Good karma

Posted inEconomy, People
Coffee, many say, is the most popular beverage on earth after water. Yet good coffee is hard to come by in most places. But it is available in Thimphu, at Karma’s Coffee, located in the Zhamling Building somewhere above Hotel Phuntsho Pelri.Karma’s is owned and run by Karma Tenzin, Bhutan’s first barista, who spent about two years in Australia training to make good coffee. And he made a lot of it: about four to five hundred cups a day!Back home the pace is much slower. He makes only 40 to 50 cups of coffee a day. This, he claims,…

Political Instability Index

Posted inDemocracy4 Comments
The Economist Intelligence Unit has predicted that the likelihood of political unrest has increased for most countries since 2007. A total of 95 countries are rated as being at “very high risk” or “high risk”, and Zimbabwe is considered to be the most vulnerable of all the 165 countries surveyed. Only 17 countries, led by Norway, are deemed to have “low risk” of political turmoil. See EIU’s Political Instability Index.With seven of the ten most vulnerable countries coming from Africa, that continent continues to be the most politically instable region in the world.But South Asia doesn’t fare much better.…

Improving public services

Posted inEconomy, Government
Many businessmen and women would have been delighted to hear our government’s assurances to start the one-stop service centre during BCCI’s annual general meeting last Friday. And they would have been pleased to know that our government is already acting on these assurances. Because, yesterday, according to BBS, our prime minister met with government secretaries to consider ways of reducing the administrative burden.Our government’s assurances and their immediate follow up came as especially good news to Dragyel Tenzin Dorjee. You see, Dragyel spent a year, running from pillar to post, to get permission to establish the Bhutan Institute of…

Connectivity for ICT businesses

Posted inEconomy
In my last entry I celebrated the government’s promise to make Bhutan an attractive destination for ICT businesses. I am truly excited at the prospects of using ICT to strengthen our economy, create much needed jobs and generated revenue, all while safeguarding our brand-image as a country that’s serious about gross national happiness.But yesterday I was reminded that our government will need to do a lot of work if ICT is to become a viable business in Bhutan. This is especially so if we want to attract foreign investment to spearhead the development of ICT businesses.What happened yesterday? I…

Attending to BCCI

Posted inEconomy
The Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry has just concluded its 24th Annual General Meeting. The gathering attracted some much needed attention for the private sector in general and the BCCI in particular.The minister of economic affairs addressed the AGM during its opening ceremony on Thursday, and encouraged the private sector to come up with new business ideas.On Friday, our prime minister also attended the meeting. And he spoke at length – for more than two hours, some say – to the business community about what the private sector can expect from our government. He reiterated our government’s promise…

BCCI’s new leaders

Posted inDemocracy, Economy
On Thursday, during its 24th Annual General Meeting, the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industries elected Topgyal Dorji as its 5th president, and Chen Chen Dorji and Thinley P. Dorji as vice presidents.I offer my heartiest congratulations to the incoming president and vice presidents. The three unrelated Dorji’s have an important common mission: to force our government to get serious about private sector development.

Unresolved audit issue

Posted inGovernment
It’s quite common to hear government officials complain: “I’m willing to help but, if I do, Audit will fix me up.” This refrain is not an excuse to avoid work. Instead, this shows how nervous most officials get when dealing with the RAA.This is unfortunate. This is unfortunate because all public servants actually accept and support the need to enhance responsibility and accountability in the government, especially when it comes to matters concerning use of public money.Yet most officials are wary of the RAA. And it’s not because they fear getting caught doing something wrong. More often, it’s because…

Lazy banks

Posted inEconomy
My last entry provoked Zekom to exclaim: “…calling Bhutanese Banks conservative is a praise they don’t deserve. I’d call them lazy!”She is correct.Because our banks our lazy, money lenders are doing a thriving business throughout rural Bhutan, where our farmers are compelled to take loans at exorbitant rates. It’s common for money lenders to charge farmers interest rates of 5% per month, which works out to 60% per year!This, of course, is illegal. The Moveable and Immoveable Property Act (1999) stipulates that “… no lender other than a registered financial institution which has been duly licensed to engage in…