| 19 June 2024

Last June, a delegation of Israeli businesswomen, led by the President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce, Attorney Anat Bernstein-Reich, visited Bhutan and Nepal with the aim of promoting trade and economic ties between the countries. The delegation included 18 women representing leading organizations and companies in the economy, including Netafim-Orbia, BDO, Reichman University, BiondVax, OnBoard, Air Mail Express, Yaad Architects, and more.

Visit to Bhutan
The delegation held several official meetings in the capital of Bhutan, Thimphu. They met with the President of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Rinchen Damdrup, who is also a member of the country’s new Economic Development Board (EDB), aimed at encouraging foreign investments. During the meeting, future cooperation possibilities between the two chambers were examined. The President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce had a personal meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Tshering Tobgay. The Prime Minister expressed interest in inviting Israeli investors to the New Mindfulness City project being established in southern Bhutan and in using Israeli technologies for local agriculture.
Additionally, the delegation met with the former Minister of Economy of Bhutan, Mr. Loknath Sharma.
One of the particularly interesting meetings was with the Chief Priest of Thimphu, the Big Lama Chungtrul Kuchen Rinpoche, during which the delegation members and the Big Lama prayed for the safety of the hostages and the country. The Big Lama expressed a desire to visit Israel in the near future.

Visit to Nepal
The delegation began their visit to Nepal with a reception hosted by the Israeli Ambassador to Nepal, Mr. Hanan Goder, attended by representatives of local chambers of commerce and businesspeople active in relations with Israel. During the meeting, a tribute was paid to the ten Nepalese who were killed on October 7, and to the kidnapped Nepalese, Bipin Joshi.
All participants received pins in honor of the hostages. The meeting was covered by Nepal’s daily newspaper.
Subsequently, the delegation met with the Nepal Chamber of Commerce, attended by Ambassador Goder and Dr. Anjan Shakya, a Member of Parliament and former Ambassador of Nepal to Israel. During the meeting, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the chambers, and it was agreed that a delegation from the Nepal Chamber of Commerce would visit Israel as soon as possible. The meeting received extensive media coverage.
A meeting with the former Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. KP Sharma Oli, took place at his private residence with the participation of Dr. Shakya and Mr. Goder. The former Prime Minister expressed a desire to visit Israel and shared personal experiences from his struggle for a change in the country’s governance system.
The delegation also met with the Nepal Women’s Chamber of Commerce, headed by Shova Gyawali. The participants discussed the promotion of agricultural technologies for women.
In a personal meeting that the President of the Israel-Asia Chamber had with the Minister of Labor of Nepal, Mr. DP Aryal, the possibility of employing Nepalese foreign workers not only through G2G (government-to-government) agreements but also through B2B (business-to-business) agreements, which would increase the number of foreign workers coming from Nepal, was examined.

Summary of the Visit
The summary dinner of the visit was held in the presence of Ambassador Goder and cadet Janan Bivar, who is set to become the Deputy Ambassador soon. The businesswomen returned to Israel with hope and optimism for the future, aiming to deepen economic ties and partnerships between Israel, Bhutan, and Nepal. The Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce is expected to hold several activities to promote trade with these countries soon.