Bhutanese MSME Sustainability Grant: Get BTN 5 Million for Green Tourism and Crafts

If you’re running a Bhutanese MSME in tourism, crafts, or green manufacturing and need funding to recover from the pandemic or diversify your business, the RAPID Entrepreneurship Support program offers up to BTN 5 million (approximately $60,000 USD) in blended finance plus business advisory services. This isn’t just another recovery grant - it’s a comprehensive program designed to help Bhutanese businesses build back better with sustainability at the core.

The program is managed by Bhutan’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment, operating under the Royal Government’s broader economic recovery and diversification strategy. They understand that Bhutanese MSMEs, particularly in tourism and crafts, were hit hard by the pandemic and need more than just short-term relief - they need support to modernize, diversify, and build resilient business models aligned with Bhutan’s unique development philosophy of Gross National Happiness.

What makes this opportunity particularly valuable is the combination of financial support and capacity building. The BTN 5 million can fund equipment upgrades, product development, marketing, technology adoption, and other business improvements. But beyond the money, you’ll participate in design thinking bootcamps hosted in regional hubs, receive business advisory support, and join a network of innovative Bhutanese entrepreneurs working to build sustainable, climate-smart businesses.

The focus on regenerative tourism and climate-smart craft enterprises reflects Bhutan’s commitment to development that respects environmental limits and cultural values. If your business operates in these sectors and you’re ready to invest in sustainability while growing your operations, this program deserves serious attention.

Opportunity Snapshot

What This Program Really Offers

Let’s break down what you’re actually getting beyond the headline funding number. The BTN 5 million comes as blended finance, which typically means a combination of grant funding (money you don’t repay) and potentially concessional loans or other financial instruments. The exact structure varies by project, but the program is designed to be accessible to MSMEs that might not qualify for traditional bank financing.

You can use the funding for a wide range of business development activities focused on recovery and sustainability. This might include upgrading equipment to be more energy-efficient or environmentally friendly, developing new products or services that align with sustainability principles, investing in renewable energy or waste reduction systems, improving quality and certifications to meet international standards, adopting digital technologies to reach new markets, training staff in new skills or sustainable practices, or marketing and branding to position your business for post-pandemic markets.

Beyond the financial support, you’ll participate in design thinking bootcamps hosted in regional hubs across Bhutan. These aren’t generic business workshops - they’re intensive programs that teach you how to approach business challenges creatively, understand customer needs deeply, prototype and test solutions quickly, and build business models that create both economic and social value. For many traditional Bhutanese businesses, this design thinking approach represents a new way of thinking about innovation and problem-solving.

You’ll also receive ongoing business advisory support tailored to your sector and needs. This might include help with financial planning and management, guidance on sustainability practices and certifications, support with marketing and customer acquisition, advice on technology adoption and digitalization, or connections to potential partners, suppliers, or customers. The advisors understand Bhutanese business context and can provide practical, locally relevant guidance.

The program emphasizes community-based cooperatives and collective approaches to business. If your business operates as a cooperative or involves community members, you’re particularly well-positioned for this program. Bhutan’s development model values collective prosperity over individual wealth accumulation, and the program reflects these values.

You’ll need to commit to sustainability benchmarks and impact reporting. This isn’t just a formality - you’ll be expected to measure and report on environmental and social impacts alongside financial performance. This might include tracking energy use, waste reduction, carbon emissions, jobs created, community benefits, or preservation of traditional crafts and cultural practices.

Who Should Apply

This program is designed for Bhutanese-owned MSMEs in specific sectors that were impacted by the pandemic and are ready to invest in recovery and sustainability. You don’t need to be a large established business, but you should have a clear vision for how you’ll use the support to build a more resilient, sustainable operation.

Tourism businesses that need to adapt to post-pandemic realities are prime candidates. If you run a hotel, guesthouse, tour operator, restaurant, or other tourism-related business, this program can help you invest in sustainability improvements, diversify your offerings, adopt new technologies, or reposition your business for changing traveler preferences. The focus on regenerative tourism means reviewers want to see how your business will contribute positively to local communities and environments, not just minimize harm.

Craft enterprises working to preserve traditional Bhutanese crafts while building viable businesses should pay attention. If you produce textiles, woodwork, metalwork, paper products, or other traditional crafts, this program can help you modernize production, improve quality, reach new markets, or develop new products that honor traditional techniques while meeting contemporary market demands. Climate-smart craft enterprises might use sustainable materials, minimize waste, employ renewable energy, or create products that help customers live more sustainably.

Green manufacturing businesses producing environmentally friendly products or using sustainable production methods are also eligible. This might include businesses making organic products, using renewable energy, minimizing waste and pollution, or creating products that help others reduce environmental impact.

Community-based cooperatives are particularly encouraged to apply. If your business is structured as a cooperative with community ownership and governance, you align well with Bhutan’s development philosophy. Cooperatives that are modernizing their operations, improving product quality, or expanding market reach while maintaining community benefits are strong candidates.

You must be a Bhutanese-owned MSME. This is a hard requirement - the program is specifically designed to support Bhutanese entrepreneurs and businesses, not foreign-owned operations. If you have foreign partners or investors, that may be acceptable, but Bhutanese ownership must be clear and substantial.

You should be able to demonstrate post-pandemic recovery or diversification plans. The program is designed to help businesses that were impacted by COVID-19 to recover and build back stronger. This might mean recovering lost revenue, adapting to changed market conditions, diversifying into new products or markets, or fundamentally rethinking your business model for a post-pandemic world.

You must be willing to commit to sustainability benchmarks and impact reporting. If you’re only interested in financial growth without regard for environmental and social impacts, this isn’t the right program. Bhutan’s development model explicitly values sustainability and holistic well-being, and the program reflects these priorities.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application

Here’s what actually makes a difference, based on understanding of Bhutan’s development priorities and similar programs.

Align with Gross National Happiness Principles: The weakest applications focus purely on profit and growth without addressing broader well-being. Strong applications explain how your business contributes to Gross National Happiness through sustainable economic development, environmental conservation, cultural preservation, or community well-being. This isn’t just rhetoric - show specifically how your business creates value beyond financial returns.

Demonstrate Real Sustainability Commitments: Don’t just claim to be sustainable - show concrete plans and commitments. If you’re a tourism business, explain how you’ll reduce environmental impact, support local communities, preserve cultural heritage, or educate visitors about Bhutanese values. If you’re a craft enterprise, show how you’ll use sustainable materials, preserve traditional techniques, provide fair wages, or minimize waste. Be specific about what you’ll do and how you’ll measure it.

Show How You’ll Modernize While Preserving Tradition: Bhutan values both progress and tradition. Strong applications show how you’ll adopt new technologies, improve efficiency, or reach new markets while respecting and preserving traditional practices, cultural values, or community structures. If you’re updating traditional craft techniques, explain how you’ll honor the heritage while making necessary adaptations. If you’re modernizing a tourism business, show how you’ll maintain authentic Bhutanese character while meeting contemporary expectations.

Build a Credible Recovery and Diversification Plan: Reviewers want to see that you’ve thought seriously about post-pandemic realities. Don’t just plan to return to pre-pandemic operations - show how you’ll adapt to changed circumstances. Maybe international tourism will remain limited, so you’ll develop domestic tourism offerings. Maybe supply chains are disrupted, so you’ll source materials locally. Maybe customer preferences have shifted toward sustainability, so you’ll emphasize your environmental practices. Show that you understand the new landscape and have realistic plans to succeed in it.

Emphasize Community Benefits: Bhutanese development philosophy values collective well-being over individual success. Strong applications show how your business benefits the broader community - through jobs, skills training, support for local suppliers, preservation of cultural practices, or community development initiatives. If you’re a cooperative, emphasize your governance structure and how benefits are shared. If you’re a private business, show how you contribute to community prosperity.

Provide Concrete Sustainability Metrics: Don’t just say you’ll be sustainable - specify what you’ll measure and what targets you’ll set. This might include reducing energy use by a specific percentage, sourcing a certain percentage of materials locally, achieving specific waste reduction targets, creating a certain number of jobs, or preserving specific traditional techniques. Concrete metrics show that you’re serious about sustainability and willing to be held accountable.

Show Design Thinking Readiness: The program includes design thinking bootcamps, which represent a specific approach to innovation and problem-solving. In your application, demonstrate openness to new ways of thinking, willingness to experiment and iterate, focus on understanding customer needs, or interest in creative problem-solving. You don’t need to be an expert in design thinking, but showing that you’re ready to learn and apply new approaches strengthens your application.

Application Timeline

Here’s a realistic timeline working backward from the August 29, 2025 deadline. Bhutanese administrative processes can take time, so start early.

August 15-28: Final review, refinement, and submission. Don’t wait until August 29 to submit - aim for August 25 at the latest. This gives you buffer time for technical issues or missing documents. Have someone outside your business review your final application for clarity and completeness. Check that all required documents are included and properly formatted. Verify that your sustainability commitments are clearly explained and that your budget aligns with your project narrative.

July - August: Complete your full application draft and gather supporting materials. This is when you write detailed responses to all application questions. Be specific about your recovery and diversification plans, your sustainability commitments, and how you’ll use the funding. Gather supporting materials like business registration documents, financial statements, sustainability plans, or letters of support from community members or partners.

June: Develop your sustainability plan and metrics. This is when you should be thinking seriously about what sustainability means for your specific business and how you’ll measure it. Research relevant certifications or standards, identify specific practices you’ll adopt, set measurable targets, and plan how you’ll track and report on progress. This planning will form the foundation of your application.

May - June: Assess your post-pandemic situation and develop recovery plans. Honestly evaluate how the pandemic impacted your business, what’s changed in your market, and what you need to do differently going forward. Talk to customers about their changing needs and preferences. Research market trends in your sector. This assessment will help you develop credible recovery and diversification plans.

April - May: Research the program priorities and past recipients if information is available. Visit the Ministry website and review their strategic priorities. Understand Bhutan’s broader development goals and how your business can contribute. If possible, talk to other businesses that have received support to learn from their experience.

Required Materials

Business Plan with Recovery and Sustainability Strategy: A comprehensive plan explaining your business, how the pandemic impacted you, your strategy for recovery and diversification, and your sustainability commitments. Be specific about what you’ll do, how you’ll do it, who will benefit, and how you’ll measure success. This should demonstrate both business viability and alignment with Bhutanese development values.

Detailed Budget: A comprehensive breakdown of how you’ll use the funding. Include specific line items with justifications for each expense. Show how each expenditure contributes to your recovery, diversification, or sustainability goals. Your budget should align with your business plan - if you say sustainability is a priority, your budget should reflect significant investment in sustainable practices.

Business Registration and Ownership Documentation: Proof that your business is legally registered in Bhutan and that ownership is Bhutanese. This typically includes your business registration certificate, ownership documents, and any other legal documents that establish your business structure.

Financial Statements: Recent financial statements showing your business’s financial position before and after the pandemic. If you’re an early-stage business without extensive financial history, provide what you have and explain your current financial situation clearly. Show how the pandemic impacted your revenue and operations.

Sustainability Plan and Metrics: A detailed plan explaining your sustainability commitments and how you’ll measure them. Include specific practices you’ll adopt, targets you’ll set, and how you’ll track and report on environmental and social impacts. This might cover energy use, waste reduction, local sourcing, job creation, cultural preservation, or community benefits.

Community Support Documentation: If you’re a cooperative or community-based business, provide documentation of your governance structure and community involvement. If you’re a private business, consider getting letters of support from community members, local government, or partners that validate your community contributions.

Post-Pandemic Impact Assessment: Documentation showing how the pandemic affected your business. This might include revenue comparisons, customer data, operational changes, or narrative descriptions of challenges you faced. This helps reviewers understand your recovery needs.

What Makes an Application Stand Out

Based on understanding of Bhutan’s development priorities and similar programs, here’s what reviewers likely look for:

Alignment with Gross National Happiness (35% of evaluation): Does this business contribute to holistic well-being beyond just economic growth? Reviewers assess whether your business creates environmental, social, and cultural value alongside financial returns. Projects that demonstrate genuine commitment to Bhutanese development values tend to score well.

Sustainability and Climate-Smart Practices (30% of evaluation): Is this business genuinely sustainable and climate-conscious? Reviewers look at your environmental practices, sustainability commitments, and how you’ll measure and report on impacts. Vague claims about being “eco-friendly” don’t work - you need specific practices and measurable commitments.

Recovery and Resilience Planning (20% of evaluation): Does this business have a credible plan to recover from the pandemic and build resilience for future challenges? Reviewers assess whether you understand post-pandemic realities, have realistic recovery plans, and are building a business model that can withstand future disruptions.

Community Benefit and Inclusion (15% of evaluation): Does this business benefit the broader community? Reviewers look at job creation, support for local suppliers, preservation of cultural practices, community development initiatives, and how benefits are shared. Businesses that create collective prosperity align better with Bhutanese values than those focused solely on individual success.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Focusing Only on Profit: The biggest mistake is treating this as a purely commercial grant without addressing sustainability, community benefit, or alignment with Gross National Happiness. Bhutan’s development model explicitly values holistic well-being over GDP growth, and applications should reflect these priorities.

Vague Sustainability Claims: Saying you’re “eco-friendly” or “sustainable” without providing specific practices, commitments, or metrics is unconvincing. Be concrete about what you’ll do and how you’ll measure it.

Ignoring Post-Pandemic Realities: Planning to simply return to pre-pandemic operations without acknowledging changed circumstances suggests poor strategic thinking. Show that you understand what’s different and how you’ll adapt.

Weak Community Connection: Applications that focus entirely on the individual business without showing community benefits miss an important part of what Bhutanese development values. Show how your business contributes to collective prosperity.

Unrealistic Plans: Proposing to completely transform your business in six months or achieve dramatic results with limited resources signals poor planning. Build realistic timelines and achievable goals.

Neglecting Cultural Preservation: For craft businesses especially, failing to address how you’ll preserve traditional techniques and cultural heritage is a weakness. Show how you’ll honor tradition while innovating.

Missing the Design Thinking Opportunity: Treating the bootcamp participation as a formality rather than a valuable learning opportunity misses the point. Show enthusiasm for learning new approaches to innovation and problem-solving.

Frequently Asked Questions

What qualifies as a climate-smart craft enterprise? Generally, this means craft businesses that use sustainable materials, minimize environmental impact, employ renewable energy, preserve traditional techniques that are inherently sustainable, or create products that help customers live more sustainably. If you’re unsure whether your craft business qualifies, contact the Ministry for guidance.

Can tourism businesses that cater mainly to international visitors apply? Yes, though you should explain how you’ll adapt to potentially reduced international tourism and possibly develop domestic tourism offerings. The program values businesses that can be resilient even if international tourism remains limited.

What does blended finance mean in practice? The exact structure varies by project, but typically it means a combination of grant funding (which you don’t repay) and possibly concessional loans (with favorable terms) or other financial instruments. The Ministry will work with you to structure financing appropriate to your project.

How strict are the sustainability benchmarks? They’re real requirements, not suggestions. You’ll be expected to set specific sustainability targets, track your progress, and report regularly on your environmental and social impacts. The exact benchmarks will be negotiated based on your business and sector.

Can businesses that weren’t directly in tourism or crafts before the pandemic apply if they’re diversifying into these sectors? Possibly, especially if you’re diversifying as part of pandemic recovery. Contact the Ministry to discuss your specific situation and eligibility.

What if we’re a very small business or just starting? The program is designed for MSMEs, which includes small and micro businesses. You don’t need to be established or large, but you should have a viable business concept and realistic plans for using the support.

Can we apply if we’ve received other government support? Generally yes, though you should disclose other support you’ve received and explain how this funding will be used for different purposes or complement other support.

What happens if we don’t meet our sustainability benchmarks? There may be consequences including potential repayment requirements or ineligibility for future support. The program takes sustainability commitments seriously, so only commit to targets you’re confident you can meet.

How to Apply

Ready to move forward? Here’s your action plan:

First, visit the official Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment website at https://www.moea.gov.bt/ to access complete program details, application forms, and any updates to requirements or deadlines. Make sure you’re working with the most current information.

Second, assess your alignment with program priorities honestly. Does your business genuinely contribute to sustainability and Gross National Happiness? Can you commit to meaningful sustainability benchmarks? Do you have credible recovery and diversification plans? If yes, move forward. If not, spend time strengthening these areas before applying.

Third, develop your sustainability plan and metrics. Don’t wait until August to think about this. Identify specific practices you’ll adopt, set measurable targets, and plan how you’ll track and report on impacts. This planning takes time and reflection.

Fourth, talk to your community about your plans. If you’re a cooperative, engage your members in the planning process. If you’re a private business, discuss your plans with employees, suppliers, customers, or community leaders. Their input can strengthen your application and demonstrate community support.

Fifth, consider reaching out to the Ministry for guidance. They may have staff who can answer questions about eligibility, priorities, and the application process. These conversations can help you avoid wasting time on an application that isn’t a good fit.

Finally, build your timeline working backward from August 29, 2025, and stick to it. Block out time in your calendar for planning, drafting, feedback, and revision. Treat the application process as a serious project that deserves dedicated time and attention.

For complete details and to access the application portal, visit: https://www.moea.gov.bt/

This program represents a genuine opportunity for Bhutanese MSMEs ready to build sustainable, resilient businesses aligned with Gross National Happiness principles. If you operate in tourism, crafts, or green manufacturing and are committed to recovery, sustainability, and community benefit, invest the time to prepare a strong application. The combination of funding, capacity building, and advisory support can genuinely help you build a business that creates both economic prosperity and holistic well-being.