KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Bhutan, known for its concept of gross national happiness, launched a fundraising campaign from international investors on Monday to build a “city of mindfulness”.

The city “Gelephu Mindfulness City” (the GMC), imagined by King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, will be located in a special administrative region, intended to become an economic corridor between South and Southeast Asia.

Spanning more than 2,500 km², on the border with India, the city will offer space for businesses in various sectors and will integrate ecological architecture in this first country in the world to have a negative carbon footprint.

Last week, the GMC announced on its website the launch of a 10-year “national construction bond” to raise $100 million. However, GMC officials told Reuters on Monday that there were no retail bond issues or fundraising targets for the entire financial year, without giving further details. details.

According to the authorities, construction will be divided into several phases and should be completed in 21 years, with the ambition to accommodate around 150,000 inhabitants after 7 to 10 years, and more than a million once the project is completed.

Private partners will invest in the necessary infrastructure.

India, Bhutan’s main economic and trade partner, as well as a donor, supports the project and will extend its roads and rail network to the border to connect the GMC, officials said.

According to Surya Raj Acharya, an infrastructure and urban planning expert in neighboring Nepal, the construction of the GMC is a “smart initiative”, but connectivity could pose a serious problem in Bhutan, which does not have access to the sea.

“The development of the city as a competitive manufacturing hub also depends on connectivity to global logistics,” said Surya Raj Acharya, adding that access to ports will depend on Indian infrastructure.

(Reporting Gopal Sharma, with YP Rajesh in New Delhi, Elena Smirnova, editing by Kate Entringer)

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