Phuentsholing finally picking up

The commercial hub of Bhutan, Phuentsholing town under Chukha, faced two years of hardship with businesses dying down and residents migrating to other districts.

The 7-day mandatory quarantine system in the southern dzongkhag detracted people from travelling to Phuentsholing, and the students studying in Phuentsholing were sent to other districts for their safety.

Phuentsholing is no longer a ghost town now. The situation is changing with the implementation of Phase II, which lifted the 7-day mandatory quarantine. Phuentsholing Thrompon, Uttar Kumar Rai, said that things are now improving with the commercial activities picking up due to the many people visiting the town after two years.

“Situation has changed and the business and economy has improved to some extent. To fully improve, we need to have a huge population, however, with the implementation of Phase II, people started coming in again, wherein the traffic has exceptionally increased, and also some housing crunch has already started,” he added.

The population in Phuentsholing is increasing everyday, and with the return of students from other districts, the usual hustle and bustle returned to the town as well. Everything is picking up, he added.

He further said that it will take some time to revive the economy in Phuentsholing, as efforts have to go into the security measures to ensure the safety of the people.

“The border security is not compromised and the security along the border is tightened. The security team is strictly monitoring the border,” Thrompon added.

Meanwhile, the owner of the UT Trading said that it is good to see that finally their business is again picking up. He said that when there was a system of 7 days quarantine and driver switching mode at Sorchen, doing business was challenging due high transportation and labor costs.

“Now, with the new normal, business is going smooth. Though the sale is not as good as before, we are hoping that the things will turn better with time. Everything is better and with this we believe that the price of goods will get back to normal,” he added.

Manager of the 8 Eleven, C.R. Gurung said that the situation is normalizing now and the business is slowly picking up. Lifting of driver switching mode has not only reduced the transportation cost, but also helped in saving time in doing businesses.

“The number of customers was limited in the past two years given various factors, but now the number is increasing though not as like before. Since we are a wholesaler, we did not see a vast difference in receiving customers. Nevertheless, we are hoping for the best in the times to come,” he added.

Palden, a garment shop owner, said that situation was dire in the past two years with very less sales to no sales at all.

“But, in the past two weeks, I am getting quite a good number of customers and my sales has improved. If this continues without any lockdowns in the future, the business might pick up gradually,” she added.

She was on the verge of shutting down the garment business a few months ago, but not anymore as she now gets orders from Thimphu.

Likewise, other business entities in Phuentsholing have shared the same view, and they are happy to welcome the new normal.