A half-day forum bringing together procurers and local suppliers, namely the Cottage, Small and Medium Industries (CSMIs) was successfully carried on the 25th October 2016 as part of the Green Public Procurement in Bhutan (GPP Bhutan) project. The objectives of the forum were to:

• Bring together suppliers and public procurers and facilitate discussion about the opportunities for the public procurers to buy from local industries; and
• Showcase goods and services from local CSMIs and explore possibilities of linking public procurers with local suppliers.

A total of 44 participants attended the event, out of which 21 were suppliers and 23 were procurers.

During the event, several presentations were made by the representatives from the CSMIs associations such as SABAH Bhutan, Agency for Promotion of Indigenous Crafts (APIC), Association of Wood-Based Industries (AWBI) and as well as by Department of Cottage and Small Industries (DCSI) of Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA). Suppliers not only showcased their products at the event but also explained the procurers about the environmental and social benefits of procuring the local products.
The event highlighted the need for public procurers to demand local and/or green products to build the market for such products in Bhutan, as well as the need for local suppliers and industries to pioneer the supply of quality and environmentally-friendly products to contribute towards green growth in Bhutan. Mr Jambay Yeshi, Chief Industry Officer of DCSI informed that their Department is currently in the process of setting up a “showroom” for local products to be displayed in order to provide more market access and visibility for products manufactured by local CSMIs. The local suppliers were happy that the forum was organised and felt more such forums should be organised.