DAI - Thailand Industrial Baseline Survey Enumeration - 2020

Project Description:

The Enterprise survey aims to gather primary data on indicators related to private sector competitiveness. Data will be used to better understand the average ability of domestic supply chains to deliver goods and services to international clients.

MKE implemented the following tasks in cooperation/ consultation with the Client:

• Developed a list of businesses that meets the required criteria such as regions, supply chain, and type of ownership;

• Screened the list of business based on the set criteria and categorize firms;

• Prepared for the in-person enumeration, quality control analysis of the collected data, and data delivery, including translation of questionnaire, participating in training of trainers, pilot interviews, CAPI design.

DAI - Enterprise survey to gather primary data on indicators related to private sector competitiveness in Papa New Guinea - 2019

Project Description:

MKE has engaged in a large-scale manufacturing project “’the project” in Papua New Guinea. The project itself will need a large supply chain network of enterprises in PNG to support its activities and provide services. In collaboration with our project partner, an international consulting firm, MKE conducted a survey of 250 companies in PNG to identify enterprises which could potentially be included in the supply chain for the project. The purpose of the enterprise survey was to gather data on local firms in Papua New Guinea and data was used to better understand the average ability of domestic supply chains to deliver goods and services to international clients. The survey project supported the local economy by identifying which enterprises could conduct operations in the supply chain of the project through the provision of supplies and services.

ICRW (International Center for Research on Women) - Survey on Garment Factory - 2019

Project Description:

The purpose of the assignment was to document and analyse how gender equity could be supported in supplier factory settings, with special attention to policies and practices sexual harassment. Mekong Economics worked with the factory to recruit a representative sample of staff members to participate in the interviews and surveys, conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with members of staff of varying levels, conducted semi-structured focus group discussions with various levels of staff, collected survey data from a sample of staff members;

UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use GmbH/ funded by World Bank - Survey on forestry firms for Vietnam SME Study - 2019

Project Description:

MKE was hired to organize, conduct and document a survey of 100 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the forest sector in Viet Nam. The final products included translated questionnaires (from English to Vietnamese), list and contacts of interviewed enterprises (in English), and Database of interview results in Excel (in English).

International Trade Centre - Company-level survey on Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) and obstacles to Trade in Vietnam - 2019

Project Description:

Within the framework of ITC’s programme on NTMs and in close collaboration with national stakeholders, ITC carried out the NTM Survey in Vietnam. The survey helped to identify at product, sector and partner country-level the predominant barriers to trade that Vietnam’s business sector currently faces when complying with the NTMs. The survey also helped identifying potential bottlenecks at the national level with regards to the infrastructure and capabilities to meet the regulations. ITC contracted Mekong Economics to conduct this survey on behalf of ITC. The Survey has two components: Component 1: “NTM Survey on Trade in Goods”, Component 2: “Survey on Obstacles to Services Trade”

The required number of completed phone screen interviews was:

Component 1: between 1000-1200, Component 2: 280.

The required number of completed face-to-face interviews was:

Component 1: between 400-500, Component 2: 100.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) - Facilitating Small and Medium- sized Enterprises (SMEs) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Flows: An ASEAN+6 Case Study - 2019

Description of Project:

The regional technical assistance (TA) (i) assessed the likely impact of investment and other FDI- related provisions in the draft Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (RCEP) for enhanced FDI flows in ASEAN+6; (ii) identified barriers to enhanced SMEs’ FDI flows between ASEAN+6 countries; and (iii) proposed policy reforms, capacity development programs, and private sector transactional support to translate likely RCEP provisions and the potential internationalization of SMEs into enhanced FDI flows in the ASEAN+6 countries, particularly SME- driven FDI for agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

Description of services provided by MKE :

• Analyzed RCEP agreement impact

• Undertook an enterprise level survey in India, Thailand and Cambodia to determine the drivers and motives as well as key barriers and challenges specific to SMEs in agriculture, manufacturing, and services that were investing or contemplating to invest specifically in other countries in the RCEP region; prepared a report on the results of the surveys, and provided recommendations to enhance outward FDI from source countries and FDI facilitation program for each of the destination countries;

• Identified three destination countries in consultation with ADB; provided recommendations for facilitating outward SME FDI from the source countries (support needed by SME investors); and prepared FDI facilitation papers for each of the three destination countries. All of these recommendations aimed to enhance outward FDI driven by SMEs in agriculture, manufacturing, and services in one or more of the identified source countries and inward FDI to one or more of the identified destination countries in the RCEP region.

WorldFish of Myanmar - Improving the production, nutrition and market values of small – scale aquaculture in Myanmar’s Shan State and Sagaing Region (MYSAP INLAND) - 2018

Project Description:

WorldFish Myanmar in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries (DoF) R&D Division, under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MoALI) will implement the ‘Improving the production, nutrition and market values of small-scale aquaculture in Myanmar’s Shan State and Sagaing Region (MYSAP Inland). The main objective of the baseline survey is using a value chain approach to collect baseline data for use by MYSAP Inland for results based monitoring and evaluation to assess MYSAP Inland progress towards specific milestones, output indicators and overall project impact.

The following tasks are accomplished by MKE Team: Execution plan for; Baseline survey questionnaire in both English and Burmese; Value chain analysis report; A full database of data collected; A draft summary of the overall study findings and A final baseline study report.

Enclude B.V - DGIS: Evaluation of the Inclusive Business Accelerator in Vietnam and Mozambique - 2017

Project Description:

The IB Accelerator was designed to both consolidate and scale-up private sector engagement in Base of the Pyramid (BoP) markets. Current offerings of BoP business support were scattered and service providers were not aware of the many BoP market opportunities that exist or lack the quality and capacity to create inclusive business strategies at scale.

MKE conducted an evaluation on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the programme. Data collection tools included SME phone surveys, logistical support and interviews. A final report was prepared.

OECD - Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance. Perspectives on How Improving Corporate Governance Frameworks Can Support Capital Market Development - 2017

Countries Involved:

Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar.

Project Description:

Established in 1999, the OECD-Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance serves as a regional forum for exchanging experiences and advancing the reform agenda on corporate governance while promoting awareness and use of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance.

In this assignment, MKE conducted in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, produced and presented a Report on Sharing Perspectives on How Improving Corporate Governance Frameworks Can Support Capital Market Development in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar.

IFC - Market research on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam with a specific focus on those owned by women (WSMEs) - 2017

Project Description:

MKE assisted the lead firm, providing input for desk research including the facilitation of explorative interviews, conducting 300 WSMEs (SMEs owned by women) surveys and 200 male-owned SMEs. MKE delivered the raw data, translated the answers to open questions into English, and facilitated 9 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and wrote a brief report describing the main findings for each FDG. MKE also wrote selected sections in the Inception Report and Final Report, and participated in the meetings with key informants and IFC.