The Government of Japan agreed today to extend a grant assistance of 110 million yen (approximately 1.2 million US dollars) to the Royal Government of Bhutan for “the Food Security Project for Underprivileged Farmers 2012 (KR2-2012)”. The Exchange of Notes to formalize the grant assistance was conducted at the Embassy of Japan, New Delhi. The Notes were signed and exchanged between H.E. Mr. Takeshi Yagi, Ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom of Bhutan, and H.E. Mr. Vetsop Namgyel, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bhutan to Japan.

This project will provide small agricultural machines to underprivileged farmers in order to promote the increase of food production in Bhutan. As many farmlands are small, the demand for small agricultural machines is high in Bhutan.

The Government of Japan hopes that this grant assistance would strengthen capacity of farmers and help mechanization and modernization of agriculture in Bhutan, and also contribute to further strengthening of the relationship between the two countries.