December 18, 2024
THIMPHU – The Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) project will leverage a “four-plus-one” funding model to mobilise investments, according to GMC Board Director Yee Ean Pang, who spoke during the GMC Forum held in Thimphu yesterday.
Yee Ean Pang, founder of Urbina Capital Pte Limited and former director general of Investments at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, outlined the multi-pronged approach to secure funding for this visionary initiative.
“The most important step is to have our own money,” Yee said. “We need to have skin in the game. We have to put money on the table to attract additional investments.”
At the GMC level, innovative funding schemes, including the issuance of nation building bonds and Founding Members’ programme, have been rolled out.
The Gelephu Investment Development Corporation has introduced nation building bond aiming to raise USD 100 million, particularly from non-resident Bhutanese. This funding will help finance key infrastructure, including Bhutan’s first international airport planned at GMC.
Yee Ean Pang said that the nation building bond has received a commitment of USD 100 million while the co-founder and CEO of GLP, Ming Z. Mei, has also committed as a GMC founding member.
GMC projects will also seek investments through equity and loans, both locally and internationally. “These projects need to be bankable,” Yee Ean Pang said. “We have been identifying schemes, such as commercial areas, where developers can take the lead as master developers.”
To attract foreign banks and private sector investors, the GMC plans to invest initially in core infrastructure like the airport and inland port to create a foundation for future developments.
The fourth funding channel includes grants and loans from multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, among others.
The “plus-one” element of the model is GMC’s long-term sustainability. “This is a 100-year project,” Yee Ean Pang said. “Initial investments must yield returns to ensure the project’s self-sufficiency.”
Identifying viable projects, such as data centres and regional headquarters, is critical to this goal, he said, adding that GMC has already received several project proposals.
The GMC project is a pioneering initiative creating an urban environment centered around mindfulness, sustainability and innovation in the southern plains of Bhutan.
The City will integrate traditional Bhutanese values with cutting-edge design and technology, harnessing the Kingdom’s abundant green power to serve as a global exemplar of holistic development.
The GMC will operate as a Special Administrative Region vested with independent executive, legislative and judicial powers.