89. Moving up: Bhutan graduates to UN’s developing country status but challenges remain for other LDCs

This episode of the Weekly Tradecast looks at Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom that measures its success in "Gross National Happiness" with UNCTAD director Paul Akiwumi. 

Bhutan and its 800,000 people now have an extra reason to be happy – after graduating from the UN list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) into full developing country status. It's only the seventh nation in 50 years to make that jump.   

Bhutan was included in the first group of LDCs in 1971. Over the last few decades, it has made remarkable progress on various social and economic metrics, including big improvements in poverty levels, education and life expectancy. 

Tune in to UNCTAD’s Paul Akiwumi to find out how Bhutan achieved this feat and what the 45 countries still classified as LDCs can learn from its development path.