Bhutan’s Aspirations - People, progress, and planet: Reaching upper middle income status by 2029 - Policy notes 2024

Jul 19, 2026

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Policy notes explore the challenges and reform urgency behind Bhutan’s path to upper middle income status by 2029, using representative family cases to illustrate constraints in employment, education, health, and social protection. The analysis connects socioeconomic barriers for families with priorities for investing in early years, schooling, workforce development, and integrated service delivery. It also details measures to foster economic progress via private-sector participation, stability, city resilience, sustainable agriculture and forestry, climate adaptation, and strengthened sustainable finance frameworks.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages31

Reading Time1 h 18 min

Socioeconomic constraints facing families in Bhutan

The urgency of reforms

Investing in people

Fostering economic progress

Promoting sustainable development on a livable planet

Maximizing sustainable agriculture, forestry, and tourism for green growth

Strengthening climate and environmental resilience

Closing gaps in Bhutan’s sustainable finance architecture

Conclusion

Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Pub l ic Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized POLICY NOTES 2024 Bhutan’s Aspirations People, progress, and planet: Reaching upper middle income status TABLE OF CONTENTS SOCIOECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS FACING FAMILIES IN BHUTAN 01 | THE URGENCY OF REFORMS | 03 | | --- | --- | | INVESTING IN PEOPLE | 06 | | Investing in the early years | 07 | | Investing in school Age: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary education | 08 | | Investing in adulthood: Strengthening workforce development and employment | 10 | | Integrating service delivery systems for health and social protection | 11 | | FOSTERING ECONOMIC PROGRESS | 13 | | Boosting private sector participation | 13 | | Increasing macroeconomic stability and public sector efﬁciency | 14 | | Enhancing the agglomeration beneﬁts, connectivity, and resilience of cities | 15 | | Policy recommendations | 18 | | PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ON A LIVABLE PLANET | 21 | | Maximizing sustainable agriculture, forestry, and tourism for green growth | 22 | | Strengthening climate and environmental resilience | 24 | | Closing gaps in Bhutan’s sustainable ﬁnance architecture | 25 | | CONCLUSION | 26 | SOCIOECONOMIC CONSTRAINTS FACING FAMILIES IN BHUTAN One way to visualize the issues facing Bhutan is to see them through the eyes of an imaginary but typical family. Karma is 29, intelligent and hard-working but he is thinking about leaving Bhutan. He just received his visa to attend college in Australia with a clear prospect of landing a good job there afterwards. While completing the emigration process, he was also oﬀered an internship in a ﬁlm Production startup in Bhutan led by his elder brother Dorji. But for two years the startup, catering to the emerging Bhutanese ﬁlm industry, has been struggling to expand. Dorji needs $5 million in ﬁnancing, but under Bhutan’s current company valuation rules, he doesn’t have enough assets to back the loan. What policies would the government need to adopt to keep Karma and many others like him in Bhutan? And how could Dorji’s business be supported to expand, and retain its talented workforce by offering them a clear path to social progress, while also providing more opportunities for others seeking employment? Karma and Dorji’s parents have returned to live in their home village after taking early retirement as civil servants. They are cared for by their youngest child, 25-year-old Kinley, who has stayed in the village to take care of the family’s farmland and animals. To feed her husband and two sons, she is cultivating an acre of paddy rice andrearing two cows. In addition, she has received through a Project a greenhouse to cultivate vegetables and spices. She also has a permit to harvest mushrooms and lemongrass, which she can sell to the market. Kinley’s husband, Sonam, is a carpenter who builds and renovates traditional houses in the village and crafts small furniture. Both Kinley and Sonam would like to explore how they might boost their income by expanding their businesses into high-value natural renewable resources. Kinley wants to grow organic strawberries, and Sonam wants to produce high-quality handcrafted furniture, but they lack access to ﬁnance, markets, and business skills. In addition, increasingly unpredictable weather and higher risk of natural hazards make their business uncertain. Recent ﬂoods and forest ﬁres have threatened their lives, property, livelihood, and safety, raising concerns about the future. Bhutan’s Aspirations 1 What policies would the government need to adopt to support Kinley and Sonam to start a rural enterprise and diversify their livelihoods? What policies are needed to promote the demand for Bhutanese high-value natural renewable resources? And what of climate change – will the risk of more ﬂooding and earthquakes put them and their businesses in danger? What policies and programs could the government implement to ensure resilience to cl

FAQs

How does the document frame Bhutan’s socioeconomic challenges for families?

It frames issues through the experiences of a typical family, highlighting pressures around employment, education continuity, health access, and income stability in both rural and urban settings.

What policy areas does the document prioritize to invest in people?

It emphasizes investments across early years, primary/secondary/tertiary education, adulthood through workforce development and employment, and integrating health and social protection service delivery systems.

How does the document link economic progress to long-term resilience?

It connects progress to boosting private sector participation and improving macroeconomic stability and public-sector efficiency, alongside strengthening city connectivity and resilience to support sustainable, climate-resilient livelihoods.

Jul 19, 2026

Upload by Jiven