To further promote and develop the cottage and small industries or CSIs in the country, a group of start-ups has formed an association known as the Bhutan CSI Association. This is the first time an association has been formed in the country for the benefit of the CSI sector. The association will formally register with the Civil Society Organisations Authority next week.
With the formation of the association, Bhutanese CSI entrepreneurs now have a dedicated platform to interact with the government.
Discussions among business enterprises on the need for a formal body to address their challenges culminated in the formation of the association. It initially functioned as an informal group which started last year.
The association aims to interact with the government for the growth of entrepreneurs and CSIs in the country. It will also address the issues to create a synergetic and motivating environment for start-ups and entrepreneurs.
“We felt that government agencies make policies based on their assumptions of what our challenges are, not the actual challenges we face. So we thought that if we have such a body, then we would be able to appraise the government on our actual needs and what are the policy interventions they can initiate to help us in building a very dynamic and vibrant CSI ecosystem,” said Ugyen Dendup, the founding member of Bhutan CSI Association.
Records maintained with the National Statistical Bureau show that there are more than 26,000 CSIs in the country. This is more than 90 per cent of the total industries in the country. Entrepreneurs feel the formation of the association will help address some of their issues.
“I am feeling excited and at the same time motivated as well. I believe that this platform can work as one of the promotional platforms for every young entrepreneur so that they can take their products to the next level,” said Bikash Waling Rai, an entrepreneur.
“It is very important to have such organisations because we need someone who can raise our voice and our needs. Especially for the CSIs who are large in number, we don’t have an organisation that looks after us. I feel very excited and we look forward to working with them,” said Karma Namgyel, another entrepreneur.
Despite making steady progress, the CSI sector in the country has been largely struggling, having to compete with relatively cheaper and imported products in the market. High production costs, limited human capacity and lack of a bigger market are some of the challenges start-ups and entrepreneurs are facing today.
Tashi Dekar
Edited by Kipchu
