The commercial spaces of Thimphu TechPark are still vacant even after its first phase became operational nine months ago.
The country’s first IT Park, Thimphu TechPark, opened with big dreams of being a regional IT centre. The plans to rope in the major multi-national companies did not work out after Genpact and Wipro backed out. The first and second floor of the TechPark is still vacant.
However, two US registered companies, ScanCafe and Shaun communications have rented space at IT Park.
The Operation Manager of Shaun Communications Bhutan Private Limited, Prodipto Mukherjee, said since Business Processes Outsource (BPO) has not much flourish in Bhutan, business is a concern.
Shaun Communications is a BPO limited liability Company. It specialises in voice BPO also known as call centre.
“When we started in September we faced lots of challenges regarding the communications. Soft skill is a concern about Bhutanese people here,” said Prodipto Mukherjee. He said Bhutanese people have potential but they need proper training.
Shaun Communications has started training people. The company will start operating in about two months after the completion of training.
ScanCafe specialises in digitalising and editing older formats of photography and video. They rented the space at the IT Park in November last year as a pilot project.
The ground floor of the Thimphu TechPark is occupied by the Bhutan Innovation and Technology Centre. The BITC overlooks three components- business incubation, shared technology centre and data centre services. The BITC is an initiative to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. Currently there are about eight companies within the BITC as incubates.
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“The BITC needs to strengthen its mentoring, which in particular attracted us here. We already have an office in the Thimphu. We joined the incubation centre to avail the extra services, which are being provided like business consultancy services,” said CIMAS Bhutan’s Advisor Ken Dobruskin.
The Bhutan Data Center services, has been outsourced to the New Edge Technologies Private Limited by the Thimphu TechPark. It is a joint venture between New Edge Technologies Private Limited and Burland Technology Solutions Limited of the United Kingdom. The data centre service takes care of two major cost factors involved in operating the IT services such as sustainable green power and low cooling costs.
The centre already has two clients.
Thimphu Tech Park is a joint venture comprising Assetz Property Group, Singapore and Druk Holdings & Investments and promoted by DITT. It has been developed based on a Design, Build, Finance, Own, Operate and Transfer (DBFOOT) Public Private Partnership.
The operation and ownership of the IT Park is with the Thimphu TechPark Private Limited for 90 years, after which, it will be transferred to the Government. The Government has provided facilities like access road, optic fiber connectivity and water supply.
