PROFESSIONAL LUNCHEON
Jigme Y. Thinley,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan

The speech and Q & A will be in English.

For hundreds of years Bhutan, a tiny kingdom sandwiched between India and China, survived in self-isolation. Yet the 21st century has caught up with the country. Satellite TV and the Internet bring in foreign culture but the country attempts to maintain its ancient culture with its focus on Gross National Happiness.

That focus, based on the Buddhist notion that the ultimate purpose of life is inner happiness, has seen the country named one of the happiest in Asia. But all is not apparently well. A string of suicides in the kingdom has the government worried and putting it back on track is the job of Prime Minster Thinley.

On September 2 he will be at the FCCJ to speak about his country, the challenges it faces, links with Japan and how it feels to be between two of the century's big economic stars.

Jigme Y. Thinley has held various positions in the government since 1982. He was minister for foreign affairs from 1998 to 2003 and prime minister of the country from 2003 to 2004. Author of five books on various aspects of Bhutan, he also speaks regularly at major international gatherings in different countries.

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Jigme Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bhutan