The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Economic Affairs Minister yesterday said that the lockdown in India followed by some external factor had stopped the import of the non-essential items. He added that currently due to easing of the lockdown in India, the government is now in a position to facilitate the import of non-essential items.
However, there are still large city routes and manufacturing industries who fall in the red zone in India, which mean all the items there were imported in normal times might not be available. It will also not be possible for the people to pick up the variety of products they could buy in Jaigoan.
Lyonpo said, “Due to the COVID-19 situation, there are certain protocols and SOPs in place and we should make sure we follow it, otherwise all the effort so far will go in vain,” and further added, “We have now allowed such goods and they are coming from the other side as well, and hopefully gradually it will be more as production in India picks up pace, and we will be able to make things available once again.”
Lyonpo said that the market structure has been running normally so far, but the people cannot expect it to be perfect.
He added, “We are trying to ensure that market run normally as much as possible, even in the remotest parts of the country.”
In terms of essential goods, he stated that there will probably not be a stoppage in supply or manufacturing even in India as it is a matter of hunger and COVID-19, he added.
