Bhutan, A Land of Opportunities: From an Investor’s Perspective
Bhutan is a small landlocked country with immense potential to accomplish prosperity on many fronts. As it stands, the country’s main source of income is from hydropower amounting to 45% of the country’s revenue, mostly sold to India to cater to the electricity demand in one of its largest districts, Calcutta. However with India rapidly switching to renewable energy, adapting to greener alternatives, Bhutan is currently faced with the challenge of depletion, and eventual loss, of its primary source of revenue.
Bhutan’s second-largest foreign revenue-earner is tourism. But with this industry too, having been gravely impacted by Covid19, the country’s leadership is now compelled to think outside the box for alternative means to keep the economy afloat. From an investor’s point of view, I see tremendous potential in Bhutan to emerge as a digital hub with an offering of scalable tech products and services to cater to various needs of the fast-paced world.
The country has an advantage over its counterparts by virtue of the urban population having a satisfactory command of the English language & general interest in technology, though this interest is seen as lacking among the formal sector presenting thereby an impediment for progress.
In order to attract investors in tech, Bhutan has to amp itself up technologically — a given. The public sector can start with rehashing its online presence by updating the websites, most of which are built & run on antiquated applications. This is a worthy investment Bhutan can, and should, make to boost its image which is bound to yield positive results with the entire world being compelled to go online following the pandemic. To not embrace & invest in the ‘new normal’ would be a waste of potential & opportunity.
Embracing change:
Leaving the comfort zone may not be an easy task but a necessary one nevertheless in order for Bhutan to move away from dependency on hydropower as their primary revenue sources and explore tech which I am confident the country has all the tools & resources to thrive in. Like in parallel contexts, the private sector can spearhead the much-needed technological transformation in Bhutan by making all their services available online which may also serve to ensure public safety under current circumstances. In my research, I was surprised to discover that a certain leading bank, among many other institutions, had a website which was virtually defunct having not been updated in over seven years, and, worse, built on WordPress which anybody with a basic grasp on cybersecurity would agree is a recipe for disaster.
Bureaucracy:
As an outsider looking in, another factor I observed which holds Bhutan back from transforming itself to be more appealing to investors is the rigid bureaucracy or unwillingness to leave the ‘comfort zone’ on the part of top tier officials, decision-makers, in the state & private sectors. This coupled with most high-ranking officials lacking specific technical qualifications demanded by their respective professions & positions is a crisis Bhutan must address with urgency even if it means turning to the world, looking out of the country, for the right talent with the right skills & expertise.
The reason why most officials lack job-specific expertise & exposure is because the education system still only offers generalized qualifications for aspiring Managers. I’ve encountered situations where in some firms the IT Manager would be someone with management qualifications but no knowledge of IT. This was an interesting insight that inspired me to initiate the London Institute of Business and Technology within the BETA Park to mold & hone the next generation of professionals not only in Bhutan but the world over to be relevant & competent in their chosen niches.
Moving to the cloud:
Many outsiders to the IT industry have an irrational fear of the cloud, primarily due to misinformation & misunderstanding. Simply put, cloud computing refers to the delivery of computing services such as servers, storage, software, analytics, etc via the internet. In other words, wherever the software, hardware, and operating systems can be scaled up or down is a cloud environment.
In the context of Bhutan, the cloud is largely underutilized. I often propose the cloud to the public as corporate sector officials as a means for expanding their capabilities but often the suggestion is met with skepticism or flat-out rejection citing security concerns. There’s nothing inherently dangerous about the cloud — one’s safety depends on the level of diligence exercised. These anxieties are not unusual but could be mitigated & navigated through education.
What can Bhutan do once on the cloud?
The possibilities are endless — businesses can upscale & government authorities can make data available that can be meaningfully processed by citizens which can in turn benefit & boost economic activities. A simple example is how weather predictions distributed over APIs can serve to benefit farmers by planning their crops & harvest accordingly. App developers, the tech industry more broadly, can step up to the mantle and deliver the necessary tools that can promote the gradual digitalization among the masses perhaps starting with simple applications as the aforementioned.
Furthermore, another very common use for the cloud is in e-Commerce; marketplaces have expanded exponentially due to the cloud whereby businesses that had a narrow scope previously — perhaps restricted to a single website — are now exposed to new, diverse markets. A key benefit to the state would be the ability to maintain transparency by promoting the accessibility of citizens to information which is a sign of a functional democracy — this approach to governance by having a constant dialogue with citizens is not uncommon among the most developed of nations.
Investment & way forward:
Bhutan is a haven for the discerning investor but much can be done by the State to enable & empower starting with introducing a legal framework by which foreign investors can involve in economic activities — particularly in owning & running businesses. Also, the Visa process for Bhutan remains both expensive & tedious which is rather disheartening to investors as well as tourists if the country is to revive the industry post-Covid. As an investor, I am optimistic the country will rectify the above concerns moving forward and unleash its true potential to be a digital powerhouse in the South Asian region.
You can contact me at sesiri@libt.co.uk for further discussions around these topics.
