Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering emphasised on the importance of Digital DrukYul Flagship Programme during the signing of the Annual Performance Agreement (APA) of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) today. Digital DrukYul, is an ICT Flagship programme which is expected to transform Bhutan by digitally empowering its citizens.
The prime minister said that the Digital DrukYul flagship programme under the Department of Information Technology and Telecom (DITT) is one of the main components of governance.
“The biggest step that we can pay our attention to is Digital DrukYul package. If the Information and Communication Ministry, other ministries, agencies and individuals give their support to the programme and effectively digitalise our country, it is like our health. While focusing upon our health, not many argue upon it as at one point of life it will ultimately benefit us.”
The MoIC also looks forward to the successful implementation of Digital DrukYul flagship programme in the country.
“We must make Bhutan digital and that is our aim. So, we have phased it out and we have a lot of the activities within the first two years. So that we benefit from our investment. We feel that we can make good progress as all the objectives are very important and will benefit the citizens of the country,” Pemba Wangchuk, the Officiating Secretary of MoIC, said.
The Digital DrukYul programme consists of seven components which will be implemented by various government agencies led by the MoIC. Under Digital DrukYul Flagship programme, there will be integrated online citizen services, integrated online business licensing and online single customs-trade approvals to enable citizens to experience satisfactory public services.
Also, at the signing, the information and communications minister presented the five main objectives of the revised APA for the year 2019-2020.
The five key areas consist of the construction of film studio and cinema hall in Thimphu and Samdrup Jongkhar, operation and maintenance of the Druk Research and Education Network (DrukREN). And resurfacing of Paro airport’s runway surface to enhance airport safety and security, implementation of Digital DrukYul and developing satellite and space policy and strategies.
Meanwhile, the prime minister also revealed that the government will declare one of the months as the APA month starting from next year. During that period, the prime minister along with all the agencies and stakeholders will seriously take part in the drafting of the annual performance agreement.
