Publications

Written by Mekong Institute

The two-day Roundtable Meeting marks the end of Phase 3 of the Mekong Institute – New Zealand Ambassador Scholarship (MINZAS) Program. MINZAS is a collaborative program between the Mekong Institute and the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok aiming to provide professional development opportunities for master's degree students from CLMT countries through a structured training program and research assignment under the guidance of
experienced regional and international experts. An important part of the scholarship program is to provide the scholars a training course on Research Methodology.

The training course on Research Methodology was held from March 4 – 28, 2013 at the MI Residential Center in Khon Kaen Province, Northeast of Thailand. At the end of the four-week training course, the participants developed a research proposal that incorporated the knowledge and skills acquired during the training. The proposal was to be conducted upon their return to each of their respective countries based on the agreed methodology and timeframe.

The twelve research proposals are:

(1) The Effects of Rice Contract Farming on Smallholder Farmers' Incomes in Cambodia: A Case Study in Toul Sala Commune in Barsedth District, Kampong Spue Province,
(2) Factors Contributing to the Success of Agricultural Cooperative Farms, Case Study: Ye-Nant-Tha Agricultural Co-operative Farm, Mataya Township, Mandalay Region, Myanmar,
(3) Analysis of Pomelo Value Chains in the Yangon Region, Myanmar,
(4) Value Chain Analysis of Mandarins in Selected Areas of Myanmar,
(5) Rice Value Chain in S'ang District, Kandal Province, Cambodia,
(6) Value Chain Analysis of Sesame in Magway Township, Myanmar,
(7) Rural Household Vulnerability Assessment Study to Climate Variability: The Case of Peang Lvea Commune, Odongk District, Kampong Spue Province, Cambodia,
(8) Financial Development, Trade Openness and Economic Growth in the CLV Countries,
(9) The Effects of Trade Liberalization on Myanmar's Foreign Trade with Selected Asian Countries,
(10) Impact of FDI on the Economic Growth of Lao PDR,
(11) The Impact of Household Savings on the Development of Rural Livelihood: Evidence from Luang Prabang, Northern Laos; and
(12) Business Development and Market Expansion of Women Entrepreneurs: Case Study of SMEs Community in Chiang Rai Province.

The MINZAS Roundtable Meeting provided a platform for the scholars to present and share the research results. The meeting also created a platform for deliberation of the results and validated the findings among experts. Two subject matter experts were invited to present an overview on the research topics in the context of the GMS. Home advisors of the twelve students were also invited to provide comments and feedbacks for further improvement of the research reports.

Written by Mekong Institute

The Mekong Institute (MI) conducted a one-week Regional Training Cum Workshop on "Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy Development" from 5th – 9th August 2013 at its Residential Training Center in Khon Kaen, Thailand. This regional training program is part of the three-year project on "Capacity Building for the Integration of CLMV Economies into ASEAN Economic Community" from 2012-2014, funded by New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAP).

Twenty-one (21) participants from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam and China attended this training program comprising of senior and mid level government officials namely from Ministry of Industry and Commerce / Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Industry, Mine and Energy, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Economy and Finance and Research Institutes.

The program focused on the current state-of-play in international trade and allowed the participants to develop a deeper understanding of ASEAN, the global trade system, the trade policies of individual CLMV countries, the facilitation of the AEC integration, tariff and non tariff measures and other developmental issues. Upon completion, each participant enable to:

• Demonstrate a better understanding of the AEC and global trade system, existing trade policies and emerging issues in the CLMV countries as well as the significance of accession as WTO member;
• Identify all possible areas of development and co-operation in trade negotiations with ASEAN members and other dialogue trade partners;
• Understand the process of trade policy development;
• Understand effective process, strategies and techniques in trade negotiation

This training applied as a Training of Trainer (ToT) approach to build up capacities of officials from the government agencies so that they can localize and replicate the ToT package to enhance utilization of trade negotiation and trade policy development in the respective GMS countries.

Mr. Stephen Olson from Economy Strategy Institute, Washington, D.C., acted as resource person to deliver specific topics on Evaluation of Global Trade System, WTO, AEC, Trade Policies in the GMS, and Trade Negotiation. Dr. Watcharas Leelawath, Deputy Executive Director, International Institute for Trade and Development, Bangkok, Thailand delivered on topic trade policy development. Mr. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta, an in-house resource person, shared a session on status of SME in GMS countries.

The training program was delivered through four inter-related modules:

Module 1: Setting the Stage – A Brief Overview of the Global Trade System
Module 2: Understanding the Status of Trade Policies in the GMS, and Accessing the Benefits
Module 3: Trade Policy Development
Module 4: The Art of Trade Negotiation

As part of the training requirements, the participants developed action plans to localize training packages to conduct National Workshop on Enhancing the Utilization of Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy Development in CLMV countries and China – to transfer the knowledge gained to trade negotiators, policy makers and practitioners of government agencies at the provincial and nation level in their respective countries. The national workshops will be organized within four months period from August – November 2013, before again gathering in mid of December 2013 for the follow-up ‘Synthesis and Evaluation Workshop' in Vientiane, Lao PDR.

The results from overall training program evaluation methods showed satisfaction rating by the participants. However, recommendations for improvement included guidance the action plan at the beginning of the program and provide more time to develop the action plan, more assignment such as session's exercise and quiz to make better understanding of the concepts of Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy Development.

Written by Mekong Institute

The three-year project (2012-14) on "Capacity Development Program for Integrating CLMV Economies into AEC" sponsored under the New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid Programme (NZAP) is being implemented by the Mekong Institute, Thailand.

The project aims to prepare the Mekong countries namely the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) for the successful integration of their economic systems into the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. Among five components of the project, the Trade and Investment Facilitation Department of MI is tasked with the implementation of two components namely: (i) integrating CLMV's Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) into ASEAN and Global Value Chains and (ii) increasing capacity of public and private sectors' organizations in trade policy development, Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) negotiation and implementation.

In order to provide adequate information for the project inception report and resultsoriented M&E plan, a need assessment study was conducted in the CLMV countries. The aim was to identify the roles and responsibilities of the relevant stakeholders and assess their capacities and identify gaps to define capacity building needs for developing a
capacity development plan and capacity building packages and strategies to respond to the needs within the framework of NZAP Project.

The assessment reveals that the prospect for consortia and SME clusters formation in the CLMV countries is potentially high, especially for products in handicraft and agro-based sector. However, the promotion of these activities is relatively weak, specifically in Myanmar and Cambodia, due to lack of knowledge and support services.

The assessment study observed that in the CLMV countries, although FTAs and bilateral agreements, mostly through ASEAN, have been concluded, their advantages have not yet been fully realized by export-oriented SMEs. The awareness of FTAs and related policies both among governments and private sectors is relatively low. Very few trainings or workshops on these issues have been conducted or if any, the SMEs participation seems
to be quite limited.

The functionaries of SME and trade promotion agencies both in the government and private sector attend a range of capacity building programmes. The top level management deals with policy level issues and attends regional and internal events such as forums, seminar and dialogues whereas the mid level functionaries attends specific training on skill improvement, awareness, subject specific topics and training of trainers both within and outside the country. The top management level of private sector body (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) is mostly engaged policy advocacy forums. For the mid level functionaries, the types of training range from WTO, trade negotiations, AEC integration, trade fair and participation in trade exhibitions. It is noticed that there has been no specific training on FTAs or any training directed towards utilization of FTAs by SMEs.

Though a range of trainings either on SME development or Trade development has been attended by the practitioners, it was reported that the scope for applying those skills has been significantly low. The trainings in most cases do not reflect the roles and responsibilities of the functionaries mostly in case of mid and junior level functionaries.

Another, hurdle in the acquisition of skill and knowledge in trainings outside the country is the skill level which is not at par with participants from other countries in addition to low English language capabilities mostly among the junior level functionaries. Further, it was observed that most of the trainings attended abroad are advanced in nature and are not in consistent with the requirements of day to day functions of the organizations.

However, the trainings provided within projects which are implemented by the organizations and funded by donors are relevant since these are built in programmes to enhance capabilities of the implementing agencies.

The study also identifies key organizations as focal point in the project countries. The role of the key organizations would be to coordinate all activities specific to their organizational mandate, assist in target participant recruitment and follow up action plan implementation and other assigned roles.

The importance of SME development through cluster approach is gaining ground as noticed in case of Vietnam and Cambodia however the knowledge is still limited particularly among the mid level and lower functionaries in all the CLMV countries.

With regard to FTAs, the knowledge seems to be limit ed particularly its utilization by SMEs. There is no systematic approach or attempt made in any of these countries to enhance utilization of FTAs by the SMEs.

The study acknowledges the importance to build capacities of the functionaries for SME cluster development and on enhancing utilization of FTAs by the SMEs. Since the role and functions of levels of functionaries are different, the study suggested specific capacity development packages for different level of functionaries and devise strategies to implement the two components of the project for the remaining two years of the project phase.

Written by Mekong Institute

The 2nd training on Agricultural Productivity and Natural Resources' Management: Focus on Developing Agricultural Supply Chains in CLMV' is under the pilot phase of the "Supporting ASEAN Equitable Economic Development: A project based on policy-oriented research activities and capacity building programs focused on Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV countries)".

The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) co-organized this training in partnership with Mekong Institute (MI) and New Zealand Aid Programme from 18 to 22 February 2013. The five-day intensive training program on "Developing Agricultural Supply Chains in CLMV" is designed as a workshop, including interactive lectures, group discussion, structured learning visits and drafting analytical framework for 26 policy makers as well as 6 representatives of private sector from CLMV who basically work on agricultural productivity and agricultural trade issues.

The overall aim of this training is to reaffirm the importance, basis and scope of (rice) supply chain development to provide the backdrop/framework for assessing Discussion Papers (DPs) on supply chains under preparation for each CLMV member country – overview, structure, dynamics, future prospects and recommendations – subsequently, dove-tailed into a regional DP and Policy Brief for CLMV as a whole.

The transformation of traditional agricultural marketing to new supply chain management, supply chains models and diverse case studies were presented and discussed among participants and regional experts. Situation analysis of Supply Chains issues based on the framework of the ASEAN 2030 Study was drafted by each CLMV country's participants comprising the following components:

(i) a strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analysis for the agricultural supply chains in each country;

(ii) a set of aspiration targets for the seed industry to reach by the year 2015 and 2030 at national level;

(iii) the identification of the primary and secondary challenges the countries will be facing in fulfilling their aspirations; and (iv) a set of policy options each country will need to consider introducing to address the challenges. Apart from case studies from CLMV and Asian countries, this training program arranged structured learning visits that enabled all participants and experts to crystallize the supply chains concepts learned during class work with practices from farm to table in selected Thailand case studies.

The discussion points of the training that should be clarified and well defined before any policy making are;

• The major challenges to promote agricultural supply chains are similar to the seed industry development which is; limitation of infrastructure development and environment for investment is not supportive for investors as yet. Hence, there is the need for public-private partnership to cope with these challenges.
• Regarding the old green revolution and the new ‘doubly green revolution', a key challenge is how to recommend to policy makers or policy options to stop the improper practices of local producers, especially in the misuse of agro-chemicals in order to respond to global markets that are now increasingly demanding organic or green agricultural products.
• It is interesting to examine the production capacity to serve the global supply chain. In terms of electronics industry, macro policy is important to focus on factor (company) and find the way to support producers to absorb the technology and assist them to help themselves. In terms of agriculture, should also concentrate on any concrete initiatives to support producers or stakeholders along the chains to access global supply chains, for instance economic zones could be one model to apply for clustering the agricultural supply chain.
• CLMV countries are facing similar problem of investors prefer to deal with larger farms, while in the production side they are largely fragmented farms and it would cost a lot to coordinate them. In the case of Philippines, company complains about high cost of investment while producers complain low price of product. What they did in fact in the Philippines, they increase the price but they left maintenance of the road to the small growers. Also the government addresses this coordination issue to facilitate both levels in the chain.
• In SME supply Chains development, the market needs to be identified before production plan. However, in rural areas it is difficult to identify market and support them in terms of technology. Before identifying the type of product to promote as SME cluster, there is the need to study the market and also conduct the need assessment in the area. Chambers of Commerce should be active to identify the list for agricultural traders or producers. The objective of forming cluster is to identify who are producing what and where, in order to collectively organize them together to access the bigger markets in each CLMV countries.

Learning Methods on Supply Chain in this training:

• To complement and supplement our study, we provided insights surrounding other country's (China, India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Thailand and further field) and region's (GMS) as well as international agencies' experiences, successes and exciting on-going initiatives, involving an array of crops and organic products by a select group of resource persons.
• There were also 2 field trips:
• Central Group CSR vegetables project -Central is a huge Thai conglomerate – with huge retailing presence (Central, Robinson, Tops, Big C and Quick Service Restaurants (GSR) like KFC, Pizza Hut, and Mister Donut). We will see vegetables supply chain (involving small growers) – from production, processing and linked up to modern retail outlets, TOPS supermarket, all in one day
• Betagro Group -fully integrated poultry (layers and broilers) and swine supply chains involving animal feed, animal health & vaccines, processing into various value-added products.

The major outputs and outcomes of this training are:

1. The National Level Studies will be coordinated and dovetail into a Regional Level Discussion Paper and Policy Brief on the development and management of agri-food supply chains focusing on rice in this Pilot Phase in CLMV countries, with the underlying rationale of using supply chains to facilitate agriculture as engine of growth to drive overall inclusive and sustainable development of the region.
2. The Regional Level reports will focus on (a) developing comprehensive rice supply chains, and (b) managing rice supply chains effectively to support regional trading networks and food security – increasingly involving border-trade and GMS orientation. It will examine (i) transformation of rice supply chains and connectivity , (ii) rise of supermarkets (iii) value-adding along supply chains; (iii) policy issues; (iv) country comparisons; and (v) regional and global considerations (including trans-regional border trade). It also identifies effective ways for developing and managing rice supply chains in CLMV, including:

• comparing and analyzing the set of maps of the rice supply chains and trading networks, as well as trans-border trade or supply networks for each CLMV country;
• identifying surplus and deficit areas and their extent within each country and between countries with a view of facilitating cross-border trade and investments;
• examine the development of supermarkets and the extent which the key stakeholders in the supply chain have benefited and areas where marginalization have occurred ;
• consider issues and weaknesses (and strengths) along the respective rice supply chains that are germane to all the CLMV countries and those which are peculiar to specific members; and
• coming up with a set of policy issues that need to be addressed holistically, complete with accompanying recommendations.

Written by Mekong Institute

The recent Synthesis and Evaluation Workshop on SME Cluster Development and Export Consortia Formation in CLMV conducted on 15-16 October 2013 in Phnom Penh – is part of the three-year project on "Capacity Building for the Integration of CLMV Economies into ASEAN Economic Community" from 2012-2014, funded by New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAP).

Fourteen participants, who are the MI-alumni from CLMV countries participating at the TOT training program on SME cluster development and export consortia at the Mekong Institute in May 2013, attended at this S&E workshop to reflect and learn from each other on the action plan implementation, and to share best practices, experiences, and outcomes of the implementation.

Participants of this workshop included (i) leaders of the CLMV national workshops who provided training and assisted the SMEs in their countries to develop SME clusters and export consortia including, mango and organic vegetable clusters (Cambodia), organic rice cluster (Lao PDR), macadamia cluster (Myanmar), and Van Phuck silk and Dongha silk clusters (Vietnam).

The workshop gave participants an open platform to share their action plan implementation experiences and discuss the progress, challenges, and hurdles faced during the formation, promotion and their into regional and global value chains.

Discussion on best practices and challenges in implementing the action plans allowed both the MI team and fellow participants to evaluate the learning process experienced by their peers. Feedback received during these sessions will be used to improve similar programs and workshops of MI in the future.

Written by Mekong Institute

The Mekong Institute (MI) conducted a one week Regional Training Programme on Product Market Identification for GMS " from April 29 – May 3, 2013 at its Residential Training Center in Khon Kaen, Thailand. This training program is part of the three-year project on "Capacity Building for the Integration of CLMV Economies into ASEAN Economic Community" from 2012-2014, funded by New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAP).

Thirty participants from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Yunnan Province of PR. China attended this regional training programme. They were senior or mid level of officials and staff from government departments from Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Trade Promotion Agencies, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Business Association and business entrepreneurs.
The programme aimed to support SME through identification of external market for their exportable products. SMEs in the GMS countries have been producing a wide range of products capable of capturing the external foreign markets. However, it is common that SMEs in the first stage of internationalization would require support with systematic procedure and process of obtaining information about the external markets. With this backdrop, the training is designed with the following objectives:

1. To facilitate the SMEs of the GMS countries in identification of external markets for their products.
2. To develop a pool of experts from each of the GMS countries who are well acquinted with the product market idenfication process with the help of trade data and using simple but effective trade analysis tools.
3. To develop a product – market identification system by using requisite software developed for the purpose and which can be readily used by different producers of GMS countries seeking external markets for their products.
4. The training programme was designed and delivered using a modular training approach with three progressive stages: i) "Learn to Do" – training on concepts, techniques and tools to be employed; ii) "Do to Learn" – the participants were required to apply what they learned in their work assignments with proper coaching from assigned advisors; and iii) "Share to Learn" – the participants had an opportunity to present the results of their group work, learning experiences and lessons learned. Dr. Gautam Dutta, an expert in International Marketing and SME Cluster Development acted as lead resource person for the training. Mr. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta, an in house resource person, delivered sessions on strategies for export development through formation of export consortia. Mr. Sa-nga Sattanun also contributed through coordinating the programme.

The training programme was delivered through five inter-related modules:
Module 1: Understanding mechanism of international trade and documentation system of these trade data in trade data base systematically for future use by the traders, analyst and policy makers. This module also introduced trade data base like trade map to the participants.
Module 2: Understanding the product codification system like Harmonized System code (HS code) and use of these product codes used in trade. This module also developed a list of exportable products with the involvement of the participants for each of the GMS countries and identify HS codes for the products of export interest of the GMS countries.
Module 3: Understanding the different trade data analysis tools like Shift Share approach, Revealed Competitive Advantage, Trade Intensity Index.
Module 4: Using trade data for target market identification for selected product/products through systematic use of the trade tools, stage wise, and short listing the countries of export interest. Use of concept like relative growth vs. absolute growth in arranging the countries of marketing interest are also introduced.
Module 5: Understanding the level of competition in the target countries due to export by other countries. Understanding the market access requirements like tariff and non tariffs existed in the target market through use of trade data base.

As part of the training requirements, the participants developed action plans to identify top 20 exportable products from their respective countries The action plans, will be implemented within the framework of two months during June– July 2013.

The programme evaluation results revealed a high level of satisfaction among the participants.

Written by Mekong Institute

The Mekong Institute (MI) conducted a one-week Training of Trainer (ToT) program on "Enhancing the Utilization of FTA by SMEs" from June 17-21, 2013 at its Residential Training Center in Khon Kaen, Thailand. This ToT program is part of the three-year project on "Capacity Building for the Integration of CLMV Economies into ASEAN Economic Community" from 2012-2014, funded by New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAP).

Twenty-eight (28) participants from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam and China attended this training program comprising of senior and mid level officials from private sector bodies, namely chambers of commerce and industry, business associations, exporters and importers from the GMS countries.

The program aimed to develop the capacities of the participants to deepen their understanding and improve their knowledge with the necessary skills for greater utilization of FTAs in the regional and global trade. This training applied a Training of Trainer (ToT) approach to build up capacities of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, business association, SME exporters, BDS providers and officials from the government agencies so that they can localize and replicate the ToT package in the respective countries.

Dr. Tamanna Chaturvedi from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), India, acted as resource person to deliver specific topics on WTO, RTA/FTA, tariff negotiation, tariff reduction, NTM, trade facilitation, ROO, and FTA utilization and evaluation. Mr. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta, an in-house resource person, shared a session on evaluating status of SME in GMS countries, and Dr. Nittana Southiseng shared a session on assessing business opportunities for SMEs in integration of AEC 2015. The training program was delivered through four inter-related modules:

Module 1: Understanding the conceptual framework of an RTA/FTA and its implications in regional SME Context
Module 2: Understanding negotiating issues in FTA: case study of FTAs signed by GMS
Module 3: Accessing trade benefits of FTA: case study of AFTA
Module 4: Promoting the utilization of FTAs by SMEs as per the regional and international requirements

As part of the training requirements, the participants developed action plans to localize training packages to conduct National Workshop on Enhancing the Utilization of FTA by SMEs in CLMV countries and China – to transfer the knowledge gained to the local SME exporters, CCIs, BAs and government agencies in their respective countries. The national workshops will be organized within three months period from June to August 2013, before reconvening at MI in October 2013.

Written by Mekong Institute

The Mekong Institute was commissioned by the New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAP) to conduct a ten-day training course on "Improving Food Quality and Safety through Good Agricultural and Postharvest Practices in Fresh Produce" from 20 – 31 May 2013. Twenty-seven government officials and private sector staff from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the training program. The course objective is to improve participants' understanding of the importance of Good Agricultural (GAP) and Postharvest Practices in promoting product quality and safety of fruits, vegetables and meats. The course was held at the MI Residential Training Facility in Khon Kaen Province with four structured learning visits in Khon Kaen and Nakhon Pathom Provinces of Thailand.

The training course was designed and delivered using modular training approach, of which, all participants went through three progressive stages: a) "Learn to do" – training on concepts, techniques and tools; b) "Do to learn" – participants are required to apply what they have learned in their work assignment with proper coaching from assigned advisors; and c) "Share to learn" – participants will have an opportunity to present their group works/findings and share their learning experiences and lessons learned.

Two Resource Persons, a) Mr. John Campbell, the Quality Systems Coordinator from Plant and Food Research, New Zealand, and 2) Ms. Maria Theresa S. Medialdia, the Program Manager of the Mekong Institute, contributed to the design and delivery of the lectures in the training course.

The training course was comprised of four interrelated modules. Module 1 on "Introduction to Product Quality and Safety" illustrated that assurance of good quality and safety of agricultural products was a big challenge and could spell the difference in the countries' ability to penetrate foreign markets and in gaining the trust and confidence of consumers. Module 2 on "Good Agricultural Practices: Nature and Importance" introduced the importance of GAP in ensuring product quality and food safety of agricultural produce. The principles of GAP and its components were discussed and participants shared about the status of GAP development and application in CLMV countries and learn from the experiences of Thailand. Module 3 on "Postharvest Handling and Marketing for Food Safety and Produce Quality" introduced the participants to the importance of postharvest handling and management and gave an overview on the postharvest losses in developed and developing countries. The application of the agrochemical was also discussed during this module. Module 4 on "ASEAN GAP Inspection and Certification" described the importance of GAP certification and the associated procedures in establishing a national inspection and certification body.

Four structured learning visits were organized for the participants in this course; their understanding of the program's contents was enhanced through different appreciation visits and interaction with enterprises at Sum Sung Safety and Chemical Free Cooperatives and Betagro Company in Khon Kaen Province and Huai Phra GlobalGAP Farm and SWIFT Company in Nakhon Pathom Province of Thailand.

The evaluations conducted throughout the course confirmed that the objectives were achieved and the learning program was successful. Most of the participants were very satisfied with the program as shown in the total average rating by participants on the usefulness of the learning program at 3.81 and the overall assessment at 3.89. Using a scale of 1 to 5, this indicated that participants found the training program "useful" and were "satisfied" with the program contents and overall training management. All participants appreciated the professionalism of the resource persons, organizing team, and supporting staff. They committed to complete their action plans before the Synthesis and Evaluation Workshop which will be held on 13-15 November 2013.