Services & Sectors
- Baseline Studies 40
- Capacity Building 12
- Commercial Services 1
- Consumer Survey 3
- Economic Research 58
- Education Safeguards 14
- Enterprise Survey 28
- Gender Analysis 9
- Health 6
- Household Survey 32
- Human Resources 1
- Impact Measurement 67
- M&E 71
- Market Studies 55
- Policy Research 43
- Project Management 48
- Project Support 2
- Social/Environmental Safeguards 68
- Strategy Development 45
- Training 20
- Value Chain Analysis 10
Deloitte - USAID Improving Private Sector Competitiveness Project - 2022
Description of Project:
The purpose of the USAID Improving Private Sector Competitiveness Activity (“Activity) is to remove constraints and build the competitiveness of small and growing businesses (SGBs) in Vietnam, including those led by vulnerable populations. With this activity, USAID/Vietnam is supporting Vietnam’s competitiveness: vertically at the policy, market and firm level; and horizontally by working along the entire spectrum of enterprise growth models, from household businesses transforming into registered firms to small firms on the cusp of scaling up.
The Activity has four main objectives:
Objective 1: Building business management capacity of SGBs, including those led by vulnerable populations.
Objective 2: Improving efficiency and productivity by promoting innovation, technology adoption, and sustainable business models.
Objective 3: Enhancing business enabling environment for a broad-based inclusive economy.
Objective 4: Strengthening business-to-business (B2B) and cross-sectoral linkages.
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:
● Review and evaluate
● The state of Vietnamese small and growing businesses with respect to both horizontal and vertical structural capacity and resource challenges that hinder both their development and the contribution they can make to greater economic growth and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem.
● The state of SGBs, especially SGBs in selected, prioritized sectors and including the disadvantaged groups, such as women-led, ethnic groups, vulnerable populations and household businesses.
● The status of the business enabling environment (BEE) for SGBs, especially SGBs in selected prioritized sectors that include the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
● Assess how the business enabling environment affects the opportunities of SGBs, especially for women, ethnic minorities and vulnerable populations.
● The state of Business Development Service Providers (BDSP) in the public and private sectors in supporting SGBs and other groups..
● Identify opportunities and successes across the Activity Objectives - in SGB management; efficiency and technology adoption; business enabling environment; and business-to-business and cross-sectoral linkages promotion - that have potential for scale and replication.
● Identify interventions for all SGBs in management, efficiency and technology adoption, business enabling environment, B2B, and cross-sectoral linkage promotion.
● Identify interventions for sector development, sector planning in selected, prioritized economic sectors.
● Identify interventions that impact directly to operating activities of SGBs.
● Identify pilot interventions for up-and-coming less-formal enterprises that can become leaders for other SGBs in prioritized sectors and can be fully-formal, registered enterprises in the long-term.
● Provide additional insights into the participation in the above related to women, ethnic minorities, and vulnerable populations.
● Establish baseline, evidence-based information for Activity indicators
DAI - Technical Assistance for the ARISE+ Programme in Vietnam: Support to MOIT on Trade Policy Related Activities (Component 4) - 2022
Description of Project:
The overall objective of the ARISE+ Vietnam project is inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction in Vietnam, while the specific objective of the project is to provide technical assistance to the Vietnamese Government to maximise Vietnam’s benefits from preferential trade regimes, with a focus on regional agreements and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment
- Draft Component 4 of the Overall Work Plan (OWP) and Annual Work Plan (AWP) Comprehensive implementation of the EU-Viet Nam FTA, through a rapid response facility activity planning to the OWP and AWP, in collaboration with MoIT;
- Lead on project management tasks related to component 4;
- Organise and attend the 1st steering committee meeting, together with KE2 and KE3;
- Ensure implementation of activities under Result 4: Comprehensive implementation of the EU-Viet Nam FTA, through a rapid response facility;
- Prepare TORs for priority approved activities under Component 4;
- Support the identification of other NKE’s for Component 4;
- Implement part of the activities identified under ToR for component 4;
- Supervise implementation of all other activities identified under ToR forcomponent 4; and
Draft reports (6-monthly progress report), parts related to component 4, and ensure overall quality control.
CFM - Hiep Thanh Wind Project – Community Needs Assessment - 2021
Description of Project:
Ecotech, an entity established in Vietnam and in accordance with Vietnam law (Project Company), is developing the Hiep Thanh Project 78 MW nearshore wind project in Tra Vinh Province, South Vietnam (the “Project”). The Project is located approximately 130km from Ho Chi Minh City. The Project is located in the following five communes: Hiep Thanh, My Long Nam, Hiep My Tay, Hiep My Dong and Long Son. In accordance with the principles of CFM’s Responsible Investment Code, CFM is committed to maximising opportunities for delivering environmental and social benefits through its investments, particularly to the local communities in the area of influence of its project investments. This assignment aims to carry out stakeholder mapping and a needs assessment along with prioritisation and ranking to provide the information necessary for the development of the community development programme for the Project.
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:
Mekong Economics’ inputs were to carry out stakeholder mapping and a needs assessment along with prioritisation and ranking to provide the information necessary for the development of the Do Good program for the Tra Vinh project. This involved the following specific details:
· Conducted comprehensive desk review of relevant project to develop and formalize an assessment framework in compliance with IFC‘s Performance Standards - including a methodology to assess it in close consultation with CFM and its partners.
· Identified opportunities for environmental interventions that restore, conserve or enhance the local environment through meetings with stakeholders including NGOs, Government officials and through relevant studies (for example ESIA baseline studies, desk-based research).
· Ranked of the different Do Good opportunities will commence with local stakeholders
KOTO - Restaurant Social Impact - 2021
Description of Project:
KOTO (Know One, Teach One) is a social enterprise that empowers disadvantaged Vietnamese youth through its two-year holistic training program. KOTO aims to enable these youth to lead happy and dignified lives, maintain stable employment and career growth, and contribute to their community. KOTO seeks to achieve this through providing education, employment support, and a safe and supportive environment guided by the ‘Know one, teach one’ (KOTO) philosophy.
The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the attributable outcomes and impacts that KOTO’s programming has had on its graduates. Namely, the evaluation asked whether the larger goal of KOTO has been achieved to produce change—whether KOTO graduates and their communities experience improved livelihoods. From evaluation results, KOTO seeks to identify lessons-learned to improve KOTO programming, as well as better communicate its impacts to current and prospective impact investors, sponsors, and donors.
In February 2021, Mekong Economics Ltd. (MKE) was commissioned by KOTO to undertake a third-party evaluation of KOTO’s social impact since its establishment in 1999. The methodology for this evaluation incorporated quantitative and qualitative research, primarily a quantitative tracer survey of KOTO graduates, which was carefully designed and implemented to maximize the response rate. The approach and design of the survey sought to understand the attributable impact of KOTO where data and reasonable assumptions allowed.
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:
MKE undertook a mixed-methods approach in order to capture both quantitatively and qualitatively the extent to which KOTO has achieved its objectives and the effect that KOTO has had on both graduates and their communities and/or families. To this end, the evaluation utilized one primary data collection tool: An online tracer survey with KOTO graduates. The survey was developed and piloted on the basis of the evaluation framework, then finalized after discussions with KOTO. A secondary desk review of KOTO entrant’s background information was also conducted to evaluate relevance while establishing a baseline with which to contextualize evaluation findings.
Oxfam - Consultancy for Governance and Civic Spaces Mapping in Kayin State - 2022
Description of the Project:
Oxfam has been working on the Township Democratic Local Governance (TDLG) Strengthening project in Mon state since 2017 in cooperation with the UNDP. The aims of the project are CSO strengthening and creating civic engagement spaces among local stakeholders through civil society, community based organizations, and community leaders including women leaders across the ten townships of Mon State. Oxfam has conducted a series of training and workshops, particularly on social accountability and women’s leadership, with 100 civil society organizations and over 100 women leaders, and facilitated their meaningful participation by building constructive engagements in local governance. The project aims to explore the Kayin State as a new project area with a similar intervention like Mon State with added perspectives of Kayin State’s different parallel governance systems in conflict-affected settings and integrated into collaboration approaches with local civil society organizations.
Tasks assigned by MKE:
• Develop a proposal with the scope of work, methodology, work plan, and compliance along the process and agree with the Oxfam team.
• Desk review of various reports and research relevant to the current political context, including Oxfam’s existing learning documents.
• Map out key emerging multiple administration governance structures, running mechanisms, and their limitations at the sub-national level to ward and village tract levels in relation to the role of civil society and protecting civic space.
• Identify the risks and the enabling/shrinking drivers and actors that contribute to the role of civil society and civic space under the current context.
• Provide key analysis and recommendations for further strengthening the role of civil society and protecting civic space.
• Prepare a report with key findings and recommendations.
RI - MEL activities under the Graduation Model under the “LIFT” funded project “Response Mechanism for Addressing Protracted Displacement in Rakhine State, Myebon and Mrauk U - 2022
Description of Project:
The project implemented a graduation model to support internally displaced persons (IDPs), former IDPs and the surrounding communities. The graduation model was built on five core elements: (i) provision of productive assets; (ii) technical and business skills training to manage the respective product asset; (iii) consumption support through regular cash or food support; (iv) home visits/coaching geared at community inclusion and positive behaviour change; (v) financial inclusion, training on financial literacy and linkage to formal financial services. The objective of the assignment was to conduct a baseline survey to understand the living conditions of the most vulnerable households in Myebon Township.
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:
● Met with RI to discuss the scope, approach, methodology, resource mobilization, stakeholders, timelines, deliverables for the baseline evaluation;
● Developed methodology and data collection tools including household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews;
● Reviewed the project documents and the result matrix and relevant indicators;
● Reviewed the M&E needs of the project and of the graduation model and identify relevant indicators to be measured;
● Conducted data collection including surveying of 250 HHs, profiling of 400 HHs, 10 KIIs, and 4 FGDs
● Wrote up a baseline report.
ADB/PwC India - TA-9003 REG: Energy Efficiency Market Assessment - 2022
Description of the Project:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a regional capacity development technical assistance project (RETA 9003) in November 2015 to support a more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable power sector development for greater mitigation of climate change impacts in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). As the original scope of the project was successfully completed, GMS countries envision more renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) investments. To materialize such visions, ADB approved additional scope for RETA 9003 in November 2018 to support development of individual project pipelines and business models for implementation of RE and EE projects, among others.
Description of the Actual Services Provided by your entity:
· Undertake review of energy demand and supply scenario in Myanmar
· Analyse, review & provide insights on the existing energy audit reports and other related country studies already carried out in Myanmar as well as investment grade energy audits to be undertaken or have been undertaken by KEA & other development agencies in order to develop potential DSEE investment pipelines.
· Assess the country’s existing EE/investment grade auditing capacity within the relevant government departments and ESCO industry and identify potential training/capacity building needs, which will be addressed through TA 9003 GMS Knowledge Hub Program on EE with Thailand Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency;
· Analyse, review & provide insights on best-practice DSEE technology solutions including their application to potential energy efficiency investment projects; and
· Analyse, review & provide insights for preparation of awareness building activities on DSEE in the three countries on DSEE technologies.
· Support in identification of local vendors for energy efficient technology and set-up meeting with them as per PwC’s requirements.
· Support data gathering, review, analysis, and report preparation for technology. Financing, administrative, policy and regulatory and stakeholder engagement aspects for preparation of the required reports;
· Identification of local association in the industry, building, appliances & transport sector. Details of association should contain: Name, address, contact details, number of members, name and contact of head (President or equivalent).
· Supporting PwC in conducting survey of sub-sectors through online and telephonic methods and compilation of survey data. ·
UNICEF - Long term arrangement (LTA) on Third Party Field Monitoring Services (Progress Review Team) - 2022
Description of Project:
UNICEF Myanmar with its network of 8 field office supported humanitarian and development interventions in thematic programme areas of WASH, Health and Nutrition, Education, Child Protection and Social Policy and Child Rights Monitoring to further the rights of children. MKE supported UNICEF in monitoring humanitarian and development interventions, including identifying any unmet needs and difficulties faced by women and children, monitoring UNICEF-supported interventions, focusing particularly on locations where UNICEF has limited or no access.
Key objectives of the Phase 1-2 assignments included:
· Verifying progress reports submitted by implementing partners;
· Assessing appropriateness of UNICEF’s response interventions to the needs of the affected populations;
· Monitoring programme interventions based on agreed standards / criteria;
· Identifying gaps in delivery of services (including supplies);
Conducting situation monitoring to identify any emerging issues related to the affected population which needed urgent attention by UNICEF.
Covid-19 assessment: MKE entailed a quick socio economic assessment following COVID-19 outbreak covering perceptions, psychosocial check-in and family arrangement. It aimed to examine the current public awareness towards Covid-19, and track the changes in working situation, family arrangements and mental illness every two weeks interval, as well as to assess individual knowledge, attitude and practices and enabling environment in regards to accessing trustful media. The findings guided the UNICEF to identify the needs of people, and to better understand in providing effective and efficient responses.
Multi-sectors Rapid Needs assessment: It aimed to generate evidence on the impacts of the emergency (Covid-19 and 1st February 2021 coup) on household level basic needs. It covered a broad array of sectors of UNICEF programmes in Myanmar, including Health, Nutrition, Education, WASH, Child Protection, and Social Protection/Services. The findings helped improve the ability of UNICEF to advocate, coordinate, fundraise, and allocate funds for appropriate and relevant responses.
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:
Phase 1-2
· Conducted field monitoring as per the requirement, including 30 generalist visits, 1 supervisory visit (Phase 1), and 90 generalist visits (Phase 2);
· Independently obtained approval (including Travel Authorization) from relevant government and security authorities for travel;
· Organized trainings for monitors on the checklist and guidelines/standards drafted by UNICEF to ensure credible and good quality data collection;
· Carried out independent monitoring and assessment of the progress against key activities and inputs of UNICEF’s humanitarian and development work. Validated the reports submitted by partners and seeked feedback from the affected population and key informants;
· Submitted monitoring/assessment reports in English as per the agreed template;
· Used real time data collection tools;
· Contacted the Chief of PME unit and focal points for respective field office and sections by phone and email about any issues or gaps in programme activities that needed to be urgently addressed;
· Conducted regular (online/onsite) pre-post deployment meetings with UNICEF field office staff;
Conducted de‐brief meetings with UNICEF towards the end of each phase to consolidate experiences and identify progress, main challenges and lessons learnt.
Covid assessment
· Finalized questionnaires drafted by UNICEF;
· Identified key respondents from prioritized townships in six states/regions;
· Developed online-offline mobile data collection form;
· Arranged logistics to reach hard-to-reach areas (including Non-Government Control Area);
· Conducted telephone surveys (100 respondents in Mindat - Chin State), 200 respondents in Kayah State and 150 respondents in Kayin State, and 164 respondents in Sagaing region); Data management and quality control;
· Conducted data analysis and report writing.
Rapid Needs Assessment
· Finalized questionnaire drafted by UNICEF, translated and transferred to KOBO software;
· Developed project work plan and supervised the data collection team;
· Identified list of respondents (including KIIs) in targeted townships in 3 states and 1 region, using snowball method;
· Arranged logistics to reach hard-to-reach areas (including conflict affected areas, remote villages, Non-Government Control Area, IDP camps);
· Conducted 614 telephone surveys with households, and KIIs in 13 townships (including temporary IDP camps) in targeted states and region within the project timeframe;
· Conducted data quality control;
· Conducted primary data analysis and wrote up key findings;
· Submitted final report and PowerPoint presentation of key findings of each State and Region.
DAI - Public debt and liquidity management - 2022
Description of Project:
This is a baseline paper to inform a discussion on the impact of economic pressure and possibly further scoping/analysis which may be required to inform FCDO thinking on avenues for influencing and interventions by the UK or in partnership with others – focus on Myanmar public debt, what the regime has done domestically and internationally to raise debt since the coup and future plans. Mainly assess into (a) what has happened to the budget deficit (excluding grants) post-coup; (b) what has happened to external grants and borrowing post-coup; (c) how the budget deficit has been financed and consequences (e.g. inflation, reserves, crowding out); (d) what has been the human/social impact of the cut in public expenditure, i.e., impact on basic public services, poverty, human capital development etc (SDG goal type effects). It will identify opportunities for future intervention.
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:
● Prepare questionnaire for primary data collection;
● Develop project work-plan and map KII participants list;
● Coordinate with International/National level economist, politicians, activists, traders, business men, SME sectors, household level;
● Conduct 20 in-depth interview with International/National level respondents;
● Review databases that report on China data (SDDS, CEIC) and search the data in the other sources like Chinese SOEs’ annual reports or BRI reports;
● Explore commercial databases e.g. Dealogic which reports bond issues, update published data and triangulate the existing data, as well as to develop an understanding of possible future trends;
● Analyse a range of formal, informal and anecdotal sources, including published sources and data, social media, etc;
● Analyse and evaluate findings of remote in-depth interviews of each sectors;
● Cross-check findings between primary and secondary data sources and make recommendations for future trends;
● Submit the final report with executive summary to the DAI team.
● Organize the presentation about the main-finding with the DAI expert and FCDO.
DAI - Economic Pressures - 2022
Description of Project:
A previous research paper conducted by Mekong Economics (MKE) recommended consideration of sanctions on MOGE. Since the previous paper was researched and drafted in December 2021, the EU has sanctioned MOGE. Civil society organisations and others are still campaigning for further action. However, systematic tracking of the impact of such measures is lacking. This is an initial review of data available on the impact of such measures, and possible implications of further sanctions on the regime, economy and livelihoods if other countries were to follow suit.
Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:
● Conduct rapid response briefing over the space of 48 hours
● Extensive scoping of relevant literature such as, media articles, research reports, NGO statements, relevant briefings, academic Conduct 20 in-depth interview with International/National level respondents;
● Analyse a range of formal, informal and anecdotal sources, including published sources and data, social media, etc;
● Conduct rapid key informant interviews with relevant sectoral experts
● Cross-check findings between primary and secondary data sources and make recommendations for future trends;
● Draw conclusions on likely impact of sanctions and recommendations for future action
● Condense findings and analysis into rapid briefing paper for FCDO
● Organize the presentation about the main-finding with the DAI expert and FCDO.