The Bhutanese Leading the way.
During the launch of the 21st Century Economic Roadmap the Minister for Industry Commerce and Employment Namgyal Dorji announced that the government plans to launch a USD 100 mn venture capital fund.
“In the era of economic growth, the government has planned strategies and since today is an auspicious day for all Bhutanese citizens, I would like to announce an important initiative taken by the government. For an economy to grow, new start-up and entrepreneurship ideas should be supported and for that reason, the government is allocating 100 mn USD for entrepreneurship and startup businesses.”
The roadmap under strategic enablers of growth says it wants to strengthen the financial ecosystem by developing an all-encompassing strategy, improving access to finance for the private sector, and exploring alternative sources of finance for new business models.
An official associated with the roadmap says that banks are hesitant to lend to start ups and entrepreneurs or the access to credit is very expensive. The official said the USD 100 mn fund will be one of the first ventures of the roadmap.
The government will select a professional venture capital firm as a partner with the government putting in USD 50 mn and the other half being put in by the partner firm.
The aim of the fund is to take start ups and even existing businesses with potential global reach. The fund will require new financial rules.
The prospective firms are those who came for the Bhutan Innovation Forum and also contacts from the PM’s visit to Davos and Saudi Arabia.
The international partner can help from the bootcamp to accelerating and scaling up and even lead to potential unicorns. There will also be help in marketing and connecting to markets which is why a professional firm will be selected.
