Damchae Dem is a businessperson and entrepreneur from
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
, who is CEO of Pelden Enterprise Limited, the first company to produce steel in Bhutan, and is president of the
Bhutan Association of Women Entrepreneurs.
Career
Born into poverty, her first business venture was cooking potato chips to sell locally.
She attended High School at St. Helens Convent in
Kurseong
Kurseong is a town and a municipality in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Kurseong subdivision.
Located at an altitude of , Kurseong is from Darjeeling and has a pleasant climate throughout ...
.
She founded Pelden in the 1990s and in 2006 it became the first company in Bhutan to manufacture steel.
The company exports
ferrosilicon
Ferrosilicon is an alloy of iron and silicon with a typical silicon content by weight of 15–90%. It contains a high proportion of iron silicides.
Production and reactions
Ferrosilicon is produced by reduction of silica or sand with coke in t ...
to Malaysia, Dubai, Singapore and Bangladesh.
As of 2021 she was the CEO of Pelden Enterprise Limited.
In 2010 she founded the
Bhutan Association of Women Entrepreneurs (BAOWE), and as of 2021 she was its president.
In 2016 the organisation's work was formally recognised by the
King of Bhutan
The Druk Gyalpo (; 'Dragon King') is the head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Dragon". Thus, while kings of Bhutan are known as ''Druk ...
with the award of the
National Order of Merit.
In addition to her work with BAOWE, she has also held a number of other important roles, including vice-presidencies of the
SAARC Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs Council (SCWEC) and the
South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF).
In 2017 she led calls for the development of a Women's Chamber of Commerce for Bhutan.
References
External links
Damchae Dem, Founder/Chairperson, Palden Group of Companies on SHE LEADS SUMMIT - 2019
{{Authority control
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Bhutanese women
Bhutanese businesspeople
Chief executive officers