauddin, Cabinet secretary Mohammad Abdul Aziz, principal secretary MA Karim, foreign secretary Mohammed Mijarul Quayes, and Bangladesh ambassador in Thimpu Imtiaz Ahmed, among others, were present on the occasion.
The Bhutanese Prime Minister called on President Zillur Rahman today at his office. He also attended a seminar on “Gross National Happiness” at Dhaka University in the afternoon. During his stay in Dhaka, the Bhutanese Prime Minister will visit the Sundarbans, Mongla port on Wednesday and Chittagong port and Cox’s Bazar on Thursday. Thinley will leave Dhaka for Thimpu on the morning of January 14.