The three-year project titled Youth Employment and Rural Entrepreneurship will support Bhutan in creating jobs for its young people and promoting broader economic diversification.
The US$ 1.25 M project aims to bring innovation in youth employment approaches in the country.
Based on the principles of social enterprise, the project aims at creating 400 direct new jobs for the out-of-school and unemployed young people in six dzongkhags in the southwestern part of the country.
The Vice President for South Asia, World Bank, Hartwig Schafer said the project would make a significant contribution to the government’s vision of narrowing or closing the gap.
“It will provide an opportunity for unemployed youth in the rural and disadvantaged areas to actually have alternatives to create their own livelihoods. So, I think this is extremely important,” the Vice President said.
“Right now, we are saying that a lot of youth does not find employment in rural areas. They don’t see any other option than going to the city, leaving their home and villages. This project will actually help them stay in the rural areas, create businesses and lead a life of an entrepreneur. It will help Bhutan with its overall achievement of creating a society of more equality and development,” World Bank’s Hartwig Schafer added.
Bhutan is an agrarian economy where a majority of the population lives in rural areas. They rely on natural resources for their livelihoods.
The agriculture, livestock and forestry sectors currently employ about 58 per cent of the population.
In line with this, the new project will support rural enterprise development and creation of value-chains, thus creating employment opportunities and improving income of the people in the rural areas.
“The agriculture sector offers a huge potential as a driver for both economic diversification and employment creation. Therefore, this project is very timely as it will generate youth employment including enterprise and value-chain development,” Finance Minister Namgay Tshering said.
“These will help stimulate the younger generation to take greater interest in the agriculture sector as a source of self-employment and business opportunities.”
The three-year project will be financed by the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF).
Bhutan became a member of the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in 1981.
The country has implemented 26 IDA and IBRD operations (320 projects including Trust Funds and grants) with more than US$350 M in World Bank support.
