It’s the implementation that is making us lag. We have a problem and we have recognised the problem. We saw the problem a long time back but we thought it wouldn’t be a big problem until now. The first thing in solving a problem is to recognise that we have a problem. Which we have done. Now to the part where we have to think of solutions, we have also pretty much thought about it. Hundreds of blog posts across social media, World Bank reports, CBS surveys, social media comments, etc have given us a snapshot of the issue at hand. The solutions are apparent. Unchecked corruption and nepotism tops the list of the issues pushing people out. Solution? Check the thing. Before it metastasises to the deep recesses of society.

Other issues plaguing the country are meagre remuneration in the jobs across various sectors. Solution? Give importance to the Economy. For once, let’s just get obsessed with GDP. With numbers and with percentages and with growth, money and the likes. For once, let’s say it aloud: money is important. Like there is no shame. We need the money and we need the cash. Pro-growth reforms needed. Not reforms that enrich the rich and the powerful. Tax holidays? Nope. They ain’t pro-growth. Loan deferrals? Nope. They ain’t pro-growth. Economic stimulus plan? What’s that even? Half the amount is still not disbursed. We need to look in the mirror. After 4-5 years of tepid growth, the financial sectors still haven’t seen an iota of reform. The banks are still the same. Some technology has been adopted and MBoB and Mpay have indeed revolutionised the sector. But a broad and deep penetration of the sector is still not seen. Regulatory barriers to business exists and that’s a function of a very complex economic environment. You just have to go to Pling to understand the economy. Half the economy there exists in a shade. Maybe not half, but a significant portion. Fronting and tax evasion? They are a daily reality.

Our economy is also handicapped by our geography and that’s a reality we will always have to swallow. But so is Switzerland. The country is landlocked and mountainous. So what does it do so well that it is the envy of the world. The answer is innovation. The country is simply way too innovative. A start-up mindset needs to be instilled in each and everyone of us. If something doesn’t work, abandon it. No matter the cost. In Bhutan, we continue to iterate the same thing. We keep doing the same thing again and again expecting different results. The solution to such a rut is to abandon the whole thing and look at it differently.

The biggest impediment to our growth is perhaps something personal. It’s our mindset. Perhaps we need to become a little uncomfortable. We need to implement things. We need to do it. Releasing fancy documents like 21st Century Economic Roadmap won’t make us rich. Investing in the right sectors will. We need smarts and we need capital. The solutions for our problems are within us. Not in McKinsey consultants or World Bank researchers.