𝑬𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍: 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐀𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝

If private sectors are the engine of the country’s economy and human resources at the wheel, we have the situation of “economy abroad” with  productive human resources leaving the country and eventual halt of engine without human resources on the wheel.
In less than six months, ministry of foreign affairs has issued more than 27,000 passports and travel documents for Bhutanese travelling abroad. The country also witnessed the first ever passport booklets running out of stock and issuing travel documents in lieu and ministry clogging with new applicants. In less than fourteen years of span, the entire citizens of the country would be living overseas at the current rate, with population of about 700 thousand however, a hypothetical statement.
The aspiring applicants and those already abroad are mostly in the working age group, actively contributing to the economy and they have taken the wheel of those economies, filling the vacuum of aftermath COVID-19 where immigrants have left for their parent countries.
At home, worrisome trend of human resources attrition is seen in varied sectors; public, corporate and private. The brunt of their void is subtly creeping in these sectors, with teachers’ shortages in schools, health workers in hospitals, IT savvy in IT businesses and telecommunications, skilled workers and engineers in construction industries, experienced administrators and specialized skilled personals in corporates, journalists in media industries and many more. We have just started to trod on this debilitating path of economy.
The government should take cognizant of this draining vogue. In earnestness and urgency, the government ought to layout plans, schemes, create opportunities and initiate to retain country’s productive human resources and laydown formidable foundations for country’s economy on human based resources and citizens at the core of developmental vanguard. 
When small countries like Singapore and Dubai invest billions of dollars on human resources to build strong economy and nation, why are we not seeing the merit of human asset in the nation building? These countries go to the extent of offering citizenship to immigrants with exceptional talents and skills, to retain them . It should not be surprising if Bhutanese aboard come back on tourist visa, some days. 
Government has spent on her citizen for education, health, welfare and developing their skills and it’s payback time to country’s GDP but not some other countries’.
A sound economy is not based on the foreign remittance but a vibrant, resilient and technological driven economy, consider any vibrant economy in the world. 
If the government finds any solace on foreign remittance from Bhutanese working abroad, the benefit from this tradeoff could be myopic and potentially cause irreparable damage to home economy in a foreseeable future. Nevertheless, we may not have Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but we shall always have Gross National Happiness (GNH).