Bhutan could now look forward to retaining skills and expertise required to build better and sustainable roads and bridges. This will be possible through technical cooperation with Japan. To this effect, the Department of Roads (DoR) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed the minutes of the meeting ahead of official approval. The collaboration will ensure capacity development among the Bhutanese engineers and technicians.
Cooperation with Japan has given Bhutan a lot of superior bridges, but not much to human capital development. However, the cooperation this time will go beyond the infrastructural development.
According to the Director-General of the DoR, Tenzin, besides bridges, Bhutan hasn’t been able to retain the expertise and technology.
“Therefore, in this project, engineers and technicians in the country will work with Japanese experts who will impart skills and expertise to Bhutanese workers,” he said.
He said that the lack of a skilled labour force in the constructions sector has compelled the country to depend on a foreign workforce which is not ideal. However, the current cooperation could build a strong cohort of skilled workforce in the country.
Likewise, as per the Chief Representative of JICA Bhutan Office, Kozo Watanabe, the JICA’s main focus of collaboration with Bhutan is infrastructural development, which has two components.
“One is hardware, in terms of bridges and another component is the technical cooperation to improve the skills of engineers and technicians in the country,” he added.
The four-year project will look at developing a system to strengthen the capacity of engineers and technicians in the roads sector.
Meanwhile, the JICA’s grant aid assistance has supported the construction of nearly 30 bridges across the country so far some of which is the first of its kind in the world.
Choni Dema
Edited by Chayku
