Dharamshala: The 5th governing body of the All India Tibetan Refugee Trader’s Association (TRTA) is organising a three-day general meeting here in Dharamshala from 18-20 April 2022. This is the first meeting of the TRTA’s 5th governing body.

Chief Guest Sikyong Penpa Tsering and Special guest Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel of the Tibetan Parliament presided over the inaugural ceremony attended by representatives of around 247 TRTA along with representatives of Dharamshala based NGOs.

Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel spoke about the evolution of the Tibetan economy in the diaspora since arriving in exile in the mid-’90s attributing it to the sheer blessing of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the generosity of the Indian government.

He advised the gathered Tibetan traders to strive to contribute to the common cause of Tibet by offering their assistance to the Central Tibetan Administration. While lauding the business establishments of more than 3000 Tibetan traders across India, the Speaker also urged them to seek more growth to reach their full potential while keeping in view the Tibetan values of ethics and morality. Suggestions were put forth by the Speaker for traders to venture into other businesses besides their annual winter business.

In his keynote address, Sikyong Penpa Tsering announced two vacancies based in Delhi to overlook and handle the issues faced by Tibetan sweater sellers considering the ease of coordinating with politicians, traders, and officials etc. The new positions will function under the jurisdiction of ITCO.

Additionally, in the view of recent fire mishaps, Sikyong said there needs to be a proper official procedure to raise crowd funding to aid those impacted in such mishaps.
He prompted the Representative of sweater sellers across India to keep inventory of goods lost during a disaster adding that cooperation and collective effort are credentials and that CTA can only do so much to provide help and support.

Following the addresses, the President of TRTA, Tenzin Passang presented mementos to Sikyong and the Speaker.