BTC - The Mid-Term Review Of The Project “Support To The Innovation And Development Of Business Incubators Policy Project (BIPP)” - 2017

Project Description:

The project BIPP was designed to improve the  policy framework for technology business incubation: an essential element of increasing the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises. The project supported the Ministry of Science and  Technology to develop an appropriate enabling environment for the establishment and growth of technology business incubators and their S&T clients.

The resultant changes in policy and  legal framework were field tested through two technology incubators (one in Hanoi and one in HCMC) and  through a pilot capacity building fund (Innofund) which supported the  management  of other established incubators and their tenants throughout Vietnam. Best practice and lessons learnt were captured through a comprehensive monitoring system and the results fed back into further policy development.

MKE completed the MTR which analysed the performance of the project according to the DAC criteria and to the horizontal and transversal themes.

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.

LIFT - Interim Review of LIFT 2015-2018 Strategy - 2017

Project Description:

LIFT is a multi-donor fund designed to address the food insecurity and income poverty of poor and vulnerable people in Myanmar. In light of Myanmar’s political, social and economic transformation, LIFT developed a new strategy in 2014 supporting the transformation of Myanmar’s rural economy by promoting inclusive growth and providing new knowledge, technologies and access to finance and markets with more opportunities for agribusiness with the private sector.

MKE’s role was to review LIFT’s strategy in order to improve LIFT’s performance and governance, and to inform future possible funding mechanisms beyond 2018. This required reviewing key documents relating to LIFT’s strategy including specific project documents, such as project proposals, MEAL plans, and project reports, were made available for the review team. MKE also conducted meetings with key Fund Board members, FMO staff, and other stakeholders. The team visited all four agro-ecological target areas to review project progress. Finally MKE produced a final report highlighting key findings with regards to the performance of LIFT, and providing recommendations for future funding strategies.

International Finance Company (IFC) & a Private Client - Ecosystem Service Assessment - 2017

Description of Project:

Around 70.2 ha land in a hilly area of a commune (of one province in Vietnam) was acquired for the Client to develop a Solar Power Project. The Client, being a client of IFC, was required to manage the environmental and social risks associated with the project as per IFC’s sustainability framework. This assessment focused on the applicability of PS6 ‘Biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of living natural resources’ and PS7 ‘Indigenous Peoples’. It was estimated that a number of households (HHs) were economically displaced by the Project, which were compensated by the Client during the land acquisition and compensation process. Besides, an additional number of HHs from nearby hamlets accessed the Project site and adjacent areas for grazing livestock and fuelwood collection. The study strived to assess, considering IFC’s Sustainability framework, the ecosystem services provided by the area containing and surrounding the project site by: determining the impact of the loss of ecosystem services on local HHs living adjacent to the land acquired for the project; and subsequently identifying sustainable alternative livelihood services to replace the lost services.

The following tasks were undertaken:

• Reviewed the Project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for relevant background information on the Project scope and impacts on its area of influence;

• Developed a representative sample of Jrai and Kinh households. Using this representative sample, survey household patterns of use/dependence on livestock grazing, fuel-wood collection and other services at the Project site and other common, resource areas surrounding the project site.

• Undertook a rapid ecosystem services assessment within the Project site based on the social impact

European Commission/Cardno Emerging Markets Ltd - Final Evaluation of the Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme -2016

Project Description:

The mission is the final evaluation of the EC-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme (ESRT Programme in Vietnam). The overall project objective was: "To mainstream responsible tourism principles into Vietnam’s tourism sector to enhance competitiveness and contributing to achieving the Socio Economic Development Plan (SEDP)."

The programme worked in three key component areas:

(1) Policy Support and Institutional Strengthening

(2) Product Competitiveness and Public-Private Dialogue

(3) Vocational Training and Education.

The main objective of the Final Evaluation was to review project progress, to check results against targets, and to provide a clear and concise opinion and assessment whether the progamme has met its objectives. In this respect the mission assessed the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the ESRT programme related to its stated purpose and expected results, in accordance with EC evaluation guidelines. By identifying weaknesses and challenges, the evaluation helped the European Commission Delegation and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to assess the impact of the programme as well as consider lessons learnt.

Care Myanmar - Evaluation on Strengthening Early Childhood Education (SECE) Programme - 2016

Project Description:

Community-based Early Child Day Care Centers (ECDCC) would be established near CARE’s existing Community Learning Centers (CLC) funded by AusAid, and would serve as

(i) Day care centers for male and female children aged three to five years

(ii) parent meeting centers for childhood development.

Mekong Economics conducted a final evaluation to determine the extent to which this project was successful. The MKE team was responsible for further considering the key evaluation questions and designing the evaluation methodology, implementing the agreed methodology, analysing data, and documenting outcomes of the evaluation.

ACF - Final Evaluation Sustainable approaches for improved nutrition - 2015

Project Description:

The SUSTAIN project aimed to sustainably improve the nutritional status of the most vulnerable population through the introduction in Myanmar of innovative ‘nutrition-sensitive’ intervention to combat food insecurity. The intervention covered the three pillars of food security with an increased focus on the third one, ‘Nutrition’.

Through the adoption of three innovative approaches, the target groups would improve their dietary intake with an increased consumption of micronutrient-rich foods and products, and enhanced nutrition and care practices. The action aimed to tackle nutrition from different angles, and to establish actionable linkages and levers between agriculture, food security, and nutrition and health sectors.

WWF (Greater Mekong Programme Office) - Produce a Comprehensive Report Outlining Alternatives for Power Generation in the Greater Mekong Sub-region - 2015

Project Description:

Mekong Economics provided one International Economist and one Local Economist to complete the following key inputs into the Final Report:

o   Reviewing assumptions, assisting in scenario development and review of modelling results

o   Providing economic assessment for each for the modelled scenarios

o   Providing input into policy amendments.

CARE International - Economic Empowerment of Women from ethnic groups in the Mekong (Post intervention Data Collection and Analysis for the Impact Evaluation) - 2015

Project Description:

Mekong Economics provided a local Team to collect the primary data though focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with various stakeholders to assist in the impact evaluation of CARE’s interventions in the area of women’s participation and economic empowerment with ethnic groups, to learn which approaches and models worked, to test our theories of change, and to provide recommendations for future programming strategies and direction in the Mekong region.

Belgium Technical Cooperation/Ministry of Planning and Investment - Assessment of the Business Environment and Competitiveness of enterprises in services sectors - 2014

Project Description:

The overall project had four specific outputs:

1.      Comparative Literature Review (Cross-country and multi-sectoral);

2.      Qualitative Primary Research Report (24 in-depth interviews, 16 Case Studies, 4 Value Chain Analysis, and Study Tour Findings);

3.      Final Synthesis Report with concrete recommendations and solutions to 2020, and highlight visions to 2030.

4.      Two workshops