The Prime Minister, in his State of the Nation report yesterday, highlighted overseas migration of Bhutanese people in search of better opportunities as the most pressing issue currently facing the country. Approximately 64,000 Bhutanese have migrated to foreign countries so far – a majority of them to Australia. This comprises an astounding nine percent of our country’s total population.

The impacts of migration of such a proportion can be far-reaching. Already, we are experiencing an acute shortage of workforce across the spectrum. A key pool of our human resources – teachers, doctors, specialists, engineers, lawyers, media practitioners, and bankers, name it – has left the country for greener pastures.

In the past few years, we have particularly experienced the worst brain drain in our entire history, with thousands of professionals from critical sectors leaving the country. The implications of this large-scale emigration and consequent brain drain have been rather glaring.

Many of our institutions are struggling to fill in key vacancies that require certain level of expertise and experience. This vacuum has increased the workload and undermined the efficiency of our public agencies. Look at our hospitals, for instance. These critical public health service institutions are short staffed, teetering on the edge of collapse.

What is even more worrying is the widespread disillusion and hopelessness among our youth. Lack of opportunities in the country is forcing a large number of our youth to seek opportunities overseas. Entire families are packing off, selling their land and properties back home. And more and more Bhutanese are seeking permanent residency abroad.

The reality is scary. Yet, the worst hasn’t come.

What we are currently experiencing is only the most immediate impacts of the exodus. In the longer run, the migration will have much bigger and deeper, and even irreversible, consequences on our culture, language, identity, and national sovereignty. As a small land-locked nation with less than a million people, this will shake the very foundation of our nation.

His Majesty The King has envisioned the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) to catapult our nation into the future, and at a pace never imagined. The visionary GMC will serve as a panacea to all our existing economic woes. But it will take some time until we get there, until we can fully enjoy the fruits of GMC. That is why we need immediate interventions right now – a mix bag of quick fixes, short-term policy decisions, and impactful governance. The post-pandemic economic recovery has been rather slow. Our hopes for swift economic revival are pinned on the Nu 15 billion Economic Stimulus Programme. This crucial stimulus fund must be utilised meaningfully, judiciously, and expeditiously. In addition, the private sector, which has been touted as our engine of growth for decades, needs to be resurrected and made a vital partner in our national efforts toward economic transformation.

If economic revival and expansion is the only solution to address, and hopefully reverse, the current migration trend, there is a lot that needs to be done. And that’s where the government’s role comes in. That’s where the Prime Minister must walk the talk.