Entrepreneurship Matters in Bhutan: Dechhen Pelden at TEDxThimphu

Before we begin, I would like to ask the audience how many of the people in the audience are thinking about starting a new business venture or even pursuing the passion of doing something new. Can we have a quick show? Fans, ah, great, good. I mean, as much as I saw the hands, I mean great, I'd like to say you better hurry up because personally recently a friend of mine made an observation regarding myself that I always carry with me, you'll see me carrying around people in Bhutan who They are big bag a big bag of ideas only to realize that someone has already started doing the things that I wanted to do, so I realized that I need to talk less about implementation and realize when is the window of opportunity .

Now I mean, now it will never happen again if you let it go, so today there are three things I would like to share with you: one is my personal story, the second is the lessons learned ideas for my personal story and then the third, the challenges. that um what I face this is what I do this is what our family does we are in the red red R rice business of exporting red bhane rice to the US this started a long time ago when I was very little and then I became seriously interested in it before I went to university.

I asked my father for advice on what classes or what subjects I should study or what I should major in and he had a vision for me to study Horticulture because he realized what I mean. There would be opportunities for me in the future in the agricultural sector and also because of the tradition that in Bhutan women inherit the land, but I never ended up taking horticulture classes or was ever close to it. I did something completely different and that same tradition that in the past worked in favor of women is now becoming very challenging for these women who inherit land because farming is not the most attractive option in these modern times and global agriculture does not offer that rate type. of return compared to the investment in terms of hard work that has to be done and I don't think this is something isolated just in the case of the context of Bhutan, it is a global phenomenon, I mean the majority of farmers in Bhutan, the 70%.

Many of them practice subsistence agriculture and we have less than 7% of our land is Arab land, but nevertheless, not all the disadvantages, there are advantages. We have managed to brand a product from Bhutan, red rice, and position ourselves. We compete with the global market and we are located in more high-end stores and I know that the majority of the audiences are from California, among the more health conscious people, I suppose they would find it in most of their Whole Foods or in the most of their if you're in New York at Dean and Del Lucas, um, most, I guess, the higher end of the market segment.

I don't expect anyone to find out what's written there, what the article says, but I just wanted to show that this is a Wall Street Journal article about Bhutanese red rice and also to show that I'm referring to Bhutan, all of us who know about Bhutan or we Bhutanese know that Bhutan is such a small country with an even smaller population for any An entrepreneur who wants to start something new in Bhutan is a challenge not only in terms of regulatory issues or in terms of the other challenges that involves starting or starting a business, but also the geographical location, but, however, there are opportunities that can be found in niche markets and this is what we have done for Red Rice Bines, with the right brand positioning, which There is a growing trend in consumer trends to make health. healthy choices by consumers and then there is a growing market for that and even if a lot of people in culture said that culture needs to evolve, it can't be static, so definitely in business you can't be static, otherwise someone will be at the head of the race, so For us, as producers, we also differentiate ourselves, we try to change, evolve our agricultural practices from conventional ones to more sustainable agricultural practices that are viable for both the farmers and us, as well as co-producers, we provide fair wages and then There is another practice that we are initiating strongly and that is SRI, which is basically the systemic intensification of rice that uses fewer resources in terms of less seeds and less water, but also contributes to higher yields compared with the conventional way of producing rice and also As we all know, there is great pressure on resources in the world, whether it is water, whether it is talking about climate change or environmental impact, and with SRI practices there is less pressure on the resources of the world. planet and also.

It conserves biodiversity due to minimal or no use of chemicals and fertilizers and as a company we are only making a small difference globally, especially in the context of Bhutan, we have only 7% of arable land. We believe in sustainable family farms. where we practice the use of SRI so that there is more yield from the same acre of land and we provide our global consumers with options or choices for the products that are available and also environmental impact in terms of using less resources and getting higher yield and profitability as well . for farmers so that they can increase supply to the global market and increase their potential to earn more.

This is generally my personal experience with red rice and I am simply adding to the knowledge of what I have learned along the way. I think many of us aspire to own large profitable companies, be it Microsoft, Apple, Facebook or in this context, Tashi business corporations, but remember that none of this was done overnight and many of these. they started, they started small, so there's nothing very scientific or dramatic that we do as a company, it's just small C things, small things that we've realized that there is a Western audience that is willing to pay a value superior for our products.

Bhutan as bhones, I think we are a bit complacent, we wait just for the notion of being an exotic place, we expect that whatever comes out of our country will sell, no one will come to you and offer you, hey Bhutan, this. it's something from here, we'll just buy it, it's such a lovely place or it's such happy people and finally we move on to the challenges we face. The challenges I am referring to will be for many aspiring entrepreneurs in Bhutan will face both at the national level and at the firm level that we face.

There is a global trend to say bilocal because of all the carbon footprint issues, but let me say this again. I feel bad for attacking the Americans, but anyway um um I guess one farmer in California would be emitting more carbon according to my uh according to my belief compared to many compared to 100 farmers combined in Bhutan. I mean the argument is probably used not at a government level but in terms of the marketing strategy of what is used and the other problem is also with developing countries using the multimodal multifunctional um functionality to protect the agricultural cultural sector saying that agriculture is not just commodities and trade is a way of life is Heritage.

In a way I don't believe in that because you want to protect your agricultural sector but you also want to, which basically means exclude us, the developing nations, while you want to sell your high-tech equipment or other machinery that we are not capable of, but It is necessary for our development, we have no choice but to buy it from you, so give us a fair platform to compete. The other challenges we face are that we have very non-tariff barriers in terms of what it is. Specifically, I guess our company would be the certificate requirements or I mean there's a big movement in organic that says in Bhutan everyone thinks that what we grow is organic, yes it is organic, but if you want to complete internationally, none What you say organic will get you Premium type pricing or something unless you can prove or show a piece of paper from an accredited organization that is internationally recognized.

I mean, that's a clever way to disguise your kind of trade protectionist measures. I guess and also at a specific company level, most of us Bines don't have the experience of negotiating internationally, so for us, what we face is when we have an interested buyer, he is always interested in the idea of ​​exclusivity, but without any commitment on your part, so I would say to any of the bines that are looking to compete, compete and sell the products in the export market, to be careful with that and to recognize that and, I guess, Finally, having said all that.

Bhutan has challenges doing business or being an entrepreneur in Bhutan, however, there are always small and niche markets that we can find. Avenues to do business. When I see niches, it doesn't have to be small. It can be like we have done. um niche in energy intensive industries in Bhutan, ferrosilicon or we have cement industries in Bhutan which are also niche markets where we have a niche market in North East India. I specifically mentioned farming because that's not what I know best and in the end, I guess for many of my fellow bootes here, those of you who raised your hand and wanted to start something, I would say now is an important time, now we will never come back, so let's get moving and also.

We urge our government and our politicians to make Bhutan a business-friendly environment where you and I, ordinary people like you and me, can do something and make a difference, thank you.