Bangalore: Gurgaon-based business process outsourcer (BPO) Genpact will train Bhutanese graduates to help develop the IT and IT-enabled services industry in the Himalayan nation, a company official said on Tuesday.

"We will begin with a batch of 50 graduates, who will be hired and trained at our operation centres," Genpact chief executive Pramod Bhasin told reporters here.

The $1-billion global back-office firm will also work with the Bhutanese government and Royal University of Bhutan for training in business processes across industries, including voice, finance and accounting and IT services.

"Going forward, we will set up an operational centre in Thimpu by 2011 to offer domain expertise to the government as well as enterprises," Bhasin said.

The exact investment involved was not disclosed.

"With favourable government support, a growing talent pool, surplus green power and good infrastructure, we believe Bhutan will emerge as a location of choice for the business process management sector," Bhasin said.

Incidentally, Bhutan is the only country in the world that gauges "gross national happiness" as a measure of economic progress. IANS