Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck launched The Bhutan- Poland Friendship Society in Warsaw, Poland on May 25.
In her address Her Majesty thanked the government and people of Poland for the warm hospitality accorded to the Bhutanese delegation and commended the President of the BPFA Mrs. Margarita Lehnert Kossowski, the Board members and all who had worked very hard to make the event not only a huge success but a memorable and enjoyable experience.
Her Majesty expressed confidence that the Friendship Association would play an important role in creating greater awareness about Bhutan and lead to better and closer relations between Bhutan and Poland. Her Majesty said Bhutan is one of the youngest democracies today and the smooth transition to democracy was made possible because His Majesty the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated the throne in 2006, after having paved the way for the Fifth King to preside over the first parliamentary elections and adoption of the Constitution in 2008. His Majesty the Fourth King declared almost 40 years ago that Gross National Happiness (GNH) is more important than GDP and said GNH was about “development with values”. After the global economic crises and unprecedented environmental disasters, Bhutan’s GNH concept has received a lot of attention in the media and has been emulated by other world leaders and institutions.