Government leaders from Bhutan are visiting QUT to ensure the country that values happiness more than any other keeps its next generation smiling.
The tiny Himalayan kingdom, which has a population less than one third of Brisbane's, has sent representatives to QUT through an Australia Awards Fellowship funded by the Australian Government to develop a workforce plan for the future as part of Bhutan's transition towards democracy.
Bhutan caught the world's attention in 1972 when its former King proposed gauging the country's success by the happiness levels of its citizens, or Gross National Happiness (GNH), rather than its Gross National Product (GDP).
The 12 representatives from government and industry will attend a series of workshops and training programs to help develop a Human Resource Development Plan for the country to address key concerns including high levels of youth unemployment.
The aim of the plan is to improve the productivity and employability of the Bhutanese youth to enable them to effectively contribute to national economic development.
"This Australia Awards Fellowship with QUT is important because it gives us some ideas on how Bhutan can address youth unemployment," Kinley Wangdi, Director for Human Resource Development in Bhutan's Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development, said.
"It's a great challenge in our country, and we need workforce planning and development strategies to achieve our Gross National Happiness."
Their visit, courtesy of the QUT designed Australia Awards Fellowship, has seen the Bhutanese already visit Adelaide, Canberra and Melbourne to investigate strategies in areas including tourism, sport and infrastructure.
The Australia Awards Fellowships administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade provide funding for short term study and professional development opportunities that build links and increase the capacity of developing country partners.
QUT has received funding under the Fellowships Fellowships, which allows it to host a range of international partners and provide Fellows with a practical learning experience in Australia.
QUT's manager of International Projects Nelson Salangsang said in 2015 QUT would host 220 Australia Awards Fellows from nine partner countries including Bhutan, Fiji, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
"This makes us the university hosting the most Fellowships in 2015," Mr Salangsang said.
"The themes of the fellowships vary and each program is customised based on the Fellows needs. For example our Fellows from Fiji will study a training program in internal audit while Fellows from Paraguay are here to benchmark training systems and practices in vocational education.
"It is a pleasure to host and share our expertise with our international Fellows and is a fantastic way to equip emerging leaders with the knowledge and skills to do great work in their home countries."
Media contact:
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
After hours, Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901
