To drive Bhutan’s Economic diversification by catalysing cottage and small industries, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) and the Royal Institute for Governance and Strategic Studies (RIGSS) are organising its second international conference, Bhutan Economic Forum for Innovative Transformation (BEFIT) starting yesterday in the capital.
The three-day conference aims to create a potential area of partnership between the cottage and small industries (CSIs) and foreign investors.
BEFIT 2019 is designed and developed to strengthen and expand CSIs by instituting policy reforms and addressing various challenges faced by the CSI sector.
“The CSI sector is key to economic diversification and boosting economic activities in villages and local communities. CSIs have the potential to address one of the most crucial economic challenges related to youth unemployment, which stands at 15 % today. Being a small country, largely based on natural resources, agriculture and forest, CSIs also have immense potential to expand the production base and contribute to exports if the ecosystem is strengthened,” said Dasho Penjore the Governor of RMA.
He added that elements such as nurturing an entrepreneurial culture, furthering innovation and technology, enhancing market access and improving excess to finance and mitigating risks are crucial to boost CSI ecosystem.
Coinciding with the conference, government-led national e-marketplace called bhutanmade.com was also launched. The portal will let Bhutanese producers and sellers sell their local ‘Made in Bhutan’ products in the international markets. Aligning with the BEFIT 2019 theme, the portal aims to nurture entrepreneurial culture through innovative technology and enhance market access for the cottage and small industries of Bhutan.
The conference is also hosting the national CSI expo where 52 entrepreneurs are taking part. The expo provides a networking platform to link entrepreneurs with potential investors, markets and technology partners.
