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Bhutan PM wants world to prioritse people's happiness

His Excellency Tshering Tobgay's Inspiring Address Urges Governments to Focus on Pursuit of Happiness over Pursuit of Profit

Slowly but surely, governments are accepting that the solution to happiness and well-being clearly lies in changing the very purpose and goal of development, stated His Excellency Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan and leader of the People's Democratic Party in Bhutan.
In his main address titled 'The Role of Government in Achieving Happiness' at the opening session of the First Global Dialogue on Happiness preceding the fifth edition of the World Government Summit, he added: "If the basic purpose of development were changed from the pursuit of profit to the pursuit of well-being in all its dimensions, the true level of happiness in the planet would certainly go up."
His Excellency Tshering Tobgay began his address by showcasing a series of photos. Speaking about the relevance and timeliness of the Global Dialogue on Happiness, he reiterated that the United Arab Emirates was well-qualified to host this discourse.
He said: "Here in the UAE, you have a minister for happiness, a minister for the future, a minister for tolerance - this is ground-breaking. You are certainly ahead of the pack in defining your ultimate goal as the happiness and well-being of the Emirati people."
As part of his address, His Excellency Tshering Tobgay elaborated upon the four inter-related pillars of Bhutan's Gross National Happiness (GNH) - equitable social economic development, protection of culture, preservation of environment and good governance. He further explained the nine domains that influence the happiness and well-being of Bhutan's people, namely standard of living, health, education, environment, governance, psychological well-being, time use, cultural resilience and community vitality. He placed the last four domains at the cutting-edge of government development philosophy.
Bhutan's 2015 GNH survey results indicated a lower level of happiness in rural areas, which prompted the government to announce measures to step up programs to improve rural livelihood and increase maternity leave threefold from two months to six months. These examples demonstrate how the nation has used the results of the GNH surveys to make policy improvements.
Furthermore, His Excellency Tshering Tobgay explained how the broad objectives and priorities of Bhutan's five-year planning cycle will correlate with areas of improvement identified in the results of the 2015 GNH survey conducted by the Centre of Bhutan Studies, which will also form the benchmarks for the next planning cycle.
"2016 may have been a difficult year, and 2017 may also be off to a rough start, but given the growing interest in happiness and well-being and in Gross National Happiness, the years ahead are filled with promise and hope," he said in his concluding remarks, before closing the inspirational session by reciting a prayer evolved from a line in Bhutan's national anthem - 'May the sun of peace and happiness shine over all people, all over the world'.
Co-founder of the People's Democratic Party in Bhutan, His Excellency Tshering Tobgay was responsible for establishing the party as Bhutan's first registered political party. A civil servant having worked in the Ministry of Labor and Human Resources as Director of Human Resources prior to commencing his political career in 2008, he draws upon his insights of the real challenges faced by the people of Bhutan to drive his focus on key issues.
Over the course of his tenure and during his campaign, he has prioritized areas such as youth employment, tackling corruption in Bhutan's government, and national debt. Holder of a BSc in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering, His Excellency Tshering Tobgay completed a master's degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The World Government Summit (WGS) 2017 has drawn the participation of more than 4,000 personalities from 139 countries around the world, reflecting the leading stature of the summit on regional and international levels and the high interest from governments, global organizations, private and public sector entities, decision makers, entrepreneurs, academics and university students as well as scientists and innovators. WGS 2017 features 150 speakers across 114 sessions that highlight the world's most pressing challenges and showcase best practices and cutting-edge solutions to deal with them.