Information for Participants

Transcription

1 Sub-Regional Workshops on Internet Traffic Management and E-resilient for the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS), 7-8 December 2016, Thimphu, Bhutan Information for Participants

2 1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION This note provides general information on administrative and logistical arrangements as well as other relevant information for participants. Questions or requests for further information should be addressed to the Local Secretariat noted in Section WORKSHOPS DATE AND VENUE The Workshops will be held on 7-8 December 2016 in Thimphu, Bhutan. The workshops will be held at the City Hotel Thimphu. Address: Jattu Commercial Complex Chang-Lam, Dungkor Lam Junction Thimphu, Kingdom of Bhutan Tel: (+975) or (+975) info@cityhotelthimphu.com Mobile: (Ms. Tandi Lhamo, General Manager) 3. CONTACTS For information on logistic arrangements or hotels/accommodation matters, please contact: Local Secretariat: Mr. Sonam TOBGAY Sr. ICT Officer. Department of Information Technology & Telecom, MoIC. stobgay@dit.gov.bt Mobile: VISA Participants are REQUIRED to obtain an appropriate entry visa before entering to Bhutan. If you have not done so, please provide copy of passport and duly filled visa application form to ESCAP secretariat ( escap-ids@un.org). The Visa application form can be accessed from ESCAP in collaboration with local secretariat has requested for visa on arrival for all 1

3 sponsored participants. A single page visa will be issued for all participants and will be shared by ESCAP once received from Bhutan. Visitors (except for visitors from India, Bangladesh, and Maldives) travelling on ordinary passports have to pay approximately US$40.00 as visa processing fee in local currency (Bhutanese Ngultrum). The immigration counter at the Airport will not accept the payment in US dollars. Travelers will have to exchange the money from FX counter at the airport and pay the fee in Bhutanese Ngultrum. 5. DAILY SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE FOR ESCAP SPONSORED PARTICIPANTS Participants whose travel is sponsored by ESCAP will be provided with a daily subsistence allowance at prevailing United Nations rates in USD currency on the first day of the workshop. In order to facilitate the payment of subsistence allowance, eligible participants are requested to provide original passport and original boarding passes to Mr. Nyingtob Pema Norbu, Associate Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP in the conference room. Any participants who are unable to stay for the duration of the meeting are requested to inform the secretariat as soon as possible after arrival, so that the subsistence allowance can be adjusted accordingly. 6. ACCOMODATION Hotel accommodation has been arranged at: Jattu Commercial Complex Chang-Lam, Dungkor Lam Junction Thimphu, Kingdom of Bhutan Tel: (+975) or (+975) info@cityhotelthimphu.com Mobile: (General Manager) Participants are advised to stay in the meeting hotel. The hotel has offered a single-room rate of US$64.00 per night for all participants. Meal hours are as follows: Breakfast: 7:00 AM-10:00AM Lunch: 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM Dinner: 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM Before departure from Thimphu, participants should settle directly with the hotel all accounts, including room charges and other expenses, such as for local and long-distance telephone calls, business center use, laundry, room services, mini-bar 2

4 items, as well as restaurant and bar services. Participants are also responsible for any charges incurred with respect to rooms remaining vacant owing to late arrival or rescheduled departure for which inadequate prior notice is given. 7. INTERNET ACCESS Wireless Internet access (Wireless LAN) will be available at the meeting areas and also available in guest rooms free of charge. 8. AIRPORT PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF ESCAP has arranged with the hotel transportation for pick-up and drop-off free of charge from airport to hotel and vice versa. Participants willing to arrange their own transportation arrangements may hire taxis available at the airport. Taxis usually accommodate 4 passengers and each passenger could be charged Nu depending on the number of passengers in the car. 9. TRANSPORT TO WORKSHOP VENUE The workshop will be held at the conference hall of the City Hotel Thimphu. You will have to arrange your transportation if you are staying in a different hotel. 10. FOREIGN CURRENCY DECLARATION Any person who brings or takes an aggregate amount of foreign currency exceeding US$ 10,000 or its equivalent into or out of Bhutan shall declare such amount of foreign currency to a Customs Official. Failure to make such a declaration or making any false declaration to a Customs official is a criminal offence. 11. MEETING DOCUMENTS Participants are requested to bring with them copies of the meeting documents distributed by ESCAP to their Governments/Agencies/ Organizations prior to the workshop. Only a limited number of copies of workshop documents will be available during the session. All presentations made available to ESCAP staff of the Workshops will be shared with all participants through the Workshops website: 3

5 and-e-resilience-asia-pacific-information 12. DRESS CODE Business smart/casual is the acceptable dress code for the Workshop and all events. 13. GENERAL INFORMATION 13.1 Climate December will be a cold month of the year. The average low and high temperatures are respectively -1 C and 19 C. You are recommended to carry warm outfits Currency and Banking The City Hotel Thimphu (Front Desk) does provide limited foreign exchange service, but information on amount of local currency required must be communicated with the hotel one day ahead. City Hotel Thimphu is located within walking distance of two banks from the hotel. The official currency of Bhutan is Ngultrum (BTN). Because retailers generally do not accept other currencies, it is necessary for visitors to change foreign currency into BTN in order to make cash payments. ATMs are available in Thimphu and can only be used to withdraw BTN. Foreign currency can be exchanged at the airport or banks in the city. Only few hotels will be able to arrange money exchange services. The exchange rate as of 23 November 2016 is USD 1 = BTN The normal banking hours in Bhutan is between 09:00 to 16:00, from Monday to Friday. Some of the shops and most of the hotels will accept major credit cards such as Master Card and Visa Electricity The standard electricity supply in Bhutan is volts AC, 50Hz. Participants are advised to bring along converters or adaptor for compatibility with the standard socket adapter for "Type C" European, "Type G" British or "Type D" Indian, used in Bhutan. 4

6 13.4 Local Time The standard time in Bhutan is GMT +6 hours. 5