Mekong Business Initiative

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The Mekong Business Initiative (MBI) is an advisory and advocacy facility which promotes private sector development (PSD) in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) region, with a focus on Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam (CLMV). The MBI objective of promoting business environment reforms in CLMV aligns to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Strategy 2020 strategic focus on PSD, as well as the GMS Economic Cooperation Program Strategic Framework 2012- 2022 in recognition of the critical role of the private sector as an engine of GMS development.MBI adopts a focused and strategic approach towards aligning national and regional PSD agendas. The MBI thinks regionally and act nationally in that it is a regional initiative focusing on common regional issues, but offering national solutions. Success of the MBI depends critically on its modality. The MBI design enables ADB to rapidly mobilize targeted expertise for analytical work, policy reform, and capacity building in response to government and private sector requests for assistance. Significant resources will be set aside to support reform implementation. The MBI relies on an understanding of political economy, and on in-built flexibility to disengage and change focus as circumstances require. Reforming the business environment takes many years and requires sustained political and policy support. A key feature of MBI is that it will be demand driven, can respond quickly to requests from CLMV, and provide ongoing support to implement the reforms and achieve tangible results. MBI aims to take novel approaches to PSD in the region; inevitably some of the initiatives that it undertakes will be experimental. Even if initiatives are based on sound analytical work and monitored closely, some unsuccessful reform efforts are inevitable because of their inherent complexity. Accordingly, the MBI has adopted an M&E framework that allows for close monitoring of projects to limit cost of stalled projects, allow for strategic exits, and provide a framework for learning for the future. MBI also engages and transfers knowledge from ASEAN economies outside of CLMV, as well as global best practices.