Seventh Annual Seminar on Developing Service Markets and Value Chains - Chiang Mai, 18-22 September 2006 (English / French / Spanish)
| Implementing agency(ies) | ILO | |
|---|---|---|
| Date completed | September 2006 | |
| Issues/challenges | The Seminar is over for another year; around 150 people gathered in Chiang Mai to consider current trends in PSD - and specifically in the development of value chains and service markets. The Seminar Directors were Jim Tanburn (agenda) and Peter Tomlinson (everything else); Aly Miehlbradt also contributed in many ways to the technical organisation of the Seminar. Listings of the documents on the right start here, and continue under "Description"; more information can be found on the ILO Turin website for the Seminar. a) The Seminar Reader The English, French and Spanish versions of the 2006 Reader Update are now available on the right hand side (a short summary in French by others is already included). The Arabic version is available at the Jordan Seminar page - a link to that page is provided at the bottom of this one. Our particular thanks to Swiss SDC for co-financing the production costs of this year's Reader. b) The Seminar Programme The Programme of the Seminar can be downloaded on the right, to get a full list of presentations made. c) Globalization and the Small Firm USAID's Jeanne Downing provided a conceptual framework for value chain development; a recent paper which she co-authored is also posted on the right. More information can be found on USAID's knowledge sharing website microlinks.org. d) Pro-poor development of value chains John Marsh of Oxfam Hong Kong presented the substantial analysis recently conducted with IFC/MPDF on the bamboo value chain in the Mekong region. This analysis marries international competitiveness with pro-poor analysis in a very interesting new way. e) Selecting market interventions for maximum leverage: How to get more "bang-for-the-buck" Norma Tregurtha presented the tool that the ComMark Trust has developed, to select those interventions most likely to be effective - by considering the various potentials and risks. f) Entrepreneurial development of value chains Kevin Billing and Wanjiku Guchu presented the experiences of BSMDP Kenya with the dairy value chain, with an interesting focus on the establishment of hubs for milk collecation in central Kenya, and the impacts that is having. g) From relief to market development in post-crisis situations David Rinck considered recent experiences in delivering relief with a market development perspective. Gerry McCarthy of ILO augmented this with personal experiences from Somaliland and Puntland. h) Measuring impacts from market development Aly Miehlbradt presented several case studies of how impacts have been measured, illustrating the different needs for assessment in pilots, compared to full-scale roll-out. i) Value chain analysis, monitoring and benchmarking Deepak Adhikary of IFC/SEDF presented a persuasive case for focusing on competitiveness of value chains, by benchmarking them against other countries - using data from several value chains in Bangladesh and elsewhere. |
- Description
j) Stimulating the market for consulting services in Central Asia
EBRD's Gabriel Al-Salem presented recent experiences in weak markets for services in Central Asia, giving practical examples of both achievements and lessons learned.
k) Experiences of SIYB China and related initiatives
ILO's Chris Weinmann presented research findings on the demand for training in China, and the current state of roll-out of the Start and Improve Your Business curriculum there.
l) The role of the Federation of Thai Industries in encouraging innovation
FTI's Khun Wichien outlined what Chiang Mai is doing to innovate, and so to stay ahead of the competition; he gave the example of marketing local crops in new ways, in the growing market for health foods.
m) HIV/AIDS: Achievements and challenges for business development facilitators
MEDA's Linda Jones presented the outcomes of recent events on this theme, and illustrated them with case studies from the field. ILO's Lemmy Manje and Owen Kibenge added comments (Owen without a presentation).
n) Embedding the rural audience at the centre of the radio business in Uganda
ILO's Owen Kibenge illustrated how commercial radio stations throughout Uganda are now serving rural entrepreneurs; he gave a number of case studies illustrating the impact of this approach to market development.
o) Partnering with TV and Corporates to reach scale in the Middle East
IFC's Michel Botzung presented the results so far of dynamic partnerships with a leading TV station and Corporation in the Middle East, to brand the Business Edge management training package and achieve scale. TV viewership data are also included on the right hand side.
p) Reforming the Business Environment: Emerging trends and challenges
ILO's Martin Clemensson, Chair of the Donor Committee Working Group on the Business Environment, gave a presentation on current thinking and future plans of the Committee in this important area, outlining two main approaches, emerging lessons and areas of controversy. Corinna Kuesel, incoming Co-Chair of the Donor Committee, spoke briefly before Martin about the work of the Committee overall.
q) Service markets in OECD countries: Characteristics, opportunities and challenges
Anita Wolfl presented research by OECD/CEPII into service markets in OECD countries, providing thought-provoking insights for those of us working in developing countries. Two background papers are also included to the right.
r) Cooperation with the international private sector
Corinna Kuesel and Cao Thanh Van presented GTZ's recent experiences in cooperating with the international private sector, at the global level and in Vietnam, through matching grant and other mechanisms.
s) Linkages between financial and other services
Merten Sievers and Peter Tomlinson presented the findings of recent evaluations of the impact of combining financial services with BDS; Bhim sen Gurung then presented recent experiences from IDE Nepal, and Linda Jones from Tajikistan. Brigit Helms was unable to come, because of a travel ban in force on that day.
t) Summing Up: Where the field is today
Seminar Director Jim Tanburn presented current trends in donor thinking, and the reasons behind those trends. In his presentation, he referred to many recent publications, which were provided to participants on the Seminar CD-ROM. His presentation is expected to be the basis for an article in the next issue of the Small Enterprise Development Journal.
u) List of participants and photo
The group photo can be downloaded to the right; more photos of the Seminar can be viewed here.
Summary of results
"What a fantastic experience -- congratulations to the whole Chiang Mai seminar team ... I'll be distilling useful stuff for quite a while ... No question -- this is the best event of this kind I've been to by far"
"A great experience and a very enriching conference"
"I really enjoyed the seminar. I was very much impressed by the level of participants and how much the knowledge base has matured"
"For me it was an extremely exciting conference"
"I really enjoyed the highly professional presentations and interesting discussions, from which I learnt a lot."
"I had quite a bit of time on the flight home to reflect on the issues raised, and arrived back quite energized to speed up our impact assessment process and finish off a number of case-studies I've been sitting with forever."
"I really enjoyed the Seminar in Chiang Mai and only regret that more participants from [my agency] weren't able to attend. The seminar was both enlightening but also affirmed much of my own thinking of where we should be heading with PSD engagement."
"I enjoyed the seminar very much and felt that I learned a lot, both from presentations and informal discussion. As always it was good to connect with familiar people and meet new ones."
"I enjoyed the seminar very much and I found it so useful for my job."
"I received a copy of the 2006 Reader.... & I have lost my sleep :-) ... you have achieved 'the impossible' .... no other word could have described this effort in a better way. I kept away all my days work & took almost 4-5 hours to read through the whole book & when I finished, I am soooooo muuuuuuuuch learned now. It's amazing. The kind of practicality depicted in your examples is a Gold mine. It will help me in improving my work, for sure."
And later: "It was a real pleasure to get to know you and learn valuable lessons from the PSD seminar and study tour last September. It was truly a memorable experience for me."
Follow-up, regional Seminars took place in Jordan, 19-21 February 2007, and South Africa, 5-7 March 2007; links to all of the Papers are given on the right hand side. Next year's global Seminar will be in Chiang Mai again, 24-28 September, with an optional study tour to Bangladesh; again, the link below leads to information currently available on this event. If you are interested to make a presentation about your work, please send an e-mail using this link.
a) Pour un developpement perenne du secteur prive en faveur des pauvres (synthese)(54 kB)