Today I got to see my Bhutanese office mate submit a tender for a government project. I’ve never seen this done outside of Bhutan, so perhaps this process is similar in other countries, but it was new to me.
The documentation was standard enough, but he had to pay about $50 (a lot of money here) just to get the details of the tender. Once his proposal was ready, he put it in a handmade envelope and sealed every seam with red wax, using a 1 Nu coin to mark the wax. It seems a lot of effort when he could simply walk down the street and put it in the hands of the customer, but formalities must be followed. In the case of the government, the proposals can’t even be considered unless they receive from at least three companies. The purpose is to reduce corruption, but in a country this small, with little private enterprise, it can create problems.