Ambassador Pema Choden opened an “Exhibition on Bhutan” on November 29 at the Flag Museum in Budapest, Hungary, a foreign ministry press release states.

The President of Hungary-Bhutan Friendship Society, Zoltan Valcsicsak and curator of the Flag Museum, Laszlo Balogh, organised the exhibition, which will run for two months.

Ambassador Pema Choden thanked the President and members of the Hungary-Bhutan Friendship Society for organising and helping promote Bhutan in Hungary through the exhibition. She said Bhutan is home to a unique culture, tradition, arts and crafts which were shaped and evolved through centuries of isolation. She said she hopes that the exhibition would generate a deeper understanding of Bhutan in Hungary and promote closer ties between the peoples of Bhutan and Hungary.

Ambassador Ferenc Jari, Director, Department of the Asia-Pacific from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary welcomed the exhibition on Bhutan. He said the people of Hungary were fascinated by Bhutan and its development philosophy of Gross National Happiness and express the desire of the people of Hungary to forge closer ties with Bhutan.

President of the Hungary-Asia Society, Csillik Dilara, highlighted the influence Asia had on Hungary and the rest of the world and also spoke about Bhutan. Two Hungarian students also entertained the gathering with a lively performance of Bhutanese dances.

The exhibition was well attended by representatives from the diplomatic community, local officials, journalists, friends of Bhutan in Hungary and Bhutanese residents in Budapest. The Hungarian-Bhutan Friendship Society was established in September 2011 and since then the Society has carried out several projects to promote friendship between the two countries.

Staff Reporter