PRESS RELEASE

8 February 2019, BIABPO Secretariat, Thimphu TechPark

An enthusiastic crowd of over 100 participants including foreign delegates and national Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry stakeholders came together on Tuesday, 29 January 2019 at the Thimphu TechPark to celebrate the launch of the Bhutan Industry Association for Business Process Outsourcing (BIABPO) on the theme “Bhutan’s New Employment Growth and Export Opportunity”.

The event featured numerous distinguished speakers, industry luminaries and foreign delegates including the Founder CEO of MultiRational Private Limited, in his capacity as the mentor, advisor and interim President of BIABPO; the Co-Founder CEO of ScanCafe Private Ltd.; the Founder Chairman of Bhutan Data Scientists Private Ltd.; the Founder CEO of London Institute of Business and Technology; and, the Director of Capital Markets of Behring Companies.

The new not-for-profit industry association was launched to promote Bhutanese talent to the outside world and establish the successful “work in Bhutan over the internet” which has been done so successfully with millions of jobs and billions in export income by our close friend and big neighbour India as well as other English speaking countries in the region. Bhutan can achieve BPO success too.  BIABPO is already strong with 27 members and continues to grow its base of member stakeholders.

Honorable Lyonpo Ugyen Dorji, Minister for Labour & Human Resources graced the opening session of the launch event as the Chief Guest.

BPO industry Careers Fair Attracts Job Seekers in Bhutan

A full-scale Careers Fair, the first of its kind in Bhutan, was successfully conducted at Thimphu TechPark on 29 January in conjunction with the launch of the BIABPO industry association.. The Fair provided a unique opportunity for those seeking a professional career with a foreign employer to register, indicate their interest and be considered for employment by current and incoming BPO locators. BIABPO Talent Development Committee Chair Sonam Choki said “The Careers Fair aimed to expose our youth to business practices, software and systems used by businesses in Singapore, Australia, the United States and other countries with advanced business process infrastructure. This is aligned with BIABPO’s mission of sustainable job creation.”

3,000 New Office Jobs for Bhutanese Youths

Over the next four years, that’s the mission of the BIABPO, the first industry association in Bhutan to promote Bhutan’s young talent to employers abroad to work for them from our own beautiful happy country.

The BPO industry in Bhutan is ready to scale, to create more new and sustainable jobs for Bhutanese youth, to empower the Bhutanese economy and to bring more wealth to the nation by creating a substantial new services export industry. As has happened in other countries, a BPO industry in Bhutan will improve social stability and the decentralisation of employment opportunities.

The Minister for Labour & Human Resources, Hon’ble Lyonpo Ugyen Dorji said “Our new Government accords high priority to addressing youth unemployment. The private sector has enormous potential to provide employment opportunities for young job seekers by leveraging foreign labour markets to bring jobs here over the internet. BIABPO will also assist those already in the workforce but requiring reskilling and upskilling opportunities. The IT/ITES/BPO sector is a new and alternative channel to sustainable job creation which is well proven in our region and is not dependent on the growth of the domestic economy. BIABPO’s mission aligns with that of my Government’s objective of creating gainful and productive employment opportunities and I look forward to working with the association towards our mutual goals.”

Executive Director of BIABPO, Kezang said “This is the game-changer for the Bhutanese services sector in terms of creating new jobs and revamping the export services industry in the country. Bhutan is now BPO-ready to reap the fruits of the fast-moving information and communications technology landscape which has already proven its ability to provide stable employment for millions of young people in other countries.”

CEO of the Thimphu TechPark, Dr. Tshering C. Dorji, also lent his support to the event. “Thimphu TechPark is proud to co-sponsor BIABPO’s important launch event. BIABPO is the missing element in the development of an offshore job sourcing solution and I welcome and support the initiative to create an industry association as has been successfully established by so many of our neighbouring countries.”

BIABPO Success Stories

Since its inception in September 2018, BIABPO has made some notable achievements.

A Hong Kong Workforce Management (WFM) business launched in Bhutan and hired its first employee. A Singaporean internet company has hired a 5-member software development team. And an Australian Travel Agency outsourced web development to a Bhutanese BPO.

The event was successfully hosted by the BIABPO Secretariat and sponsors included MultiRational Private Ltd., Bhutan Telecom Ltd., Thimphu TechPark Ltd., Athang Private Ltd., Computer City and TingKarr Bhutan Journeys.

More details are available at www.bpo.bt/events.