MoICE Minister assures help to Jangchub and others like him

Last week this paper featured the case of entrepreneur Jangchub Dorji who had a start up in the frozen fries business, but had to stop and drive a taxi after facing various bureaucratic hurdles and the final straw being the rejection of his ESP loan.

There is new hope now as the Minister for Industry Trade and Commerce (MoICE) Namgyal Dorji said Jangchub will be helped by the ministry.

Lyonpo said that it is not just Jangchub but there are 7 to 8 other entrepreneurs facing problems just like him and the ministry will help them.

He said that there is a total of 14 start ups in the start up center in Changzamtok and the ministry would like to intervene and see them all become success stories so that they can inspire others too. 

Jangchub confirmed that he had been contacted by the ministry and they are helping him follow up on the ESP loan rejection issue.

Meanwhile in response to a question by The Bhutanese on even promising young entrepreneurs facing difficulty in access to finance and red tape, the Finance Minister Lekey Dorji said a key priority in the 13th Five Year Plan is to strengthen the business ecosystem.

As part of this effort, the government aims to establish and operationalize approximately 6,470 startups and new industries.

He said the Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP) reflects the government’s dedication to revitalizing the economy and promoting private sector growth.

He said while mindset change among public officials is a necessary component of private sector facilitation, it is not the sole pivot around which entrepreneurial success revolves.

Lyonpo said a more fundamental challenge lies in ensuring financial discipline, especially in the stewardship of public funds allocated for enterprise development. Further, it also depends on the quality of proposals submitted. In many cases, proposals do not meet the required protocols and criteria.

Lyonpo said when he enquired with the BDBL on why Jangchub’s proposal was rejected, he was told that Jangchub would be using only 15 to 20% of the main equipment and that would not make the business viable.

Here Jangchub said the reference is to the blast freezer costing Nu 3.3 mn which is one of the machines. He said the blast freezer can do 5,000 kg in a day but he needs 300 to 900 kg a day and there is no machine below that range.

He said despite that even at 300 kg a day his revenue would Nu 20 mn in a year with profits of Nu 6 to 7 mn a year and even more if he expanded.

Lyonchhen Dasho Tshering Tobgay said that there are many projects being approved and success stories too and they should also be highlighted. He said that in some ESP cases (not Jangchub) credit history also matters.