As the first country in South Asia to embark on Green Public Procurement (GPP), GPPB/IISD was invited to speak about its experience in Bhutan so far at a seminar hosted by the Indian Railways Institute of Logistics and Materials Management (IRILMM). The seminar on “Creating Synergy between Industry & Public Procurement” held from 5-6th June, 2015, was aimed at bringing the government procurers (for Indian Railways) and industry together in order to discuss three themes, namely:

1. Indian government’s policy to “Make in India”
2. Ease of doing business; and
3. Sustainable procurement

The GPPB/IISD was part of the panel that discussed sustainable procurement practices around the world and learn from those experiences. Although the seminar was mostly focused on addressing concerns related to procurement such as corruption, transparency and partnership between government and industry, it was a good platform to introduce sustainability in procurement and to share the Bhutan experience in moving towards GPP.