The special relationship between Switzerland and Bhutan dates back to the 1950s and the personal contact established between King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck and the Swiss industrialist Fritz von Schulthess-Rechberg. Von Schulthess funded the first development cooperation projects in Bhutan in a private capacity.
During the 1960s and 1970s, private aid organisations took up these development programmes. From 1978 onwards, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) was also involved. In the 1980s and 1990s, Switzerland was one of Bhutan's four main donor countries.
From 2007 to 2016, the SDC invested over CHF 20 million in the governance sector in order to assist the Bhutanese authorities in the country’s democratisation process. The SDC concluded its activities in Bhutan at the end of 2016.
Bhutan, Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (de, fr. it)
Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland, Dodis