The Kingdom of Bhutan, whose voters will be called to elect their representatives on Tuesday, January 9, may be at a turning point in its history. As one of the rare countries on the planet with a negative carbon footprint, the small Himalayan nation of 780,000 people, which invented the concept of “gross national happiness” and rejects the logic of all growth, urgently needs to boost its economy. The youth unemployment rate has reached almost 30%.
The active forces, young people, civil servants, teachers, nurses, are fleeing to Australia, Canada, the Gulf States and even Japan in search of attractive jobs and better living conditions. More than 15,000 Bhutanese have received visas to go abroad in 2023. As a result, labor shortages are felt across all sectors.
Economic issues dominated the campaign for the general election, the fourth since the transition from a system of absolute monarchy to a parliamentary monarchy in 2008. The country lies between China and India and is still suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was managed in an exemplary manner (only around twenty people died), but this led to tourism, which is vital for Bhutan, coming to a standstill due to the strictness of the exit restrictions. The majority of revenue comes from hydropower production and tourism. Visitors must pay a daily tourist tax of 100 euros to view this gem.
Recovery strategies
The population, especially the urban population, is suffering from the rise in prices of fuel and essential products, which are already very expensive in normal times, as Bhutan relies on imports. “The year 2022 was marked by deep discouragement among the population in view of the decline in purchasing power after Covid-19. There is no shortage of manual jobs, 50,000 Indians work in Bhutan, but young Bhutanese are striving for skilled jobs,” observes Françoise Pommaret, Bhutan specialist and Honorary Consul of France.
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Debates between the candidates focused on recovery strategies. In a recent report, the Asian Development Bank says Bhutan needs to further boost the private sector if it wants to achieve its goal of reaching a gross domestic product (GDP) of $10 billion (€9.1 billion) by 2034, compared to $2. 6 billion today. The regulatory hurdles are numerous.
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