Cottage and Small Industries will get export financing and payment gateway soon. Export financing is a short-term funding agreement available to exporters. Representatives from the CSI market raised the need of such a platform during the Public-Private Dialogue held with the prime minister, last week.
35 representatives from the private sector and 10 government officials met last Friday to discuss issues faced by the private sector.
During the meeting, CSI representatives stated that there is a need for export financing so that Bhutanese businesses can take advantage of the global market.“We are interested in aligning our business ideas towards export promotion. We have experienced that along the journey when we scale up the volume of exports and our production and also invest in exporting more, financing becomes a challenge. We are facing challenges related to increasing or recurring expenditures and for that, we need innovative export financing mechanisms and services,” said Sonam Chophel, CEO of Druksell.
The CSI representatives also raised the need for a better payment gateway.
“We are an online store and we reached almost 40 countries. We regularly receive payments and make transactions. We have had issues with payments. Because we are receiving in multiple currencies, bringing it all together, consolidating our payments, and also getting it across and getting it into Bhutan, we have to go through a lot of hoops and loops,” added Sonam Chophel.
As per officials from the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the meeting is a platform for the private sector to raise issues and also to allow them to present their recommendations on the issue.
Prime Minister, Dr Lotay Tshering, announced that the dialogue will be held on the last Friday of every month. Earlier the meeting was held whenever needed.
Chenga Dawa
Edited by Sherub Dorji
