The third general assembly of the Association of Friends of Bhutan took place on November 11, 2021 at the Hotel Palais Kempinski with the participation of 19 members and guests. As a guest of honor, the President Liselotte Waldheim-Natural welcomed Univ. Prof. Dr. Hermann Mückler, the president of the Federation of Austrian-Foreign Societies – PaN, of which our Association of Friends of Bhutan is a member.
The Ambassador of Bhutan to Austria based in Geneva, H.E. Tenzin R. Wangchuk addressed his message to the assembly via Zoom and presented the De-suung Skilling Program initiated by His Majesty the 5th King, which aims to give young people in Bhutan skills and abilities in various professional fields and thus a start in professional life. We are also looking for trainers from Austria for this program.
The President presented the Association’s activity report for the years 2019 to 2021. In addition to establishing and expanding contacts and networks in and outside of Austria and in Bhutan, important projects were also implemented with Bhutanese partners despite unfavorable conditions during the corona pandemic.
The Association’s sources of finance are membership fees, donations and public subsidies, which are used directly in the implementation of projects. The auditors confirmed proper financial management. The discharge of the board of directors was decided unanimously.
The experiences and the development of the Association’s work over the last two years also made it necessary to update the Association’s statutes. The types of membership and the appointment of advisory boards were newly regulated and also decided unanimously by the General Assembly.
Claudia Lisa left the board as secretary and will remain loyal to the association as an active member. Michael Raffling succeeded her as secretary. The offices of President and Treasurer will continue to be held by Liselotte Waldheim-Natural and Christine Anna Jantscher. The members of the Board and the auditors, Irene Ott-Reinisch and David Voigt, were elected unanimously.
The General Assembly ended with a very well-attended screening of the film “Lunana” by the Bhtuan director Pawo Choyning Dorji in the DeFrance cinema.