COUNTRY BACKGROUND - Gross National Happiness Commission

Input supplyInput supply
Manufacturing and Trade
18.19 Most of the companies depend upon imports of raw materials from India, which does not generally pose
problems. A significant proportion of material inputs come from Bhutan and a small proportion come from third
countries. Inputs from third countries are negligible because of the extreme difficulty in obtaining foreign
exchange. However, shortages of small but vital inputs, such as machinery spares and chemicals often causes loss
of production.
18.20 Those enterprises with the most serious input problems are in the forestry and mineral based subsectors.
The main problem in these industries are not the shortage of supplies of raw materials per se but of obtaining the
required quality. In the forest subsector, enterprises can not obtain sufficient quantities of logs of the required
quality and size. In the mineral subsector, the shortages of raw materials of the required quality is the result of lack
of detail in feasibility studies.
LabourLabour
18.21 Most companies have problems in attracting and keeping adequately trained employees at all levels, which
reduces their operational efficiency. At the level of unskilled workers, there is much dependence upon Indian
nationals in factories near the Indian border. The problem is to attract and keep Bhutanese in the factory
environment. At the levels of skilled workers such as mechanics, electricians, laboratory technicians, there are
insufficient numbers of trained nationals.
C. InstitutionsC. Institutions
18.22 The Department of Trade and Industry is responsible for promotion and regulation of trade and
manufacturing. The Department provides assistance and services to entrepreneurs in the form of establishment of
industrial estates, coordination with other agencies in the identification of suitable projects and markets,
entrepreneurial training and advisory services. The Department of Trade and Industry has four regional offices:
Thimphu, Geylegphug, Phuntsholing and Samdrup Jongkhar. The Department of Trade and Industry had a staffing
strength of 67 in 1990. This excludes the staffing strength in Ministry of Trade and Industry which had 66 people in
1990. The Department of Trade and Industry also manages the Business Opportunity ad Information Centre to
provide advisory and counselling services to prospective entrepreneurs and businesses.
18.23 Bhutanese entrepreneurs, contractors and industrialists have formed the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce,
with its secretariat in Thimphu. The business community in each town elects a member of their community a
member of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce. The aim of the BCC is to promote private sector business.
18.24 The State Trading Corporation of Bhutan (STCB) is the focal point for import and export of goods between
the Government of Bhutan and other countries. The STCB is a self-financing agency which is loosely attached to
the Ministry of Trade and Industry. STCB has four functional divisions : Export Division, General Import and Sales
Division, Automobile Import and Sales Division and Finance and Accounts Division. In late 1991, STCB had a
staffing strength of 123.
18.25 STCB has its head office in Thimphu with a regional office in Phuntsholing. STCB also maintains branch
officer in Calcutta to clear goods in-transit to Bhutan or out of Bhutan. The functions of Automobile Imports and
Sales Divisions are to deal with imports and sales of automobiles and spare parts, and imports and sales of
machinery and equipment from both India and third countries. The General Imports and Sales Division deals with
imports and sales of goods other than automobiles. Much of the work of this division is concerned with imports and
sales of quota items from India. The Export Division of STCB promotes and markets Bhutanese products in order
to diversify export markets and earn higher amount of foreign exchange. This division negotiates rates and
quantities for exports and imports. All export items to third countries are channelled through Export Division of
STCB. STCB also compiles trade statistics on a monthly basis for submission to the Department of Trade and
Industry.
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