On October 7, the Voice for Green Change Partnership (V4GCP) project, funded by the European Union, organized a workshop with project partners including a few business sector associations to discuss gathering member feedback and enhancing service delivery. The workshop, which brought together seven private sector associations, focused on identifying best practices to understand members’ concerns and provide effective services.
Participants highlighted a range of challenges faced by their members, including the need for capacity development, regulatory and policy bottlenecks, business management issues, product and service improvement, lack of access to finance and markets, and overall satisfaction with the services provided by their associations. The workshop also generated ideas on how associations can improve their services and effectively address member concerns through dialogue with policymakers and targeted advocacy efforts.
The workshop was led by Dr. John Hummel from the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), a V4GCP project partner, and marked the first in a series of capacity-building initiatives of the project. The participating associations included the Association of Bhutanese Cottage and Small Industry (ABCSI), Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators (ABTO), Bhutan Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAOWE), Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB), Handicraft Association of Bhutan (HAB), and the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Bhutan (HRAB).
