Publications

Written by Mekong Institute

The  country  of  Cambodia  attracts foreign investment in  land,  and  China  ranks  at  the  top of the  investors.  China  is the  largest  foreign  investor  in  Cambodia  and  is  one  of  the  leading investors  in  natural  resources,  energy,  infrastructure,  construction,  agriculture,  tourism,  and telecommunications.  One  of  the  biggest  impacts  of  China‘s  investment  projects  is resettlement  schemes  which  remain  highly  controversial.  Based  on  the  literature,  five  key determinants:  1)  public  participation,  2)  pre-planning,  3)  resettlement  policy,  4)  adequate compensation,  and  5)  legislation,  have  been  identified  that  determine  the success  of  the preparation and operation of resettlement schemes. 

The aim of this study is to uncover whether the resettlement schemes for the large-scale land leases to the Union Development Group Co., Ltd (UDG) have been successful and to identify the underlying causes. Specifically, the study examined the five determinants contributing to the  success  of  resettlement  schemes  and  provided  policy  implications.  In-depth  interviews, focus  group  discussions,  and  case  study  were  conducted  with  the  communities affected  by resettlement;  key  informant  interviews  were  conducted  with  local  authorities  at  the  village, commune,  and  district  levels,  government  ministries,  and  concerned  local  and  international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The results of the study show that there was no public consultation prior to relocation, and the affected households had very limited information about the UDG‘s investment project in their communities.  While  information  about  the  project  was  shared  a  number  of  times  through dissemination  meetings  in  the  communities, the families  who lived  in  the  leased  areas  were not fully informed and did not give free prior and informed consent. They were also excluded from  the  development  of  the  resettlement  schemes,  including  in  the  pre-planning  and displacement  processes.  Since  Cambodia  does  not  have  a  national policy  and  legal framework  covering  resettlement  and  compensation,  there  is  no  national  standard. Resettlement and compensation of UDG is based on decisions taken by the government and the company involved. 

The  practice  of  compensation  of  UDG  in  Cambodia  is  inconsistent  and  irregular.  The  five determinants of resettlement did not fully function in terms of the formulation and execution of the resettlement schemes for the UDG project. As a consequence, the resettlement schemes for this project were unsuccessful. Hence, national policy on resettlement  and compensation should  consider  establishing and  the  participation  of  local  communities and  concerned stakeholders should be involved appropriately.

Written by Mekong Institute

Written by Mekong Institute

Since  the  large-scale  physical  extent  of  irrigation  schemes tends  to  be  a  major  obstacle  to their  effective  and  efficient  management  and  development,  two  Farmer  Water  User Communities  (FWUCs),  the  Krouch Saeuch and  Anlong  Svay  FWUCs,  were  established  in 2010 to manage the secondary and tertiary schemes of the Damnak Ampil irrigation system. This  research  study  aims  to  assess  the  performance  of  these  two  FWUCs, and  to  uncover what challenges  were  encountered  during  the  five years of  their  operation.

 This  study  also recommends any  necessary  interventions  for  the improvement of  the  performance. The performance  was  assessed  based  on  five  criteria:  organizational  management, the level of participation  of  water  users,  operations and  maintenance,  financial  management, and organizational linkages. For the challenges, the internal and external factors were examined. The  results  showed  that  the  level  of  the  performance  of the Krouch Saeuch FWUC  was average, while  that  of  the Anlong  Svay  FWUC  was poor.

 The  overall  challenges  are  the inefficiency  of  the  physical  irrigation  systems,  weak  governance  and  management,  lack  of participation  by water  users,  low  level  of  outcomes from  the irrigation  schemes,  lack  of incentives  for  the  FWUCs leaders,  little external  support  for  the financial  and  technical aspects,  and  the  threat  of  natural  disasters, such  as drought  and  flooding.  Interventions  by relevant  actors are required to improve the  quality  of  the  irrigation  systems,  and  thereby, improve the performance of the FWUCs in ensuring the adequate and timely supply of water.

Written by Mekong Institute

The  effects of  climate  change  include  flood,  drought,  pest  and  disease  outbreak,  and are likely to become more prevalent and more intense in the future. Rice is the backbone of the economy in  Cambodia,  and rural  people  rely  on  rice  cultivation  for  their  livelihood.

Ba Phnum district is located in Prey Veng province, and is the district that is ranked the highest in vulnerability to flooding and second most vulnerable to droughtThis study  aims to  achieve the  following objectives,   i)  to identify  past  and  future  climate trends in Prey Veng Province  ii)  to assess the impact of climate change and vulnerability of rice cultivation in target areas iii) to propose adaptation options for rice farmers.The  research  used  the  Providing  Regional  Climates  for  Impacts  Studies (PRECIS) climate modeling downscaling for rainfall and temperature from Southeast Asia System for Analysis, Research  and  Training  (START)  Regional  Center, and  obtained  climate  data  from  water resources  and  meteorology  in  Prey  Veng  Province.

The  study gathered  trends  based  on  31 years  of  data  on  rainfall  (from  1984  to  2014), and  18  years  data  of  data  gathered  on temperature (from 1997 to 2014). Both the rainfall and the temperature data were projected to predict  trends  for  2030  and  2050. Additionally,  this  research  used  household  interviews  to consolidate the key findings.According to observed climate data, over the past 31 years the average rainfall was 1421.116 millimeters  (mm) annually. The  Special  Report  on  Emissions  Scenarios  (SRES)  A2 projection indicates that rainfall will decrease 97.504 mm by 2030 and increase 41.51 mm by 2050 in the target area.

The  maximum  temperature  is  33.02 degrees  Celsius  (oC)  according  to  SRESA2, and could show an increase of 0.60 oC by 2030 and of 1.12 oC, by 2050, while temperature in SRES B2 shows  an increase  0.41  oC  by  2030  and  1.32  oC  by  2050.  The  mean  annual  minimum temperature  is  23.55  oC.  The  projection  shows that  temperature  could  increase  0.46  oC  by 2030 and increase 1.03 oC by 2050 using the SRESA2 scenario. For SRESB2 the minimum temperature could increase 0.46 oC by 2030 and increase 1.19 oC by 2050. 

Household survey data indicates that rice is very vulnerable to the impact of climate change due  to  lack of  irrigation,  changes in  climate,  and  challenges due  to the  market  demand.  Farmers  from  the  selected  area  were  aware  of  the  impact  of  climate  change,  but  some  have little financial ability to cope with it. Farmers in Ba Phnum district have selected a short-term variety of rice seed variety to supply the market demand (Nambong - a Vietnamese variety of rice seed). Though they face challenges and are aware the seed they are currently cultivating is not tolerant to flood, drought, and pests they accept the risks related to climate change and use it to meet the market demand.

Written by Mekong Institute

Labor migration has become a very important way of life for the Myanmar people living in rural areas, since 1990. This paper investigates the causes of migration and to what extent the economic  well-being  of  migrant-sending  households  has  improved  after  migration.  Data  for the  analysis  was  drawn  from  the  author s  survey  and  interviews  conducted  in  Mon  State, Myanmar.  The  data  reveals  that  unemployment  and  low  income  are  two  of  the  factors causing  the  migration.  The  analysis  compares  household  assets  before  and  after  migration, and  investigates  the  perception  of  change  in  economic  well-being  and  level  of  poverty  as compared to five years ago, prior to the migration of a household member. The data reveals that  remittances  can  significantly  increase  the  total income  of  migrant-sending  households.  However,  such  households  cannot  solely  depend  on  remittances  to  improve  economic  well- being.  The  economic  well-being  of  households  with  more  than  one  source  of  income  has improved significantly when compared to five years ago.

Written by Mekong Institute

In the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), Thailand is a major receiving country of Migrant Domestic Workers (MDW) from neighboring countries. This study aims to examine the employment situation for MDW in Thailand and compare it with an international standard, the International Labor Organisation (ILO) C189 Domestic Workers Convention framework, as well as to compare MDW management and regulations with Hong Kong and Singapore in order to capture any lessons learned for Thailand.

This paper focuses on three main acts related to MDW management: the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979), the Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541 (1998), and the Working of Alien Act B.E. 2551 (2008) to compare with ILO C189 and the regulations in Hong Kong and Singapore. The research found that while Thai regulations meet the basic criteria of fundamental international legal rights, there is a weakness in the domestic regulatory framework, and a lack of the efficiency necessary to coherently manage the situation.

Data  from  the  research  survey  found  that  the  majority  of  MDW  in  Thailand  are  female migrants from Myanmar. Employers expressed the necessity to hire MDW because they are unable  to  find  Thai domestic  workers  at  an  affordable price.  In  addition  to  the  scarcity  of Thai  domestic  workers, MDW  from  Myanmar  are  seen  to  be  more  hard-working  than  their Thai  counterparts.  This  research  also  found  that  the  status  of  most  MDW  allowed  them  to stay in the Kingdom, but less than half of them have a formal Work Permit (WP). Using the Likert scale to survey the employers qualification requirements for MDW, it was found that the factors holding the most influence over the decision to hire MDW are housekeeping skills and secondly the legal status of MDW.

Written by Mekong Institute

The focus  of  this  study  was  to  analyze  the  impact  of  the  investment  in  the  Hongsa Lignite Power Plant on the Lao economy in 2015 using an input-output approach and data from the investment project (including data from a factory pre-feasibility study), as well as data from the sectors involved. The study concludes that the impact of the investment, which was worth 4,288  billion  kip, in  the  Hongsa  Lignite  Power  Plant  on  the  electricity,  construction  and transport sectors, as well as on other services, has increased the Lao economy s total output by 6.7% for a value-added amount of 7,245 billion kip.

Based  on  the  input-output  table,  the  study  also  finds  that  the  main  sectors  impacted  by  the economys  output  and  backward  linkages  are  the  sectors of  wood  and  paper,  transport equipment, textiles and apparel, and food and beverages. In addition, the study found that the sectors  of  the  input  multiplier  are  the  sectors  of  financial  intermediation  and  business activities,  chemical,  mineral  and  metal  products,  and  wholesale  trade.  The  outputs  of  these sectors are used as inputs by other sectors.

The  study  concludes  that  the  Hongsa  Lignite  Power  Plants  has  contributed  to  the  Lao economy.  More  generally,  it  shows  that  an  input-output  table  could  be  a  useful  tool  for finding the main sectors involved in the generation of an economys output. The table is also a tool used to set priorities for the effective planning and achieving of economic growth and investment goals.

Written by Mekong Institute

This paper examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth and the  linkages  between  FDI  and  domestic  investment (DI) in  Cambodia.  This  study  uses secondary data from 36 countries and covers the time period 2004-2012 in order to determine the impact of FDI inflows on economic growth by using macroeconomic and dynamic panel data  analyses of the  impact  of  FDI  on  domestic  investment.  The  study  finds  that  there  are positive  relationships  between FDI  and growth.  The  estimation  in  this  paper  shows  that human capital has a insignificant but positive relationship with FDI through a spillover effect. The estimation techniques are fixed and random effects. The Hausman test indicates that the fixed  effects  are  more  applicable.  The  Generalized Method  of  Moments  (GMM) technique for panel data shows that FDI had a positive but insignificant impact on domestic investment. The  author  neither  rejects  the  hypothesis  that  FDI  crowds out  domestic  investment  nor accepts that FDI has a direct impact on domestic investment. Therefore, this study suggests a negative competition effect that dominates a positive technology effect.

Written by Mekong Institute

International trade is the main driving force behind economic development of many countries. It is a significant source of foreign currency and national income, which can be used to support a country's economic growth. Many developing economies have implemented trade liberalization by participating in various Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in order to improve market access and increase export performance.

This research aims to analyze the progress of trade liberalization and looks at various types of trade costs encountered by Lao exporters. It will also identify the determinants of Lao exports in its relationship with major trading partners, which emerge as a consequence of already implemented FTAs. In this process the panel Gravity model will be used. For this purpose, 20 major Lao's trading partners have been selected in the period of 2005-2012.

The findings suggest that trade liberalization has played a crucial role in stimulating exports of Laos to major trading partners, as indicated by the tremendous increase in the country's export, from $US330 million in the year 2000 to $US 2,269 million in 2012. Major export goods include mineral products; garment and agricultural products, all of which combined accounted for 74.31% of the total exports in 2012.Major trading partners of Lao PDR are Thailand, Australia and Vietnam. These three countries account for two-thirds of Lao's total export. The result of the Gravity model suggests that trading partners' income, geographical distance and common border should be considered to be significant factors affecting a country's exports. While the FTAs implementation turns out to have either ambiguous impacts, or negative effects on exports, the lack of export diversification and the low capacity of domestic producers might be significant factors causing less preferential tariff utilization.

Written by Mekong Institute

Many countries have recognized that FDI is an important source of economic growth of a country. Myanmar also highly appreciates FDI as a key solution for the reduction of the country's development gap towards leading ASEAN countries. Thus, it is important to investigate the factors that help attracting FDI into the country. Vietnam, which is compared to Myanmar economically in a similar situation has altered its economy from a centralized system to a market-oriented one in the mid- 1980s.

Both countries have favorable investment environments, offering abundant cheap labor, natural resources and investment-friendly policies. This paper intends to analyze how both countries strive to attract FDI, and which variables determine the inflow of FDI into Myanmar and Vietnam during the period 1989 to 2012 by using linear regression analyses.

According to our analysis for Myanmar, the growth rate of GDP, the labor force, the inflation rate and the exchange rate affect the inflow of FDI. For Vietnam, only openness of the trade is statistically significant at the percent level implying that Vietnam's FDI policies have a positive effect in attracting FDI.