Meeting with the ministers and executives today, Prime Minister shared that as the country moves forward in the fight against COVID-19, the Economic Contingency Plan series II will focus on the manufacturing sector and hotel industry.
Economic Contingency Plan series I focused on tourism, construction and agriculture where it executed immediate coping measures and initiated reforms and changes that triggered positive outcomes.
“We have learnt that there has been an impact on the manufacturing sector. So we will work towards this and see how can the government help and support the sector. We have already begun. And the other is the hotel industry. We know that it has been impacted and all of them have loans to repay. Because of the COVID-19 situation, it looks like we will not have tourists for at least two to three years. And even if they come, the numbers will not be like before. We have around 450 budget hotels and 60 star hotels. And how will the budget hotels sustain if the pandemic continues is a big question mark. For now, they do not have to pay EMI and loan deferment has come to the rescue. But these measures cannot go for long. So how can the government help and support the hotel industry? We are working on this and will come in ECP series II,” said Dr Lotay Tshering, the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also shared his concerns on the unemployment pressure because of the pandemic.
“We have around 13,000 people who have lost their jobs, 8,000 looking for a job and there are around 7,000 returnees from abroad. So we have the responsibility to employ nearly 30,000. While the trend of unemployment has been there every year, the COVID-19 situation has increased it by many folds. If this trend continues, the workspace will shrink by 10%. So this is exactly where we will have a social crisis as said by His Majesty,” added Lyonchhen.
Lyonchhen also urged the youth to take opportunity to get themselves employed in the Build Bhutan Project. Build Bhutan Project is one of the key components of the Economic Contingency Plan series I to address unemployment and layoffs by filling the gap in the construction sector amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
In addition, the Prime Minister shared that Bhutan is fighting COVID-19 like no other countries in the world. He said, should there be any community transmission, with effective surveillance and preparedness measures, the country is ready to handle any cases.
Sonam Pem
