The closure of the international border as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic has come as a boon for businesses in Samtse town. Before, the business was bleak as most people choose to go across to Indian border town of Chamurchi. Shopkeepers are now looking at the current situation as an opportunity to retain customers even if the border gate with India opens.
Nanda Kumar, who runs the only barbershop in Samtse town, has been kept busy throughout the day since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. People are seen queuing outside his small setup. He and his partner cater to almost 50 customers on a daily basis.
“Business is going well now. Before the pandemic, we had a lot of competition from across the border. With the gates closed, us being the only saloon in Samtse town, we are kept busy and making good profits,” he said.
Similarly, other business establishments like restaurants, hardware and electrical shops, and clothing business are making most of the increased customer flow.
“When the gates were open, people go across the border to look for cheap goods and we could not do good business. After the gate closed, we get many customers and our business is going good,” said Prabha Subba, who runs a garment shop in Samtse.
Choki Lhamo, an owner of hardware and electrical store in the area says return from her business has increased threefold after the closure of the border. She said the business was struggling to stay afloat with a daily sale of less than Nu 2,000 before the pandemic.
“Since the gate closure we are doing a brisk business. With no means to go across the border, people have to rely on what we offer here. So, we are seeing an increasing number of customers,” said Nidup, who owns a Tyre Shop.
However, while demand is on the rise, the supply of goods is limited as businesses could not import goods at will due to the border closure, which hampered customer service.
Nidup said his tyre shop can barely meet all the demands, “we haven’t been able to import even once since the gate closed. We had to make do with existing stock. We did face some shortage since we could not import. More people come looking for goods and we are not able to offer them the good that they want since we were not able to import new stock.”
Meanwhile, import and export of goods directly from the Samtse integrated checkpoint began a fortnight ago with strict guidelines.
“Including today, I have imported two times through the Samtse checkpoint. If we get goods at a cheaper rate, we will also sell at a cheaper rate here. That way, people will know that we sell at similar or cheaper rate here and even if the gate opens in the future, we plan to have competitive prices with business across the border,” added Choki Lhamo.
Due to the standard operating procedures for import, businesses incur additional costs while bringing in the goods from the checkpoint to their respective shops. However, these businesses have decided not to increase price in a bid to retain customers.
Sherub Dorji
