First and foremost, I on behalf of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry would like to heartily thank the China Council for the promotion of International Trade, Yunnan Sub-council for giving me the generous invitation and the opportunity to speak in the12th China-South Asia Business forum on job creation and investment innovation. Thank you.
Bhutan, as you know, is a small kingdomlocated between India and China with rugged terrain and widely dispersed resident population. It is been barely60 years ago that planned socio-economic development started and over a short period of time, significant economic changes has taken place.
Bhutan’s development policies are guided by the philosophy of Gross National Happiness(GNH) based on its four pillars; sustainable economic development, preservation and promotion of culture and tradition, conservation of environment, and good governance. This unique and unparalleled philosophy provides to us with its Unique Selling Proposition(USP). Political stability, peace and security, vibrant and living culture, natural and pristine environment, reliable and competitively priced energy are some of the USPs that Bhutan banks on in attracting and promoting investments into Bhutan.
Bhutan Chamber of Commerce& Industry(BCCI) the apex private sector organization of Bhutan, striving towards creating a conducive environment for the growth and development of the private sector, plays a pro-active and lead role in fostering economic development in Bhutan. BCCI provides linkage between the government and the private sector and works closely with all the government agencies, autonomous organizations and international organizations and donor agencies towards facilitation and promotion of trade & industrial development in the kingdom.
The current employment scenario in Bhutan is mostly due to the youth unemployment and a high number of female youth which exceed their male counterparts. Although, major challenges and issues in employment generation are multi-faceted and cross-sectoral thereby difficult to categorize.
Some of the main issues which are directly linked to job creation in the market are as follows:
● Many job seekers are young
● Education system does not really prepare the students for worklife
● Indecisiveness of the government to partner with international
● companies Minimal social safety nets
● Lack of National HR plan(or HRD roadmap)
● Inadequate fund for activities which have high job creation potential (such as EDPs)
● Lack of strong support from the government(also seen aslow political will)
● Inadequate enforcement of the Labour and EmploymentAct
● Lack of a comprehensive hourly wage system
● Unnecessary and many overlapping conflicting policies and proceduralrequirements
● Lack ofproperbilateral MOUs for overseas employment
Given the current economic scenario of the country, the key sectors for generating employment were in the areas of Agriculture, SMEs and Cottage Industries, Construction, Tourism, Education and Training; and ICT Sector in the Public Service.
In order to overcome the above stated issues and challenges, critical recommendations on interventions and targets need to be viewed as emergency measures given the employment crisis that the country is going through and therefore must be given due top priority in order to facilitate creation of employment and produce quality jobs that are suitable to the unemployed youth.
The BCCI at this juncture is striving to promote business initiatives in the field of Agriculture, SMEs and Cottage Industries, Construction, tourism, Education and ICT. The potential for return to invest in these sectors are seen to be very critical in terms of economic growth and creation of jobs.
While we thank our government for initiating plans and policies to prepare youth for their work life, we would also like to invite business opportunities from outside in order tofulfill our mandates.
Thanking you all for the valuable time.