Sonam Tashi, Class of 2012

Chief Planning Officer
Ministry of Economic Affairs
Kingdom of Bhutan

Sonam Tashi heads the policy division of Bhutan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, where he and his team provide policy analysis and recommendations on trade, energy, and industry and mines issues. He is a key member of the team that negotiates Bhutan's market access for bilateral, regional and multilateral trade initiatives. He also leads the prime minister's initiative to improve Bhutan's investment climate—the Better Business Council and the Doing Business Task Force. As a result of policy reforms, Bhutan ranked 71 out of 189 countries in the Doing Business Report 2016, a significant increase from its position of 125 in 2015. Tashi's family pioneered the export of agricultural produce from Bhutan through niche marketing aimed at high value buyers. He received his master's degree from Cornell University.