Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade RGOB
At the invitation of the German-Bhutan Himalaya Society, Kutshab Pema Choden and officials from the Royal Bhutanese Embassy in Brussels attended the ‘Bhutan Day’ Annual General Assembly of the German-Bhutan Himalaya Society, on 28th April 2018 in Frankfurt.
The President of the Society, Mr. Reinhard Wolf, opened the event with a warm welcome to Kutshab, delegation members and members of the Society.
Kutshab Pema Choden thanked the President and members of the Society for the invitation and emphasized on the importance of the friendship society for Bhutan. She provided an update on Bhutan and its relations with Germany and the European Union. She reiterated the Embassy’s commitment to further promoting cooperation through people-to-people contact. She expressed great appreciation to the members of the Society for their friendship and support to Bhutan.
Presentations on the topic of the day “Buddhism in Bhutan – past and present” were made by three speakers: Mr. Gregor Verhufen, Vice President of the German Bhutan Himalaya Society and Buddhist scholar; Lama Kelzang from the Kamalashila Institute for Buddhist Studies and Meditation in Langenfeld, Germany; and Mr. Samten Yeshi, a Masters’ degree student at the Central European University, Hungary.
Professor Manfred Gerner, Honorary President of the German-Bhutan Himalaya Society, also made a presentation on his ongoing project for Mebar Tsho in Bumthang.
The event attracted over eighty participants including Honorary Consul of Bhutan in southern Germany Dr. Wolfgang Pfeiffer, former Honorary Consul of Bhutan Dr. Manfred Kulessa, members of the Society and Bhutanese living in Germany.
The German-Bhutan Himalaya Society was first founded in 1984. Members include Germans who have previously lived and worked in Bhutan as well as other German individuals with an interest in Bhutan.