A team led by the Director General of Department of Cottage and Small Industry (DCSI), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) attended 5-days “workshop/knowledge sharing platform for strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystem in Bhutan” in Nepal and India from 21st September 2019 with support from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The workshop was part of Resilient Mountain Solution (RMS) initiative, the DCSI, MoEA will be leading Entrepreneurship development component of RMS in Bhutan through support from ICIMOD.
The major objective of the workshop was:
- To understand how other Startup Center in the region are shaping up when it comes to incubation and mentorship of young entrepreneurs;
- To provide opportunities for key actors in Bhutan to identify entrepreneurial ecosystem infrastructure requirement (both hard and soft) and how to optimally manage ecosystem;
- To initiate the process to connect the Startup Center in Bhutan with regional entrepreneurial hubs and networks and
- To suggest policy measures that Bhutan could take to grow entrepreneurship.
The workshop/exchange program was really a very fruitful as well as enriching learning experience to understand how startup ecosystem is emerging and what should be the role of each institutions/organizations to make vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. The exchange program created an avenue to mutual cooperation, linkages and effective networking opportunities with business incubators across the region to strengthen Startup Center.
The officials from ICIMOD and Nepal also accompanied the DCSI team in India.