SDF officials led by the Chief Executive Officer Dr Sunil Motiwal briefed His Excellency the Prime Minister on the current activities, achievements and future action plans of SDF. Lyonchhen was presented on the ongoing projects of SDF in Bhutan under its Social, Economic and Infrastructure Windows. An overview of the upcoming pipelines projects was also presented along with SDF’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) funding scheme in all SAARC Member States.
The SAARC Development Fund, since its inception in April 2010 by heads of the eight SAARC Member States, is mandated to build regional integration and economic cooperation through project funding in all the eight SAARC member states – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Secretariat is based in Thimphu Bhutan.
“It is an honour for us at SDF to welcome His Excellency the Prime Minister to our office to share the current status and achievements of SDF and the investment opportunities for Bhutan,” said CEO Dr Sunil Motiwal.
He added that Bhutan is one of the Member States that has derived maximum benefits from SDF’s various funding schemes. SDF has committed a total of USD 31.48 million for ongoing and future projects in Bhutan. Of the total, SDF has funded over 10 projects in Bhutan worth USD 8.48 million under its Social Window as grants, USD 13 million under the Economic Window for purchase of Druk Air ATR aircraft and allocated USD 10 million under Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) funding scheme of SDF.
Projects under the Social Window ranges from newborn and maternal health, women empowerment, violence against children, agriculture to setting up of community e-centres, supporting thousands of home-based workers and providing livelihood enhancement of small scale farmers. So far, 7 of the 10 projects have been successfully closed benefiting over thousands of children, women and men in Bhutan. Five more projects are under active consideration for co-financing along with UN and International Agencies.
During the meeting, Lyonchhen said that such meetings open the door for further discussion and collaboration. He said that he is keen to explore many priority areas of the government especially the agriculture-oriented Cottage and Small Industry (CSI). “I feel that agriculture is not fully explored to its full potential at the moment. About 58 percent of the Bhutanese are farmers and yet 3.6 percent of the employment is in the agriculture-related sector,” he said. “I can see many linkages including the CSI agriculture enterprises where Royal Government of Bhutan can work together with SDF.”
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Cabinet Secretary and officials from the Prime Minister’s Office.
SDF has an authorized capital of USD 1.5 Billion and total capital base of USD 511.52 Million. Currently SDF is implementing 12 projects under the Social window with fund commitment of USD 73.74 million and two more projects are approved in principle in social sector, 5 projects under the Economic and Infrastructure windows (including 2 in-principle approved projects) with a fund commitment of USD 73 million and MSME Program with fund allocation of USD 50 million in SAARC Member States. The cumulative fund commitment under the three funding windows including MSME Program stands at USD 197.4 million. Further, more than 10 bankable projects are also under active consideration of SDF to co-finance in SAARC Member States.
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7 out of 10 projects successfully completed to benefit thousands of people in Bhutan
The SAARC Development Fund’s Social Window has supported a total of 10 projects in Bhutan worth USD 8.48 million. 7 out the 10 project were successfully completed. Results from these SDF-funded projects were finally achieved in order to benefit thousands of people in Bhutan.
Projects closed successfully:
Strengthening the livelihood initiative for home based workers in SAARC Region – A project through which thousands of home-based workers were trained, sales outlets were established and run by women workers, many workers were employed and generated a income for these home-based workers.
Strengthening Maternal and Child Health Including Immunization in the SAARC Member States – Through the project:
Upgraded 65 health centers
Trained 13 participants
Conducted 1 TOT and trained 22 participants
Conducted capacity building of doctors by master trainers.
Scaling up of Zero Energy Cold Storage (ZECS) technology for the horticultural commodities in the high hills of SAARC countries
4 ZECs constructed
1031 farmers were trained on quality production and ZECS technology construction
374 farmers trained on postharvest handling and storage
1467 farmers were covered under the project.
1050 crates of fruits and vegetables stored in ZECS
Empowering Rural Communities, “Reaching the Unreached”
60 Community e-Centers (CeCs) established with SDF support in 60 gewogs.
’60 CeCs provided IT equipment, furniture -‘
10 CeCs provided internet connectivity
South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC) – Thousands of outreach/awareness materials on Child Protection printed and distributed; Developed IEC materials on Child Projection; people (media, parents, students and parliamentarian) were sensitized on Violence against Children (VAC).
Post Harvest Management and Value Addition of Fruits in Production Catchments in SAARC Countries – Established pack houses, processing centers, cold stores, fruit ripening chambers and banana value addition facilities to benefit hundreds of farmers in Bhutan.
Strengthening of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in selected areas of SAARC Countries – Hundreds of women/household workers/ farmers provided with safe drinking water and adequate water for small scale livelihoods, such as home garden cultivation, floriculture, animal husbandry, and food processing etc. in SAARC Member States including in Bhutan.
Project under active consideration of SDF:
Consortium for Scaling Up Climate Smart Agriculture in South Asia
Co-funded by IFAD (USD 3.5 million) with co-financing from SAARC Agricultural Centre, International Food Policy Research Institute, CGIAR Global Program on climate change adaptation and Food Security, and National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems.
The funding requested from SDF is 750,000 USD.
Participating countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
SAARC B2B and E-Commerce Trade Portal
SDF funding- USD 54,705
SAARC CCI-USD 54,720
Participating countries- All SAARC Member States
WFP-Scaling up fortified rice through social safety net programs and commercial outlets across Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan
Total amount requested from SDF: USD $ 9,361,667
Total contribution through co-funding: USD $ 17,066,000
Participating Countries: Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka
UNICEF – For Every Child – Realizing the full Potential: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Data generation, Analysis and Early Childhood Development.
Participating countries : Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka
Total amount requested from SDF :$6,100,000
Total contribution through co-funding: $5,795,000.00
UNESCAP- E-Commerce Capacity Building for Women-led SMEs in South Asia
Participating countries :All
Total Co-financing amount: US $ 498,300
EIF Enhanced Integrated Framework is contributing US $ 498,300
Total requested amount from SDF : US$ 498,300
