Statement by the Leader of the Bhutanese Delegation, Dasho Leki 
Dorji, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Communications at the Second 
United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) "City 
Summit" from 3rd June to 14th June,1996, at Istanbul, Turkey.

	Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and
Gentlemen,

	It is my honour to convey to you the warmest greetings and good 
wishes of His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan. His 
Majesty the King wishes this Conference successful deliberation on 
the issues of sustainable human settlements and adequate shelter for 
all.
	
	Mr. Chairman,
	On behalf of Bhutanese delegation and on my own behalf, I wish 
to affirm our confidence that under your able guidance this 
conference will come to a successful conclusion.

	We would like to convey our sincere thanks to the Government 
of Republic of Turkey for making it possible to hold this 
conference in Istanbul and for extending warm hospitality to our 
delegation.We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to 
the Habitat II Secretariat, under the able leadership of Dr. Wally 
N'Dow, for their effort in making the arrangements for this 
conference including preparation of high quality conference 
documents.

	Mr. Chairman,
	Recognizing the need for collective responsibilities and 
international cooperation in addressing issues affecting humankind, a 
series of major UN Conferences were held on issues relating to 
environment, population, social development and women. This 
conference represents the culmination of these conferences and 
reaffirmation of the need for collective responsibility in dealing 
with issues of " Adequate shelter for all" and " Sustainable human 
settlements development in an urbanizing world". The challenge that 
we face in resolving these issues are indeed formidable. In the 
twenty years between Habitat I in Vancouver and Habitat II in 
Istanbul, the world population has increased from about 4.2 
billion to about 5.7 billion, and 2 billion more are expected to be 
added in the next two decades. And by the end of 2025 more than two 
third of the population will be urban dwellers. Notwithstanding the 
above, it is important to be aware that the challenge represents many 
new opportunities in addressing the issues of the sustainable human 
settlements.

	Mr. Chairman,
	The persistent burden of rural and urban poverty on developing 
countries is reflected in their poor human settlement conditions. 
Under the circumstances, the urgency in addressing the root causes 
of poverty and developing measures for its eradication in urban 
and rural areas needs to be emphasized in the "Global Plan of 
Action". Consequently, the Global Plan of Action will require a 
firm commitment from the international communities for new and 
additional resources towards operationalizing measures for 
eradicating urban and rural poverty.

	Mr. Chairman,
	The cities in general are beset by numerous environmental 
problems.One among these is the universal increase in energy 
consumption and pollution resulting from such increase. Therefore, 
there is a need for discussing in this conference the measures 
for transforming the city of the near future as an energy 
efficient organism and for establishing more symbiotic and 
mutually beneficial relationship between cities and natural 
environment.

	Mr. Chairman,
	The issue related to shelter and urbanization manifests itself 
in the most virulent form in our region: South Asian Association of 
Regional Co-operation (SAARC), where, a fifth of the world's 
population live and many of whom under condition of"absolute 
poverty", and where rapid urban growth is intensifying. Within this 
context, the Ministers and, representatives of SAARC Member -States 
met in Colombo, 28 February - 1 March 1996, and formulated a 
collective SAARC perspectives, which has been submitted the 
conference.

	Mr. Chairman,
	Bhutan's "National Report to Habitat II" was formulated 
reflecting the Royal Government of Bhutan's commitment to provide 
shelter for all in the country. The National Plan envisages the 
adoption of , multi-sectoral approaches in resolving the problems 
confronting human settlements within a framework of governance that 
ensures transparency and accountability.

	The main challenges which Bhutan faces in implementing its 
National Plan include the shortage of financial and other 
resources in developing extensive social and communications 
infrastructure  and the shortage of technical expertise to promote 
settlement planning and management. We are committed to Habitat II 
Agenda and the Global Plan of Action.We are making every effort to 
address the ever emerging urban problems with our limited 
resources. In this connection, this 	Conference gives us reason 
to believe that there would be a firm commitment from the 
international communities,including bilateral donors, to assist us 
in the execution of our National Plan.
	
	Mr. Chairman,
	It is our hope that this conference will become much more than 
just a compendium of high sounding resolutions. This conference, 
being the last of its kind in this century, must reflect our 
collective commitment to resolve the issues of sustainable human 
settlement and shelter keeping in view the needs of the present and 
future generations.