#clmvttranlogs2017#

The Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), comprised of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan Province and Guangxi Autonomous Region of China, is an area with immense economic potential and rich natural resources. As many as 70 million people are living within the Mekong River Basin area and 325 million throughout the sub-region, the GMS countries are enjoyed a buoyant economic growth over the last decades averaging 6.5 % GDP growth. Alongside with the rapid urbanization and industrialization in the region, demands for affordable, accessible and available energy supply is also expected to intensify. Drawing lessons from the other countries and regions around the world that are facing disrupted energy vulnerabilities, it becomes a pressing issue for GMS countries to meet the needs of energy consumption in sustainable manner. It is widely recognized renewable energy in the form of solar, wind, biofuel and biogas is a viable alternative to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and emissions of greenhouse gas. Whilst endowment of the potential renewables in GMS region varies from countries to countries, the GMS countries set the targets to use renewable energy ranging from 6% to 20% for the period up to 2020 and beyond.[1] Those efforts are directed as an important step toward sustainable and inclusive growth. Notwithstanding the promising benefits posed by the renewable energy, harnessing renewable energy is patchy. Aside from Thailand and two provinces from China, the remainders are in the early stages of promoting renewable energy encountering the hurdles which include lack of technical and maintenance knowledge, weak cooperation between different stakeholders.

This creates greater impetus for Mekong Institute (MI) to step up in energy issue in the region to facilitate increase cooperation in the development of innovative, cost-effective and secure renewable energy technologies. MI aims to address the inhibiting barriers through seminars, dialogues, trainings and workshops which allow exchanging experiences and innovative approaches among the practitioners and policy makers working on sustainable energy development. As some of the GMS countries have made considerable progress in exploiting renewable energy, it is required for the region to have

more effective platforms for sharing the lesson learned and good practices in the use of green energy. Particularly, MI is working on building common perspective and share vision among the GMS countries on prospects, challenges and synergies in balancing energy security, environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness.

Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) is undergoing dramatic changes and growth. Public sector agencies and administration have been targeted for reforms as centrally planned national economies shift toward integrated regional and global market-driven economic systems. National  governments,  supported  by  the  international  community,  have  thus  led  political  and economic restructuring. In the face of increasing connectivity and regional cooperation, new challenges are also emerging such as rising inequalities, shortage of labour, and transnational crimes, diseases and so forth. There is also growing demand from people on public officials in terms of skills knowledge and competency with the sets of more effective policies to address their needs.  Thus, the role of governments becomes of paramount important to respond all the challenges and the needs of public while striving towards the suitable development in the region.

 The successful reform in GMS requires a critical mass of talented public officials who could provide competent and forward looking public services in professional and responsible manner. Enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration structures would be able to strengthen the institution, improve public financial management and put in place good governing system.

This Resource Management in the Context of Public Administration course is a 5-day learning activity catering to government officials and state-owned enterprise executives of Lao PDR. The program presents human resource management as part of a wider process of public administration improvement. Taking human resource management as a planned approach to managing people effective for performance, the course will look at the good practices of managing human resources and its development in the region and beyond. The course curriculum will also include introduction to the concepts of public administration, in particular importance of good governance, related issues and various public administration reform initiatives in the sub region. Study visits and presentations from experts and practitioners allow participants to learn from real situations.  Relevant case studies drawn from practices elsewhere are discussed to enhance participants’ knowledge and allow them to replicate and/or adjust to their contexts upon return to Lao PDR.   

The Mekong Institute (MI), with support from Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), Thailand, is implementing a one-week modular training program on Enhancing the Utilization of FTAs by SMEs from December 4-8, 2017 at its residential training center, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

The training program aims to develop the capacity of SMEs and representatives from government agencies, private sector bodies of GMS countries to have a deeper understanding of ASEAN, the FTA status as well as emerging trade issues of FTAs in the GMS context with the necessary skills for greater utilization of FTAs in SMEs businesses and trading in the regional and global markets.

[ftabysme2017tica]

Mekong Institute (MI) in collaboration with Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) and the Colombo Plan is organizing a two-week international training on ‘Microfinance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Development in Asia Pacific Region’, April 25 - May 6, 2016, at the Mekong Institute Residential Training Center, Khon Kaen, Thailand. 

With an aim at introduction of the concept and information sharing on the latest developments in microfinance sector in connection with SME growth, the program is designed for the senior and mid-level the government officials and staff of Chambers of Commerce and Industries (CCIs) from member countries of the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic and Social Development. These include the Colombo Plan development member countries. These countries namely are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Lao PDR, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The program aims to promote regional cooperation and knowledge exchange on strengthening country systems that enhances their capacity in supporting poverty alleviation and sustainable rural development strategies and interventions. Field visits to communities with rural development and income generation projects will be arranged for participants to acquire first-hand experience, which they can apply in their work. The best practices for rural areas will likewise be introduced and discussed.

Sponsored by the People’s Government of Yunnan Province of PR China, target participants are government officials of the GMS countries including Cambodia, PR China, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam (CCLMV), who are directly involved with the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of poverty alleviation and sustainable rural development programs in their respective areas

The 5-day intensive training program on “Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, Women and Children in the GMS” is designed to enhance knowledge and skill sets of  Laos  civil servants in  protecting and promoting the rights of migrant workers in both sending and receiving countries. Furthermore, since women and children are often exposed to human trafficking, abuse of labor and domestic violence, this training course will cover the good practices in terms of providing protection measures to them through rights- based approach. Developing understanding on the current good practices and challenges will enable Laos to improve its management system in protecting the rights of those vulnerable groups. The Program is organized under the auspices of Mekong Institute in collaboration with Thailand International Cooperation Agency.

Trade and Investment Facilitation Department, Mekong Institute (MI) as part of JAIF – SEC Project, is organizing the “Regional Training on Business Research and Database Development in the Southern Economic Corridor (SEC).” The training is held on November 14-18, 2016 at Mekong River Conference Room of Mekong Institute Annex Building. 

The training program aims to equip the participants with the knowledge and skills on business research and development of business database that will serve as an interactive platform between and among interested business individuals and organizations.

This food safety training course focuses on GMP. This course introduces the participants to the basic principles of food safety, hygiene and sanitation. It discusses the food safety hazards and how to adequately control them. This GMP course lays the foundation where the other food safety management systems build upon. The 5-day training course also includes action planning for the participants to be able to help them apply their learnings in their place of work.    

Mekong Institute is organizing the Training Program on “Sustainable Rural Development” on June 13-17, 2016 at Mekong Institute’s Residential Center, Khon Kaen, Thailand, aiming to enhance professional capacity to analyze challenges and opportunities of rural development for rural communities, and to be able to facilitate local participation in the development of rural communities. The training participants will have the opportunity to exchange on-the-ground experiences, learn from challenges and discuss best practices for rural areas. Target participants are government officials from Lao PDR and Thailand, who are directly involved with the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of rural development programs.

The five-day training program will be organized in partnership with the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) and the International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD).

In collaboration with International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD) and MASHAV- Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, Mekong Institute (MI) is going to organize the Training on ‘Promoting Innovative Entrepreneurship’ on December 6-16, 2016. The training will be organized at the MI Residential Training Center in Khon Kaen, Thailand with the Structured Learning Visits (SLVs) to successful projects in Thailand.

This training aims to acquaint participants with the concepts, policies, strategies and good practices in promoting innovative entrepreneurship that stimulates the development of the region.

The program aims to enhance national capacity in promoting ASEAN GAP and its certification system to ensure the free movement of safe, healthy and quality of food within the region. Twenty-four participants are the government officials mandated to promote GAP in CLMV and investors from private sector

The four-week course will focus on  problem identification, defining research objectives, formulating research hypotheses, and developing sound conceptual/theoretical frameworks to anchor students’ research which, will in-turn, provide the basis for their respective master’s theses.

The training program aims to enhance the participants’ capacity in stimulating local economic development in the post-conflict environment which is relevant for the Kayin State. The training will focus on promoting meaningful participation of private sector and community in planning and management process of local economic development.  The training targets 20 senior and mid-level officials, private sector and community based organizations from Kayin State, Myanmar.

The course aims to outline the factors affecting the deterioration of fresh agricultural produce and present postharvest technologies for maintaining quality and reducing postharvest losses. Some of the topics to be discussed include techniques in managing temperature and packaging. The six-day training program will also include a structured learning visit (SLV) to a processing company in Thailand to provide the participants an opportunity to observe and gain first-hand insights into the operations of a fresh produce processing plant. At the end of the course, participants are expected to develop an action plan for implementation in their respective countries and organizations.

The course aims to develop participants’ capacity to monitor and evaluate sub-regional or trans-boundary development projects. It was designed for GMS participants who have undergone the training program on Project Design and Planning in the context of GMS Regional Cooperation and Integration held at MI in June 2014 funded by the Yunnan Government.

The program aims to enhance the participants’ appreciation of the urgency to facilitate ASEAN Single Window (ASW) and improve their knowledge and skills on coordinated cross border management covering the aspects of immigration and customs procedures for the movement of goods and people. The training targets 13 senior and mid-level officials from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam who are involved in cross border management, specifically from immigration, customs, agriculture, border police agencies. It is also expected that the training will contribute to strengthen the Network of Government agencies across the countries by sharing their best practices in border management.

The Program is to promote regional cooperation and knowledge exchange on strengthening country systems that enhances their capacity in supporting sustainable community development strategies and interventions. Target participants are the government officials from Cambodia who involved directly with the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of community development programs, the training program aims to enhance professional capacity in skills of community analysis, be able to gain better knowledge on concepts and process of community development, and to be able to facilitate local participation in the development of rural communities. During the one-month course, participants will be able to develop their knowledge and ability to plan for strategies and interventions to cope with the community issues.

The training program is the second activity under the NSEC project “Enhancing Provincial and Local Chambers of Commerce Capacities in Trade and Investment facilitation along the GMS NSEC (R3A&B) sponsored by ASEAN China Cooperation Fund (ACCF).

The objectives of the training are:

• To understand the need and importance of export trade for business growth and expansion
• To develop skills on different tools for organizing trade events;
• To develop skills to plan, conduct effective trade events and monitor the success of the event.

The training program aims to enhance the participants’ capacity in stimulating local economic development via cross border trade promotion which is relevant for Quang Tri Province of Vietnam. In light of ASEAN regional integration and GMS economic cooperation, the trade will focus on trade agreements which will have impacts of local business and trade sector development. The training targets 20 senior and mid-level officials and private sector from Quang Tri Province of Vietnam.  

Sponsored by the ASEAN China Cooperation Fund (ACCF), MI’s Trade and Investment Facilitation Department will organize a regional training course entitled, ‘Business Research and Information Management along North South Economic Corridors: NSEC (R3A & R3B)’, from July 14-18 in Khon Kaen, Thailand. The one week training is part of the one year project on “Enhancing Provincial and Local Chambers of Commerce Capacities in Trade and Investment Facilitation along the GMS North-South Economic Corridor (R3A & R3B).

The training aims at helping participants develop their capacity and gain deeper understanding in ASEAN, FTA status and trade issues of FTAs in the GMS context including current state of affairs in the regional and international trade. Target groups of the training are representatives from private sector bodies, namely; chambers of commerce and industry, business associations, exporters and importers in the GMS countries. Through this training course, participants are expected to improve their knowledge and skills for greater utilization of FTAs in their businesses and trading in the regional and global markets.

This modular training program is designed to train BDS providers, existing SMEs and prospective entrepreneurs on basic concepts of entrepreneurship development and SME promotion with a focus to promote business development in maize and allied sectors.

The training will adopt a modular approach with three successive stages of learning- learn to do (training), do to learn (application of the knowledge) and share to learn (synthesis and feedback).

This training aims to enhance their knowledge and skills in GAP and postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables. In 2014, MI is going to organize a training of trainers (TOT) for those who have the potential to be GAP trainers in CLMV. These trainers are expected to continue promoting product quality and safety by raising awareness among various stakeholders through various capacity development efforts.

The project is a regional capacity development project that aims at contributing to rapid local economic development and inclusive growth in the GMS with special emphasis on provinces and communities along the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC), in which three pilot provinces/states Khammoune Province (Lao PDR), Quang Tri Province (Vietnam) and Kayin State (Myanmar) had been selected.

The training course will be organized and conducted in Mekong Institute, Thailand. The scholars will engage in an interactive learning environment to understand the analytical methods used to convert data into information for decision-making. Upon completion of the training, they will be able to describe the differences between quantitative and qualitative research and apply several statistical techniques used in research. They are also expected to improve and finalize the research proposal they prepared prior to acceptance to the Program.

The program aims to enhance the participants’ appreciation of the urgency to facilitate ASEAN Single Window (ASW) and improve their knowledge and skills on coordinated cross-border management for greater efficiency in managing agriculture trade.

Target participants include border checkpoint officials (animal inspection, plant inspection, customs), and cross-border trade investors from CLMV countries. A visit to a border checkpoint will introduce participants to cross-border procedures, particularly customs procedure, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) inspection measures and various requirements that will facilitate the movement of goods from one country to another.

This one week training program aims to build capacities of senior-middle management working with SMEs in providing effective and inclusive development of rice clusters in Khammoune province. They will be trained on tools and strategies in developing SME clusters for rice business sector, market access and developing export market through export consortia and integration of SME exporters to regional and global value chains. The program will be held from May 26 - June 2, 2014, in the target location Khammoune Province, Lao PDR.

MI is offering the program in collaboration with a state enterprise, Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand, and three multinational agro-based companies namely, Mitr Phol Group, Sriviroj Farm Khon Kaen, and Swift Company in Nakhon Pathom as private sector partners. These organizations will host the students during their 20-day practicum that allows hands-on experience in various aspects of poultry, dairy, sugarcane, and fresh fruit & vegetables business operations. Through this program, the participants are expected to learn about modern technologies in production and processing systems as well as marketing, through experiential learning.

The training course, jointly sponsored by New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA), aims to broaden participants’ horizons on the characteristics and benefits of value chain approaches. The course will promote the utilization of these approaches in the GMS with a view to enhancing local, regional and national economic development.

The programme aims to support SME internalisation through identification of external market for their exportable products. Participants will be expected to identify a list of top-ten products for export once they complete the training and return to their countries. They will also jointly develop a software for market identification as part of the training program

The program aimed to build capacities of business development services (BDS) providers and SME exporters in key areas in developing SME cluster, developing export model through export consortia, facilitating access of BDS, cluster mapping, technology adaption, innovation, and integration of SME exporters to regional and global supply chains

Coordinated Border Management (CBM) systems and procedure promote cohesion, efficiency and logical manner of managing border operations as these apply to travelers, goods and transportation crossing international borders.  CBM is essential for the fulfillment of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) system. The proposed learning course  is designed to enhance the participants’  appreciation, knowledge and skills in strengthening cross border systems and procedures, particularly immigration, customs procedure, sanitary and phytosanitary inspection measures.