How do we create employment?

This is news to me. As an executive member of IT Association of Bhutan and a member of the fledgling IT industry in Bhutan, if this is true, things are not going right for the industry and for the country. According to statistics, government needs to create some 93,000 jobs by 10FYP. If all these activities are going to be done by Indian firms, how will our private sector create jobs and how will we have growth? I hope this is not true and that the government corrects this if it is true. This is a news article by Sonam Pelden in Bhutan Observer. Read on:


Local IT firms question ICT agreement
29 January 2010
The Total Solutions Project (TSP) agreement signed between the Department of Information Technology (DIT) and NIIT of India last March has ruffled the feathers of local IT firms.

The agreement says that NIIT will spearhead the supply of hardware components for Bhutan. The Bhutanese IT firms say that, while the project will benefit a large section of the population, they will see little growth if the whole procurement of materials goes to the Indian firm. The proprietor of Gyelyong Enterprise, a Thimphu-based IT firm, said the IT business in Bhutan was already going down with big-budget projects going directly to the suppliers. “It will make our survival difficult.

This project should be given to the Bhutanese vendors,” he said. The fledgling Bhutanese IT firms will suffer losses if some Indian company supplies the materials, according to the General Manager of Bhutan International, Shyam Basnet. The Chairman of IT Association of Bhutan, Rinzy Dorji, said the association does not know anything about TSP and its procurement procedures. But if the procurement business goes to the Indian firms, he said the issue would be taken up to the Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC) where the survival of Bhutanese IT firms and vendors would be discussed.

“If the Indian firms are going to do everything, how will the IT capacity grow in the country?” he asked. “In order to grow, we need work and experience. Otherwise, the license holders would be just sitting uselessly paying taxes and giving employment.” “When there are so many IT graduates and firms in the country, why depend on others? Rinzy Dorji asked. However, an MoIC official said that the steering committee of the project wants the Bhutanese vendors to be involved in the procurement of materials. “The agreement would be reviewed,” he said, adding that once the agreement has been reviewed, each sector will take up the procurement job separately.

The project involves five sectors, namely Education Ministry, Labour Ministry, Royal University of Bhutan, Royal Civil Service Commission and DIT. The sectors will work on five components –training of 12, 000 government employees including 5,000 teachers, computer labs in the tertiary institutions, 260 Hole-in-the-Wall projects and taking ICT to 168 schools.

MoIC Secretary, Dasho Kinley Dorji, said that the sectors involved will sit with NIIT officials and discuss what happens in each sector and finalize equipment procurement. “Each sector will look at the proposal made, and we have to go through the rules on purchasing equipment,” he said. By the end of February, the decision on training, equipment and timetable will be made. Asked if any amendments would be made to the agreement, he said the agreement itself is flexible.

During His Majesty’s recent visit to India, the Indian government pledged a grant of Nu 2.05 billion for the development of ICT in Bhutan. The grant MoU says that the Indian government will continue to provide financial support for implementing the ICT projects under Bhutan’s 10th five-year plan and expedite the implementation of TSP.

The project will provide access to information technology and IT solutions to a significant proportion of Bhutan’s population over the next five years and promote Bhutan as a knowledge-based society.

By Sonam Pelden