Bhutan as been constantly building a reputation as an exclusive high end tourist destination. The green pristine environment, vibrant Buddhist culture and recently the GNH development philosophy have begun attracting many tourists. As the number of visitors increase there will be a need to provide additional tourist facilities like five star hotels, convention centres and other infrastructures.

Historically, Bhutan has been know as Menjong - the land of medicinal plants, because of the varieties of medicinal plants found in the kingdom. More than 600 medicinal plants have been identified and given the favourable envi ronment and proximity to huge regional markets, the Government would like to develop Bhutan as a medical tourism hub in the future.

To reduce the dependence on timber for construction, DHI i s seeking partners to manufacture alternative building material s in Bhutan.

With the development of the Mineral Development Policy, there will be opportunities for investments in extraction of minerals and mineral-based businesses.

Bhutan is building up on its green and pristine environmental image, and seeks to focus on organic farming and promote it through the creation of “Brand Bhutan".

With its close proximity to the vast Indian market, Bhutan seeks to develop Special Economic Zones to set up ser vice, agro-based, ICT and manufacturing industries. Several incentives have been identified for the SEZs which will be located in Gelephu over a 1,000 acres of land; In Samtse over 500 acres and in Samdrup Jongkhar with over 150 acres. The following are the three Special Economic Zones identified to be developed through Public Private Partnership (PPP) model:

• Dhamdum under Samtse Dzongkhag
• Jigmeling under Sarpang Dzongkhag
• Motanga under Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag