Private Sector Development Activity Quarterly Report

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT

QUARTER 1 FISCAL YEAR 2019 (OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 2018)

Financial Regulatory Department (FRD) conducting a risk-based supervision inspection at an Insurance Company, December 2018

DISCLAIMER Nathan Associates Inc. prepared this report for review by the United States Agency for International Development. The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States government.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT

Fiscal Year 2019 Quarter 1: October 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018

Submitted To USAID/Burma

Under Contract AID-482-C-15-00001

Submitted By Steve Parker Chief of Party February 15, 2019

Table of Contents Abbreviations ...... v Program Overview ...... 1 Program Description ...... 1 Q1 FY2019 Program Highlights ...... 1 Work Plan Implementation Progress ...... 4 Intermediate Result 1 – Inclusive, Effective and Transparent Economic Governance Activities ...... 4 Component 1: Economic Policy Making and Implementation ...... 4 Component 2: Building Capacity for Effective Economic Policy Dialogue and Entrepreneurism ...... 10 Intermediate Result 2: Broaden Access to Finance ...... 19 Component 1: Mobilize Credit to Underserved Enterprises through USAID Development Credit Administration Credit Guarantees ...... 19 Component 2: Continue to Advance the Microfinance Sector ...... 20 Component 3: Insurance Liberalization ...... 21 Component 4: Bank Lending to SMEs ...... 23 Component 5: Central Bank and Banking Reform ...... 24 Cross-Cutting Activities ...... 24 3.1 Accelerate Development of a Market-Driven Agriculture Sector ...... 24 3.2 Support Gender and Ethnic Minorities in Economic Development ...... 25 3.3 Improve Economic Policy Making at Sub-National Levels and Around Post-Conflict Areas ...... 25 3.4 Facilitate Development of the ICT Sector ...... 26 Grants ...... 27 Grants Awarded in Quarter 1 FY 19...... 29 Grants Closed in Quarter 1 FY 2019 ...... 30 The following grant was closed this quarter: ...... 30 Grants Anticipated to Close in Quarter 2 FY 2019 ...... 30 Activity Locations ...... 31 Stakeholder Participation and Involvement ...... 33 Donor Coordination ...... 34 Implementation Challenges ...... 34 Priorities for Programming for Next Quarter ...... 35 Activity Management and Administration ...... 36 Personnel Management ...... 36

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Financial Management ...... 36 Contract Management ...... 36 Monitoring and Evaluation ...... 36 Gender and Inclusion ...... 37 Annex 1: FY2019 Quarter 1 Key Performance Indicator Results ...... 1 Annex 2: Q1 FY2019 PSDA Activities...... 10 Annex 3: Success Story ...... 1

Figures Figure 1. All Private Sector Development Activities Q1 FY 2019 ...... 31 Figure 2. Grant Events Q1 FY2019 ...... 32 Figure 3. Proportion of Women Participants in FY2019 Q1 ...... 37

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

ABBREVIATIONS A Bank Ayeyarwaddy Farmers Development Bank ACTI USAID-funded ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment Project, based in Jakarta, Indonesia ADA Appui au Développement Autonome AMDD ASEAN Medical Device Directive ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ATIGA ASEAN Trades in Goods Agreements CBM Central Bank of Myanmar CDEC Comprehensive Development Education Center CLDP Commercial Law Development Program (U.S. Department of Commerce) CSO Civil Society Organization DCA Development Credit Authority (USAID) DEAR Development for Environmentally Friendly Agriculture and Rural Life DOCA Department of Consumer Affairs DRI Department of Research and Innovation DRI/NSQD Department of Research and Innovation/National Standards and Quality Department EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative FDA Food and Drug Administration FoSTA Food Science and Technology Association FRD Financial Regulatory Department FY Fiscal Year GEW Global Entrepreneurship Week GI Geographical Indication GIZ German Agency for International Cooperation GRC Grants Review Committee GSP Generalized System of Preferences IC Innovation Center ICT Information and Communication Technology IFC International Finance Corporation IP Intellectual Property IPPAM Intellectual Property Proprietor’s Association of Myanmar IPR Intellectual property rights ISO International Standards Organization IT Information technology JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency LOLC Lanka Orix Leasing Company MACCS Myanmar Automated Cargo Clearance System MDP Myanmar Development Partners MDI Myanmar Development Institute MES Myanmar Engineering Society

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

MFPEA Myanmar Food Processors and Exporters Association MMFA Myanmar Microfinance Association MOC Ministry of Commerce MONREC Ministry of National Resource, Environmental Conservation MOTC Ministry of Transport and Communication MTLF Myanmar Transport and Logistics Federation MYEA Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association NECC National Economic Coordinating Committee NGO Non-governmental Organization NLD National League for Democracy NPT Nay Pyi Taw NQI National quality infrastructure NSQD National Standards and Quality Department PGMF PACT Global Microfinance Fund PPPs Public-Private Partnerships QMC Quality Management Centre SECM Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar SEE State-owned economic enterprises SME Small and medium sized enterprise(s) SOP Standard operating procedure SPS Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics TBT Technical Barriers to Trade UAGO Union Attorney General’s Office UMFCCI Union of Burma Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry USAID U.S. Agency for International Development WTO World Trade Organization YSX Yangon Stock Exchange YWCA Young Women’s Christian Association

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Program Name: USAID Private Sector Development Activity Activity Start Date And End July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2020 Date: Prime Implementing Nathan Associates Inc. Partner: Contract Number: AID-482-C-15-00001

Geographic Coverage: Burma

Reporting Period: FY2019 Quarter 1: October 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018

Program Description

The USAID Private Sector Development Activity (”the Activity”) promotes increased broad-based economic opportunities in Burma by 1) creating more inclusive and transparent economic governance processes; and 2) increasing access to finance for emerging economic actors. Its goal is to help Burma lay a foundation of economic governance and stakeholder engagement that promotes its transition to a market economy that is inclusive and sustainable and provides meaningful opportunities for Burma’s people to improve their lives.

The Activity now works on policy and capacity issues primarily at the national level. We use a “full political-economy approach” whereby we support champions of economic reform within civil society, the private sector, parliament, and government to advocate for or implement appropriate policies, laws, regulations, and advocacy processes to facilitate economic liberalization and to generate sustained, inclusive economic growth. All activities contribute to improved bilateral U.S.- Burma economic relations by assisting Burma to meet World Trade Organization (WTO) and ASEAN Economic Community treaty requirements and by improving the business environment to stimulate bilateral trade and investment.

Nathan Associates implements this Activity, in partnership with subcontractors J E Austin Associates, Nathan London and Internews. The $23.3 million contract began on July 1, 2015, and runs through June 30, 2020. The program includes a grant fund of around $2.8 million (reduced from $4.0 million) that is available for nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to build capacity and stimulate inclusive policy dialogue. The Activity strategically combines grants and technical assistance to achieve Activity objectives.

Q1 FY2019 Program Highlights

USAID designed the Private Sector Development Activity to be a fast-response economic reform and institution building operation, with emphasis on promoting evidence-based, public-private policy dialogue. At the same time, the Activity delivers specific technical assistance to foster important policy and legislative reforms. We are a demand-driven activity that must be nimble and responsive to various requests from the Burmese Government and USAID. Government agencies that are not active and responsive to the Activity’s recommendations are less apt to receive assistance than

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

agencies that are responsive and open to learning about international best practices and promoting reforms that can accelerate inclusive growth.

The Activity has had a number of important successes in this quarter:

 A plan to allow foreign insurance firms to operate in Myanmar was officially announced in early January as part of the Insurance Liberalization Roadmap; this plan was announced informally by the FRD at an Activity workshop organized on December 12, 2018 following more than a year of policy development support.  The final draft of 36 important Myanmar Gemstone Policy Statements was approved at the Myanmar Gemstone Supporting Committee meeting held on December 13, 2018 and submitted to the Minister of Natural Resource and Environment Conservation (MONREC).  On November 30, 2018, a Presidential Notification was issued to establish a Project Bank and to stimulate public private partnerships and reform of state-owned enterprises in line with national development goals. The Activity supported the drafting of the Notification.  Signed a grant on December 4, 2018 of USD $569,000 with the Myanmar Development Institute (MDI) to build its capacity for a period of 13 months to provide evidence-based input to policy making. The relatively new and rapidly growing MDI is the leading think-tank supporting economic reformers in the government. The grant included a team of three infrastructure experts to support the initial implementation of the Project Bank.  Provided institutional support for the upgraded and increasingly influential National Economic Coordination Committee (NECC) to set up their office and provided technical support to the NECC leadership to analyze two strategically important public infrastructure projects, one on how to move forward on a deep-water port (along with the Ministry of Transport and Communications) and the other on rationalizing a heavily indebted state- owned steel mill and iron ore mine.  Supported leading international experts to provide best practice training on commercial arbitration for Myanmar law students and faculty, with a national competition among four law schools to prepare for competition in the William C. Vis (East) International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Hong Kong; this was led by the Commercial Law Development Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce and facilitated by USAID through the Activity.  Advanced the drafting of implementing regulations for the production and trade of medical devices.  Supported the Myanmar Microfinance Association (MMFA) to hold a series of policy consultations in Mandalay, Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw. The meetings reviewed ongoing microfinance policy development and providing stakeholder input to important draft revisions to the "Microfinance Law” that is under development.  Assisted the Myanmar Quality Management Center (QMC) to support the Myanmar Engineering Society (MES) to obtain certification to the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standard.  Continued progress on developing a basic National Single Window linked to the ASEAN Single Window, including providing a routing platform for facilitating exchange of the electronic ATIGA Form D among ASEAN Member States.  Prepared a report on Improving Legal Education for Intellectual Property in Myanmar.  Standard Operating Procedures finalized on Consumer Protection.  The Activity, through subcontractor Internews, supported 9 events this quarter reaching 168 participants, including one dedicated training program for 3 female participants. BRN 2

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

member journalists produced 184 economic stories across different platforms (weekly journals, daily newspapers, websites, TV and radio) and 2,939 new visitors used the Economic Reporting Resource Portal Bandapost.org, which has been set up with the support of USAID.  The Activity awarded two new grants during the quarter. By December 31, 2018, the Activity has awarded 30 grants for over 3.1 billion MMK plus USD 569,000 for MDI.  Overall during the first quarter of FY2019, the Activity supported 111 events, technical workshops and trainings with 5,795 participants of which 2,997 (52%) were female. The Activity conducted events, trainings, and technical workshops in 10 states and regions (see Annex 2 for details).

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

WORK PLAN IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS

The narrative below provides information about the progress the USAID Private Sector Development Activity made during the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 (October 1 through December 31, 2018). As in the annual work plan, this report is organized around the Activity’s two intermediate results and their components, as well as crosscutting tasks and grant activities.

Intermediate Result 1 – Inclusive, Effective and Transparent Economic Governance Activities

Component 1: Economic Policy Making and Implementation

Under this Component, the Activity works directly with the government agencies and private-sector stakeholders to support legislative reforms, institutional innovations, and better regulatory processes to improve the business environment for private-sector development and stimulate sustained, inclusive economic growth. The Activity provides agencies with analyses and recommendations for improving legislation, advancing policy reforms, and initiating institutional innovations to incorporate international best practices and to meet treaty obligations in the World Trade Organization (WTO), ASEAN, and other international agreements to which Burma is a member. We support and encourage transparency and participation by civil society organizations (CSOs), business associations and other relevant stakeholders throughout policy reform processes, including by providing opportunities and building capacities through grants or policy dialogue to advocate for reforms. While working to help Burma leapfrog into international best practices, our support is grounded in the realities and contexts of the political economy and governance environment in Burma.

1.1 Strengthen Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

1.1.1 Support Passage of Draft IPR Laws.

Status of the Four IPR Laws. In order to help strengthen the intellectual property regime in Burma, the Activity has since its beginning provided on-going technical assistance for four draft IP laws (copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs and patents). As well, we have organized national and sub-national level awareness activities such as supporting the World Intellectual Property Day as well as equipping a leading civil society IP advocacy organization through a grant. Beginning in the previous quarter, we began to see major steps forward when both houses of the Parliament approved the draft Copyright Bill, and the bill is now with the Union Parliament, which is the Upper and Lower Houses combined, awaiting final approval before being submitted to the President.

We continued to see further progress in this quarter for the other three IP bills moving through Parliament. On December 12, 2018, Myanmar’s Lower House (Pyithu Hluttaw) passed the Trademark Bill, 10 months after the Upper House had passed a slightly different version in February 2018. It is expected that there will be further discussion in the next quarter by both houses of the

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Parliament to iron out the differences. Once a consensus is reached, the Union Parliament will approve and submit it to the President to review and sign into Law.

Also, in December 2018, the Lower House discussed both the Patent Law and the Industrial Designs Law. These drafts were passed by the Upper House earlier in the year. It is believed that Parliament plans to pass all four laws to the President for his signature around the same time early in 2019.

During this quarter, the Activity’s IP legal expert Judy Goans drafted a report called “Strengthening Legal Education on Intellectual Property in Myanmar.” This report was based on a series of interviews with law faculty members conducted during the previous quarter. At his request, this report provides a set of concrete and implementable recommendations to the Minister of Education and the Law Schools to improve the legal education for intellectual property in the country. The report is expected to be finalized and submitted to the Minister next quarter.

1.2 Develop a Modern National Quality Infrastructure

1.2.1 Support to Improve the National Quality Infrastructure Legal Environment. On October 14, 2018, the Activity, together with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), supported the Ministry of Education’s Department of Research and Innovation (DRI) to organize World Standards Day 2018 in Yangon, drawing approximately 126 participants. Dr. Myo Thein Gyi, Union Minister of Education presented the keynote address, stressing the need for adopting international standards and following international best practice. USAID consultant Ed Nemeroff made a keynote technical presentation. Following the adoption of 50 national standards for the first time in Burma’s history at last year’s WSD, which the Activity supported, it was announced that Burma plans to adopt an additional 45 standards related to conformity assessment activities, but no time line was provided. The participants widely acknowledged that implementing international standards is crucial for Burma to promote private sector development and increase competitiveness in the global economy. The adoption of international standards as national standards paves the way for businesses to better access and implement quality management mechanisms and increase the quality of their products and services – an essential condition for Burma to create a high-quality, high-value economy. A robust national quality infrastructure raises the quality and reliability of products and services in the country, and protects the environment, and the health and safety of its citizens.

During October, USAID’s Nemeroff and local PSDA staff worked with DRI staff as well to review and advance the draft Law on Standards.

In addition, on October 19, 2018, at the request of DRI, the Activity conducted a one-day round table workshop to review the WTO and ASEAN requirements/obligations for the operation of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Enquiry Point and the role of relevant Ministry TBT contact points. Thirty-one participants representing nineteen Ministries attended the workshop. The Activity helped update the assignment of contact points and facilitated coordination amongst each other to ensure the effective implementation and operation of the Enquiry Point (EP).

1.2.2 Support the Development of the Quality Management Center. The Activity’s grant funding continued to support the Quality Management Center (QMC) of the Myanmar Engineering Society (MES) this quarter. On December 15, the MES celebrated its accreditation to the ISO 9001:2016 Quality Management Standard, benefiting from assistance by the QMC. Around 275

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

participants joined the celebration where the MES adopted not only the 9001 standards but also the ISO 14001:2015 Environment Management Standard. There were a series of discussions as well about experienced firms have had with regard to adopting ISO 2001. The ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standard is the state-of-the-art standard for how a broad range of organizations can upgrade and maintain control of the quality of their operations. MES’s accreditation for ISO9001:2015 sets an important example to its more than 55,000 members working throughout the country that organizations throughout Myanmar should adopt and practice these important quality management systems, which is key in bringing Myanmar’s institutions up to international standards and for their operations to be as effective as possible.

In this quarter, QMC also announced that five additional experts were certified as ISO lead auditors, bringing the total certified to fourteen. They will support QMC’s paid consultancy work. Two consultancies have been completed to date and both clients have successfully achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification. QMC has secured two more consultancy contracts, with more in the pipeline currently under negotiation.

1.3 Strengthen Food Safety and Related Trade Facilitation

During this quarter, the Activity continued its engagement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support the development of a modern Food Law and to complete an Assessment of Myanmar’s Food Safety System, which has led to an FDA commitment to develop and implement a path-breaking risk-based food regulatory system.

Dialogue on Food Labeling Processes. The Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA) under the Ministry of Commerce issued a general Product Labeling Notification on October 26, 2018, which is expected to be applied to a wide range of goods, including food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices, pre-packaged foods, within six months of its issuance. The FDA is also developing rules for labeling for these four products. Since then, local and foreign businesses have raised concerns over whether DOCA or FDA labeling rules will set requirements for these four products, and have also raised practical challenges involving compliance within the short 6-month transition period. In response to these concerns, the Activity supported the FDA and DOCA to hold a stakeholder consultation on November 14, 2018 in Nay Pyi Taw on labeling guidelines, including using the Burmese language to provide relevant information to consumers. With about 126 participants, of which 48 (38%) were women, the workshop aimed to reconcile overlapping regulatory practices among government agencies and sought inputs from both local and foreign businesses about the practical challenges of shifting toward using the Burmese language for product labels in such a short period. The stakeholder consultation provided a much-appreciated opportunity for key government agencies to engage between themselves and with the private sector (including foreign companies) on to formulate regulations that meet the needs of the consumers, while causing minimal burden on industry, and to ensure effective coordination among the regulatory bodies.

Medical Devices Law. The Activity supported the FDA to respond to comments by the Union Attorney General’s Office on the draft Medical Device Law in preparation for its submittal to the Cabinet for approval to submit the draft to the Parliament, expected in early 2019.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

The Activity also provided technical assistance for the medical device division of the FDA to begin the process of developing an implementation regulation for the draft Medical Device Law. A two-day kick-off workshop was held in Nay Pyi Taw on October 30 and 31 with the FDA medical device legal team and Activity medical device consultant Michael Flood that focused on sharing knowledge about the existing global and regional medical device regulatory regimes and practices, and on developing a plan for Myanmar to draft implementing regulations that are in line with relevant ASEAN medical device directives and practices.

As a signatory of the ASEAN Medical Device Directive (AMDD), Myanmar is committed to developing a harmonized system of regulatory practices among the 10 ASEAN countries. The workshop was intended to provide the participants with a better understanding of global and ASEAN best practices. The AMDD was supported by the USAID-ACTI (ASEAN) project and the U.S. Department of Commerce to both help ASEAN member countries to improve not only the safety and quality of healthcare, but also to ensure that U.S. exporters of medical devices are treated on a level-playing field in ASEAN and Myanmar. The workshop participants were prepared to develop a detailed implementing regulation, once the corresponding draft Law on Medical Devices (which is also supported by the Activity) is approved by the Cabinet and submitted to Parliament.

1.4 Strengthen the Protection of Consumer Rights

The Activity is implementing a comprehensive strategy to support the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA). This strategy includes providing 1) technical support in the development of laws and regulations; 2) capacity building support to enable DOCA to implement them; and, 3) support for raising public awareness on consumer rights.

As part of our on-going support to revise the Law on Consumer Protection and its implementation, in October and November, Activity consultant Jaleen Moroney worked closely with the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA) to finalize the draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for resolving consumer disputes and complaints in accordance with the existing Consumer Protection Law (2014). After a number of discussions, the SOP was accepted and finalized by DOCA on November 26, and translated it into Myanmar language by the Activity and distributed to DOCA employees for implementation.

To build DOCA’s capacity to develop and maintain an effective consumer complaint management system, database and consumer information and complaint system, the Activity purchased equipment including computers (desktops, laptops), network and database servers, firewall networking accessories (switches, routers, wireless access points), printers and projectors.

The Activity also provided a number of computer-training courses, covering beginning, intermediate and advanced programs of the MS Word, Excel, and Power Point, Website Development, Database Management System (DBMS), CompTIA A+ (entry-level computer certification for PC computer service technicians) and CCNA Networking. These courses helped DOCA staff to develop skills in database management systems, working with the website, networking systems and MOS credentials. The first class (DBMS) started on November 12, 2018 and the last class (CompTIA A+) completed on December 21, 2018. Each class lasted four to six days, six to seven hours a day. A total of forty- six DOCA officials successfully completed the courses (each training class had eight to ten participants). In addition to the IT procurement and training, the Activity’s IT consultant and

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

program officers provided DOCA with technical support, guidance and expertise on its department- wide IT system development and solutions with cutting-edge technologies. The Activity will continue to rely on both external and internal evaluations to assess the effectiveness of its technical assistance and training.

At the request of DOCA, an Activity-funded Baker & McKenzie lawyer with PSDA staff drafted a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for implementing the DOCA’s Labeling Notification. This draft was discussed with DOCA, but they chose not to publish a full SOP; rather they used some inputs from the draft SOP to publish a matrix of requirements for implementing the Notification. DOCA has asked the Activity to develop a full SOP once the revisions to the Consumer Protection Law have been approved.

1.5 Support Trade and Responsible Investment Reforms and Facilitation

Modernizing Trade Licensing and Registration System. Progress has continued to be made this quarter in supporting the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) to streamline and modernize its existing online Trade Licensing and Registration system (TradeNet). It is one of the Government’s first e-application systems. It has been operating for more than 10 years, but requires significant upgrade and modernization. Based on the MOC-approved Needs Assessment conducted by the Activity/MOC in the previous two quarters, the Activity worked closely with MOC staff to develop a detailed Request for Proposal (RFP) to upgrade the TradeNet system to become TradeNet 2.0. The RFP was released on October 1, 2018 to ten prospective bidders. Four attended a Q&A session in Nay Pyi Taw and three submitted bids on November 9, 2018. A joint PSDA-MOC evaluation team reviewed the bids. Two well-qualified technical bids were determined, and best and final cost proposals were submitted. A winning bid was selected on January 14, 2019. To expedite progress, the bidder agreed to participate in a project launch on January 31, 2019 and the contract will be fully executed in the next quarter.

The Activity participated in a MOC and UNCTAD workshop on October 30, 2018 to launch their e-Trade Rapid Assessment Report, which is part of a process for the MOC to take the lead in developing a conducive environment for e-commerce in Myanmar.

Basic National Single Window Linked to the ASEAN Single Window. As part of its ongoing efforts to develop a Myanmar National Single Window, the Activity continued work to create a fully operational system to exchange the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement Form D electronically with ASEAN member states. The Activity has organized a series of meetings with the Myanmar Cargo Clearance System’s (MACCS) IT vendor NTT Data Corporation, the Myanmar Customs Department, and the National Single Window Routing Platform’s (NSW-RP) IT vendor Information Matrix Co., Ltd (IM) to discuss and draft the system integrations between the MACCS and NSW-RP. Myanmar is expected to join the ASEAN live operations for exchanging the e-ATIGA form D in 2019 and it will be a ground-breaking and major step forward for facilitating trade between Myanmar and the other ASEAN member states.

Commercial Arbitration. In collaboration with the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Activity supported a four-day intensive arbitration training from October 5-8, 2018 for more than 20 Burmese law students. The students were selected in early August after an interview process to participate in the training, which prepared them to compete in a national round of the William C. Vis (East) International Commercial

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Arbitration Moot. Vis Moot East Director, Louise Barrington, and prominent arbitrator Ingaborg Schwenzer, led the training, which provided students with the tools to research international trade disputes and arbitration cases, analyze relevant international trade laws and treaties, write memorandums, and present oral arguments. The selected students came from four universities from Yangon and Mandalay Regions. On December 6, 2018, a national round of competition was held between the four participating teams representing Yangon University, East Yangon University, Mandalay University and Dagon University. The competition was won by Yangon University. It is expected that the winning team will participate in the next round of preparatory competitions and in the Vis East competition in Hong Kong.

This initiative supported the Activity’s objective to improve the broader commercial law curriculums in Burma’s law schools by building capacity and training more commercial lawyers. Since Burmese courts present many challenges for resolving commercial legal disputes, the Activity supports alternative avenues of resolution, such as arbitration, that can facilitate dispute settlement more quickly and at lower costs to augment investor and business confidence. Exposing law students and faculty to international arbitration practices is foundational for developing a class of qualified arbitration practitioners in Burma.

1.6 Support the Development of a Responsible National Gemstone Policy

Since 2017, with guidance and coordination from the US Embassy, the Activity has been providing technical assistance to the Myanmar Gemstone Supporting Committee (the Supporting Committee) in developing an inclusive national gemstone policy. During this quarter, the fourth draft of the Myanmar Gemstone Policy (both Burmese and English versions) was completed in mid-October. The Supporting Committee meeting was held on October 18 where the Supporting Committee reviewed the draft and reached a consensus on the substance of the draft policy but suggested that the Burmese usages in the policy be adjusted to be in line with the official usages since this document is meant to be adopted by the Government eventually.

The Myanmar Gem Enterprise (MGE) was tasked to work on the Burmese language of the fourth draft without changing the essence of the policy. Another Supporting Committee meeting was held on November 27 to review the work in progress draft of the policy. The MGE made changes to the language and also consolidated some policy principles, bringing the number of policy principles from 54 to 36. Also, the MGE only managed to work on the top lines and not the detailed description of each policy principles. Concerns were raised whether the substance of the draft policy remained intact after consolidation. A smaller 5-person taskforce, including the Activity staff, was formed to work on the draft to make sure the consolidated version did not eliminate or substantively change important technical components. At the December 13 Supporting Committee meeting the abbreviated version of the gemstone policy with 36 topline policy principles were approved by members of the tripartite Myanmar Gemstone Supporting Committee. The MGE then submitted the approved 36-point policy statements on December 17 to the Minister of Natural Resource and Environmental Conservation with an official letter including the following points:

• Request for the Minister’s approval to share the draft online for public comments; • Request for the Minister’s advice on Policy Principle # 35 related to institutional arrangement on gemstone governance; • Plan to develop a full policy document with detailed text for each policy principle; and,

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

• Plan to share the final full policy draft with Union-level Offices, including the Union Attorney General’s Office as well as State/Region Governments and other relevant office, departments and organizations.

In the next quarter, the abbreviated 36-point draft policy statements are expected to be shared online for public comment upon the Minister’s approval. After that, the comments will be reviewed and incorporated into a full policy document. It is expected that the policy will be finalized and adopted by April or May 2019.

While working on the gemstone policy, the Activity continued to monitor the development of the new Gemstone Bill being discussed in the Parliament and remains ready to engage in any dialogue to ensure that the policy and the law are aligned. On December 19, 2018, limited revisions to the Gemstone Bill was approved by the Union Parliament and sent to the President for review. From our understanding the revised Gemstone Law was not influenced significantly from the Gemstone Policy. The Gemstone Policy takes a systematic approach to developing a modern, responsible gemstone sector, will the revised Gemstone Law, which was drafted and approved by the Parliament without significant input from government or civil society, made limited adjustments to an already limited law, with a focus on enabling licenses for small and medium scale mines after several years of moratorium on new gemstone mine licenses while many existing licenses have expired.

Component 2: Building Capacity for Effective Economic Policy Dialogue and Entrepreneurism

2.1 Strengthen the Myanmar Development Institute and the National Economic Coordination Committee

In the Year 3 Work Plan, a series of initiatives were outlined to support the Myanmar Development Institute (MDI), including providing technical assistance and a grant to build the capacity of MDI to research and analyze the feasibility and economic benefits of infrastructure projects across Myanmar. Simultaneously, the Activity has ramped up institutional and technical support of the National Economic Coordination Committee (NECC) in response to a request by its key members. The NECC was established soon after the ruling NLD-party took office as the highest level of government body to direct and coordinate prioritized economic policies for the country while ensuring and enhancing coordination across all sectors and all ministries. However, the NECC had limited influence initially and did not have a secretariat office until late 2018. In a major policy shift, the 11-member NECC was upgraded with greater participation chairperson State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and a secretariat with 20 staff was formed. The new empowered NECC has become a driver for reforms, and has been assigned to implement the Project Bank project evaluation processes.

Presidential Notification to Launch a Project Bank. During this quarter, the Activity provided support in the drafting of the Presidential Notification to establish a Project Bank and Public-Private Partnership rules and center/units. The Project Bank is a publicly accessible interactive web-based database system for evaluating and monitoring large government projects that support government agencies to implement the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) and its strategic Action Plans. It aims to help the government prioritize and manage projects effectively in a coordinated, transparent and accountable manner. It also lays out rules and processes for developing

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

PPPs to finance and implement these projects, including establishing a PPP center in the MoPF and PPP units in ministries.

The Project Bank Notification was officially released on November 30, 2018, setting rules for large public projects above the threshold of 2 billion Myanmar Kyat (est. 1.3 million USD) financed through government’s budget or development assistance or public-private-partnerships (PPPs). MDI is playing a crucial role in providing technical backup on the implementation of the Project Bank by employing three full-time project evaluation specialists in this quarter funded by an Activity grant. The Activity also provided financial support for the launch of the Project Bank among private sector and international department partners in Yangon on December 7, 2018.

Grant to MDI. During this quarter, the Activity signed a grant of USD $569,000 with MDI to build its capacity for a period of 13 months. This grant will be used to build the short-term institutional capacity of MDI to meet wide-ranging and politically urgent needs while strengthening the foundation for its longer-term capabilities and financial sustainability. The grant will strategically increase MDI’s capabilities during this critical period of economic development and democratic transition to provide the Government with effective and timely policy analysis, research and training on a demand-driven basis. Besides the grant, the Activity will provide additional foreign and local research staff to complement the current team in order to augment resources for and the capacity of MDI for providing critical policy-relevant research activities. The additional experts will address specific gaps in the analytical capacity of current MDI staff while building internal capacity. Two such experts were identified this quarter with assistance from the Activity, and are expected to begin work with MDI in the next quarter.

Institutional Support to NECC. At the request of the NECC leadership, the Activity provided institutional support to the setting up of the NECC secretariat office during this quarter by purchasing and installing laptops and related software and hardware accessories and a printer for its 20 staff seconded from other government agencies. The Activity also arranged for Dr. Dennis Farley, an economist with over 30-year experience with the US Federal Reserve Bank, to make presentations for staff of the National Economic Coordination Committee (NECC) and the Central Bank of Myanmar. The presentations and discussion described the history of central banking in the United States, as well as how staff can support policy-makers. Based on these presentations, the NECC asked the Activity to arrange for Dr. Farley to conduct micro and macroeconomic training sessions, particularly for the NECC staff, and to be available for consultations 2-3 days per week in Nay Pyi Taw beginning in January. A request is also in to provide similar support to the Central Bank, but has yet to be approved by the CBM Governor.

Technical Support to NECC. During this quarter, the Activity responded to the request of NECC leadership on two strategically important sectors, analysing ports and a large state-owned steel plant and iron ore mine.

• Infrastructure Analysis - Ports. In December 2018, the Activity brought a Senior Infrastructure Advisor Dr. Paul Kent to Burma from December 4-12, 2018 to provide advisory support to the National Economic Coordination Committee (NECC) on how best to analyze public infrastructure projects, particularly ports. At the request of NECC, Dr. Kent helped review two of the proposed inland ports together with the NECC staff in Nay Pyi Taw, and prepared a brief memo for the NECC leadership. In addition, with the direction of the NECC

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

leadership, the Activity, Dr. Kent and USAID had a meeting with U Thant Sin Maung, Union Minister of Transport and Communication (MOTC), the Deputy Minister and senior officials from the Myanmar Port Authority where they asked us to provide a technical analysis and feedback on the Yangon Region Government’s proposed plan to build Yangon International Multipurpose Terminal (YIMT), a new port south of Yangon as a means to manage increasing freight congestion around the Yangon River Port. To further understand the situation, we had additional meetings with the Myanmar Port Authority in Yangon. Dr. Paul Kent will prepare a memorandum reviewing options for freight truck congestion mitigation and terminal capacity expansion at the Yangon River as well as an analytical feedback on the proposed YIMT. The Activity will continue to remain engaged with the NECC leadership to provide support on strategic port projects as opportunity arises. • Rationalizing a Highly Indebted Steel Mill and Iron Ore Mine. Also this quarter, in response to a request from the NECC, the Activity provided consultants from Australia to come to Myanmar during December 13-18, 2018, and arranged trips to review a state-owned steel mill near Myingyan city in Mandalay Region that produces semi-finished iron products, and Ping Pet mine that produces pig iron, located near Taunggyi city in Shan State. The Activity’s staff and two NECC staff also joined the trip. In addition to the steel plant and mine, the team also visited two ports near the Myingyan plant to assess the availability of transport and logistics networks. The team also met with members of Myanmar Iron and Steel Association in Yangon to better understand the domestic demand, supply and use of iron in the country. By way of background, over a one billion USD loan from China was taken to build the Myingyan Steel Mill in the mid-2000s by the military government, but operation of the mill and further construction of mill build outs were suspended in 2016 by the Parliament under the NLD government. The Ping Pet mine was built with the official government budget and the construction was nearly completed when it was suspended in 2016. Formerly owned by the Ministry of Defence, the mill and mine were transferred to the civilian control under the Ministry of Industry during the previous President Thein Sein’s administration and once loan payments came due. Since billions of dollars are at stake, the NECC leadership is in dire need to make decisions on what to do with the plant and mill as continuing to suspend them is not a solution. Rather, it is costing the government millions in interest payment to the loan. This is the reason why the NECC has approached USAID to provide support in assessing the situation from both commercial and technical perspectives.

An initial assessment report is being drafted based on a desk review of steel sector trends in the domestic, regional and international markets with input from meetings with NECC leadership in Nay Pyi Taw, officials at the steel mill and iron mine sites in Mandalay region and Shan State, and private sector in Yangon. The preliminary assessment report to be submitted in the next quarter will include initial options for optimizing the plant and mine operations as well as recommendations for next steps for more detailed analysis and dialogue. The final objective of this work is to provide the NECC with a well-developed set of options for optimizing or rationalizing the steel mill and iron mine. We plan to bring the consultants back to the country in the next quarter to conduct a more thorough analysis and provide strategic advice to the NECC.

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2.2 Strengthen the UMFCCI Economic Research Unit

Plan to assist the UMFCCI to set up an economic research unit fell through as UMFCCI leadership was unable to identify and hire a senior economist or a research director to lead the process. In addition, with guidance from USAID, the Activity has shifted its focus to provide support to organizations with more direct links to policy formation - the Myanmar Development Institute and the National Economic Coordination Committee.

2.3 Enhancing the Role of Media in the Economic Reform Process

The Activity through a subcontract with Internews continues to support capacity-building of business reporters, especially in the States and Regions where Internews has developed business reporting skills among local media outlets over the past three years. The first quarter saw the start of regional level network formation among like-minded business reporters in two Regions – Ayeyarwady and Sagaing. Internews plans to develop regional Business Reporters Networks (BRNs) in five regions/states where there have been no formal networks or regular networking activities among business reporters.

Supporting Regional Business Reporters Network (BRN). During this quarter, one in-house mentoring session for an ethnic media outlet and two BRN regional meetings in Ayeyarwady and Sagaing Regions were organized to further empower the emergence of regional networks of business reporters.

A two-day in-house mentoring session on economic reporting was organized on October 30 and 31 for Kayah-based Kantarawaddy Times Journal, with the participation of three news editors, two reporters and one layout designer. The trainer facilitated discussion on core economic concepts, national and local economic policies of Myanmar, and how to cover local economic news more effectively. The mentoring also covered how to collect reliable data from various sources, including online sources, and how to plan for an effective and sustainable economic news section in the publication. This mentoring also included a special session on broadcast content where a broadcast trainer shared storytelling technique for the broadcast news program and also taught Kantarawaddy Times reporters economic reporting in TV formats.

The Activity supported the first round of regional level business reporters network (BRN) meetings in Pathein, Ayeyarwady Region and Monywa, Sagaing Region on November 18 and December 16 respectively. The BRN regional meeting in Ayeyawady Region was attended by 24 business reporters from Pathein and other cities within the region (Yaykyi, Maupin, Wakhema and Hintharda). In the morning session, there was a discussion on “Local Economic Development and Governance Issues in Ayeyarwaddy Region”, with the Regional Planning and Finance Minister as a key guest speaker. In the evening session, attendees discussed how to energize regional business reporters’ network activities in a sense of creating ‘working together climate’. All agreed to meet regularly and share business reporting knowledge, news resources and to organize regular editorial discussion/workshops.

The BRN regional meeting in Sagaing Region was attended by 22 journalists (including publishers, editors and reporters) from a number of national newspapers (Daily Eleven, the Voice, Democracy Today, Myanmar Times Daily, Myanmar Ahlin and The Mirror); a sole regional newspaper Monywa Gazette; national broadcast media such as DVB, Sky Net and Mizzima attended the meeting.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Moreover, journalists from neighboring Chin and Kachin States also joined the meeting under the topic “Discussion on the current situation and challenges of journalist networks”. Part of the networking event was a discussion on the regional economy with a focus on investment, SME and tourism that was opened by the Chief Minister. Then the Regional Minister of Planning and Finance elaborated with details of the government’s efforts and challenges and responded to questions from the journalists.

The BRN regional meetings facilitated the environment of working together for better economic reporting at the sub-national level. The meetings also provided opportunity for journalists to increase their understanding and exchange views on the regional Government’s economic policies, governance practices and project implementation with the most relevant regional minsters. Bridging among different regional journalists’ networks and between business journalists and key sources/stakeholders can facilitate more collaboration in story productions and sustain regional networks of journalists.

Business Reporters Network (BRN) Story Outputs on Trending Economic Issues. During this quarter, BRN member journalists produced 184 economic stories across different platforms. These stories represent BRN members’ post-training, ongoing story outputs, including the outputs from the recent training/workshop and fellowship programs, as well as the outputs of participatory broadcast media content production supports, in-house mentoring of regional media outlets and networking/editorial discussions in Yangon and regional locations. The breakdown of the stories can be viewed in the figure below.

Trending Economic Issues Published by BRN Mas oembers (Oct - Dec 2018)

35 35 30 30 24 25 20 13 15

# of stories outputs # of stories 10 5 0 Forex CB's permits EU's GSP Foreign - to FBs Investment Trend

Identified trending issues

Accordingly, the largest share of thematic reporting during this quarter was on “Foreign Currency Exchange Rate” and “Foreign Investment Trends” followed by “EU’s consideration to remove GSP for Myanmar” and the “Central Bank permitted foreign banks to provide financing and other banking services to local businesses”. All the participants’ stories about trending economic issues reflected the overall situation of economic environment during the reporting quarter.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Thematic reporting spotlight stories include:

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Story: ‘The reason of huge dollar purchase by Central Bank of Myanmar’, by Aung Tun Oo for Modern Journal (No.643 – 14 Dec -2018). The story is about why the Central Bank of Myanmar purchased a huge amount of US dollars from private banks. The reporter interviewed the Central Bank of Myanmar Vice Governor U Soe Thein, who explained that it was a normal banking procedure for the Central Bank to intervene in the market to cushion the blow of exchange rate rise and fall.

The Central Bank permitted foreign banks to provide financing and other banking services to local businesses. Story: “Foreign banks get the opportunity to lend both foreign currencies and Myanmar Kyat to local businesses” by Htin Linn Aung for Myanmar Times Journal – Vol.46, No.904 – 15 November 2018. The story highlighted that foreign banks will be able to provide financing to local businesses in Myanmar Kyats as well as in foreign currencies. The reporter interviewed the vice president of Central Bank, Senior Consultant of Kanbawza bank, Experts and Businessmen for the story.

EU’s Consideration to Remove GSP from Myanmar Story: “GSP withdrawal and its impacts on Myanmar exports” by Zayar Nyein – Weekly Eleven Journal, December-2018, No.14, Vol. 10. The story analyzed the impacts of the EU’s consideration to remove Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) on Myanmar exports, particularly long-grain Indica rice and the garment sector.

Foreign Investment Trend Story: “Single Window System and the step to raise the investment of the new ministry” by Thiha Ko Ko from Myanmar Times Journal, Vol.46, No.905 - 22 Nov 2018, https://www.mmtimes.com/news/new-ministry-single-window-system-help-investors-do-business.html. The story described the aim of forming a new Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations and the single window system to attract more foreign investments. In this story, the reporter added quotes from the Union Minister of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, the Union Minister of the Ministry of Commerce and the Chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI). The following figure shows the monthly story output by media types for this quarter.

Story Breakdown by media platforms

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Participatory Media Content Production. Four TV programs on socioeconomic issues were produced this quarter on state-run MRTV Television with hands-on training and mentoring support by Internews. Following the successful production of the monthly special pilot episode, titled The Social Security System in Myanmar, of the Question and Answer for Socio-Economic Issues Program in the previous quarter, the following episodes were produced by MRTV with a live studio audience who directly engaged with relevant officials and stakeholders who joined the program. Q&A on Socio- Economic Issues is first-ever participatory economic program produced by MRTV where public officials and experts take and respond directly to questions from the audience and stakeholders.

• Episode 2: the Consumer Rights Protection and the Role of CICC’ , first on air 4.10.2018 and repeated 5.10.2018 • Episode 3: The Job Opportunity and Challenges for PWDs in Myanmar , first on air 1.11.2018 and repeated 2.11.2018 • Episode 4: Regulation of Rice Market: Setting Floor Prices, first on air 6.12.2018 and repeated on 7.12.2018 • Episode 5: How to deal with counterfeit money issues, first on air 3.1.2019 and repeated 4.1.2019

Photo 1: Episode 3 of Q&A for Socio-economics Issue: Job Opportunities and Challenges for PWDs, as being produced in MRTV’s Studio

Internews also supported leading private media agency Mizzima TV to produce and air “Under 30 Dialogue,” a monthly participatory program dedicated to youth leaders to discuss openly various key socio-economic and political issues. One October episode on “Youth Migration” was joined by a Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population. Three youth leaders led the discussion on various push factors for why Myanmar youth are leaving the country, and what the government should do to facilitate safe and informed migration in the future.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Ongoing Mentoring for Business Reporting Group (BRG). In Project Year Three, Internews signed an MoU with the Business Reporting Group (BRG)1 to cooperate on the BandaPost website, and BRG contributed in the content creation and outreach of BandaPost. Internews provided ongoing support and mentoring for BRG so that they can work more effectively in content creation for the portal and its outreach among reporters and media community. As part of continued mentoring, Internews and BRG jointly organized a number of topical discussions, which is quite similar to weekly editorial discussions in the previous quarters, where key discussions/information are extracted and posted as story tips for the wider journalist community.

As part of ongoing mentoring for Business Reporting Group (BRG), Internews and BRG jointly conducted the following 3 discussions on economic news topics:

‘Current situation and future prospects of Yangon Stock Exchange-YSX’ was organized on 18 October with the 22 BRG members and BRN reporters hosting U Htay Chun, a member of Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM) as a guest speaker. Economic journalists from the Voice Daily and Weekly Journal , Sky Net Up-to-Date, BETV, Eleven Media, Myawaddy Daily, MRTV -4, Media 7, the Standard Times, the Union Daily , Myitmakha News Agency, the Global New Light of Myanmar, the Kumudra Journal ,5 Plus New, Myanmar Post Journal, E-trade Portal, News Watch and State-run Myanma Alin attended the main discussion. The member from SECM explained the roles of Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) and SECM and some key issues relevant to business reporting, including the role of securities companies, public communication and institutional issues. This is the first of regular editorial discussions for business reporters organized by BRG, with mentoring support from Internews under PSDA. Internews previously conducted this activity, but transferred responsibility to BRG in late 2018, while maintaining a mentorship role. BRG also wrote a BandaPost article to share with wider business reporter community across the country on the key discussion points. BandaPost Link: http://www.bandapost.org/yangon-stock-exchange-2/

‘State-owned enterprises and public financial loophole’ was organized on November 16 with 7 business reporters and guest Andrew Bauer, Technical Consultant from Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). Journalists were from DVB, Union Daily, Oh-SI Online Media, Bloomberg Myanmar & Akonthi Digital Media. The technical consultant and NRGI’s Myanmar officer explained the current status of State-owned Economic Enterprises (SEE) and major issues in management, regulations and transparency including the major loss of public fund. After the main presentation, journalists asked questions on natural resources SEEs.

‘Recent Policies for Banking Industry and Potential Impacts’ was organized on December 13 with13 business reporters and guest U Ye Min Oo, an independent banking sector consultant. Journalists are from Modern/Kumudra Journal, BETV, the Northern Light, Eleven Media, Chanel-K, Standard

1 BRG is comprised of business reporters from mainly Yangon-based mainstream media, which was founded as a self-help voluntary network two years ago. Under PSDA, Internews worked closely with BRG on the sustainability of project activities, including the continuation and relevancy of weekly editorial discussions and Banda Post Portal.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Times, Moe Ma Kha Magazine, M-Biz/Bloomberg channel and MRTV. The banking consultant explained the short- and long-term consequences of opening the market for foreign banks, the possible benefits and how local banks can best cope with this new market realities. After the main presentation, journalists asked questions related to recent foreign bank licenses and the impact on local banks and local businesses.

Economic Reporting Resource Portal. For this quarter, from October 1 to December 31, BandaPost has been accessed by 3,093 unique users (of which around 60% are from Yangon, and the rest from other major cities) with a total of 753 articles/entries hosted. During this reporting quarter, 29 more regionally-relevant articles were posted by BRG members. The pledge from regional networks in Ayeyarwady and Sagaing regions to contribute stories committed to the increase in regionally-relevant information and ideas for the Portal. As of December 31, 2018, BandaPost has 11,273 unique users and 48,000 page views since its official inauguration in February 2018. Other major indicators like pages per session (2.70) and average session duration (3.40 minutes) are quite strong for the technical information included on BandaPost. BandaPost also sends out a weekly email newsletter to two target groups: CSOs and Journalists. A total of 128 subscribers are in the journalist group, and 34 subscribers are in the CSO group. Journalist Toolkit for Economic Reporting 3rd Edition. Internews distributed 500 copies of Journalist’s Toolkit for Economic Reporting to individual media houses, media development institutions and training centers, including Myanmar Journalism Institute-MJI, Yangon Journalism School- YJS, Mandalay Journalism School- MJS, and other journalists’ networks across the country such as the Myanmar Journalists Network- MJN, State/Regional Journalists Network and Myanmar Women Journalist Society- MWJS.

Fellowship Program for Journalists and Media Outlets. During this quarter, Internews issued an open announcement for the fellowship program. The advertisement was sent to and applications were collected from journalist communities across the country. The implementation of the fellowship will commence next quarter.

2.4 Supporting Entrepreneurial Drive and Policy Dialogue

During this quarter, the Activity supported the Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association (MYEA) to organize and facilitate the annual Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), which falls on November 18-24, 2018. This was the first year for MYEA to serve as the national host for GEW, following a joint effort the previous year with Building Markets. The Activity provided further peripheral support, including financial support and technical guidance to prepare concept notes and marketing materials. Highlights of GEW 2018 include:

• Around 55 activities celebrating the potential of entrepreneurism to bolster inclusive growth in Myanmar held in almost every State and Region throughout the country.

The Activity also helped prepare a memo on the state of entrepreneurship ecosystem for MYEA to be handed to the State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during the third annual Myanmar Entrepreneurship Summit in December 2018.

Also during the quarter, on October 19, IT grantee Phandeeyar conducted the first ever Hardware Skills Building Workshop in Burma. Over 400 students turned out to hear about the importance of

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

STEM and to learn more about the robotic competition itself and to see a demonstration of the robot used in the international competition.

Intermediate Result 2: Broaden Access to Finance

Component 1: Mobilize Credit to Underserved Enterprises through USAID Development Credit Administration Credit Guarantees

2.1.1 Continue Support for Implementation of the Existing USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) Facilities

Since the project start, the Activity has supported the development of two DCA facilities, described as DCA 1 and DCA 2. DCA 1 was for $10 million of aggregate lending, and was provided to five microfinance institutions to support their providing larger loans to clients in rural, agricultural areas, and particularly more individual loans to enterprises that are growing into SMEs.

By this quarter, the DCA 1 facility has been strongly employed. Both PGMF and ASA have used their entire capacity, and Myanmar Development Partners (MDP) MDP is continuing to put guaranteed loans on the books. Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) has been particularly active in using the DCA credit enhancement to experiment in offering crop loans, for which repayment is timed to the harvest, rather than on a monthly basis, as is typical for MFI loans. LOLC started with a pilot to do loans for rice farmers, and is now expanding this to other areas and other crops. Proximity Finance is also interested in crop loans, but has been delayed in offering an appropriate product by its re- licensing process, where it is separating the MFI from its NGO parent. This should be resolved soon, and the additional loans booked.

DCA 2 is a $20 million loan facility that was signed in May 2018, which is to be used to enhance loans to microfinance institutions, as well as to SMEs, by Aya Bank, the second largest private commercial bank in the country. The cap on using the guarantee for SME loans is 30% of the facility, although the DCA can be wholly used to underwrite MFI loans. As of September 30, the facility had not been used, although Aya Bank has informally advised USAID that most of the facility has been committed for MFI lending (DCA reports are only done semi-annually, at the end of September and March respectively). Delays on disbursements are attributable to the lending approval process at the Financial Regulatory Department (FRD), the MFI regulator, typically at the regional level and by the CBM. Outside the DCA, several commercial banks as well as Aya have made loans to the largest MFIs, but have required substantial deposits of cash as collateral, typically ranging from 25 – 40% of principal. Since the cash to be deposited typically has to be borrowed abroad (i.e., US dollars or other hard currency are used as collateral for Kyat loans) these loans become particularly expensive for the MFIs. The intention of the DCA facility is to move the banks to looking more at the credit- worthiness of the MFIs, rather than relying on the collateral. Based on informal discussions, we

While the original intent was to provide technical assistance to Aya for lending to MFIs under the DCA2, they have been satisfied with their internal capacity to evaluate credit requests by MFIs and have not requested any additional technical assistance.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

2.1.2 Developing a Third DCA Facility

Myanmar is a good market for using DCAs to support changes in lending and banking. The Activity has been on the lookout for lending innovations that could be supported with the DCA enhancement, and is working with the USAID/Washington DCA office to identify additional prospects.

Component 2: Continue to Advance the Microfinance Sector Supporting a Participatory Process for Revising the Microfinance Law. Work on advancing the microfinance sector was particularly active in the October – December 2018 quarter. During 2018, the FRD developed a draft revised Microfinance Law, and this was circulated to the Myanmar Microfinance Association (MMFA) and then to the MFIs. The Activity supported three consultation meetings in December 2019 held in Mandalay, Yangon, and Nay Pyi Taw between the FRD and MMFA members to receive input from MFIs on the draft revisions to the MFI law. The Activity also supported the MMFA’s annual meeting on December 13, 2019. The Activity is supporting the MMFA’s effort to take an inclusive and consultative approach to ensure that as many microfinance stakeholders as possible can provide inputs and comments on the draft Microfinance Law. This process is vital for inclusive change and it ensures that the interests from a diverse microfinance industry are represented and reflected in the regulatory framework. As the MFI sector has been the most dynamic and fastest growing source of financing for poorer families and micro-enterprises throughout the country, it is critical to ensure that the continuation of rapid growth is done without stressing clients and their families, and in line with well-managed MFI operations.

In addition to supporting consultative meetings on pending changes in the microfinance law, the Activity also provided comments directly to FRD on the draft Microfinance Law, making recommendations to allow MFIs to take collateral, to allow MFIs to notify but not require approval for normal MFI operations decisions, developing Boards of Directors and auditing committees, clarifying rules to facilitate the taking of deposits but requiring limits on the concentration of large depositors and application of strict conflict of interest requirements for private , voting members of the MFI Supervisory Board.

Continuing to Build the Capacity of the Myanmar Microfinance Association. The MMFA is an effective and active professional association supporting the rapid and stable development of the microfinance sector. The Activity has actively supported the MMFA over the last three years through technical assistance and grants.

Our grant supported a number of trainings by MMFA for its members this quarter, focusing on training on credit analysis for individual loans and saving mobilization, including: on credit analysis on October 16-19 in Yangon for 21 participants (11 female), November 5-8 in Mandalay for 24 participants (20 female), November 12-15 in Mandalay for 21 participants (12 female), and December 18-21 in Yangon for 25 participants (15 females); on savings mobilization on November 9- 10 in Mandalay for 14 participants (12 female), on November 16-17 for 23 participants (14 female), November 29 in Yangon for 25 participants (15 female), and on December 27-28 in Yangon for 11 participants (5 female).

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We also support key administrative staff for the MMFA office with our grant, including a training manager and STTA trainers, and the operations officer and financial officer. This support is done in close support with ADA, which provides funding for several other key staff for the MMFA office.

While the MMFA webpage – (URL: www.myanmarmfa.com ) – was launched in the last quarter, usage grew over this quarter, with 917 new users from over 31 countries. The website serves as a transparent and timely information and training hub, a platform for policy advocacy, and a powerful communication tool that contributes to the MMFA’s long-term self-sustainability.

Another unrelated activity to expand access to microfinance in this quarter was to provide technical assistance and training to A Bank, which has been pursuing lending to local MFIs for on lending. This assistance was provided by consultant Neal Youngquist, who previously headed an MFI in Myanmar and who has provided consulting assistance for a number of MFIs. This initiative included assessing A banks credit approval process with an eye to the appropriate process for evaluating MFIs, credit analysis of the MFI, appropriate loan covenants, and loan performance monitoring. This work also included a three-day training program for staff.

As a part of the on-going cooperation with MMFA, the Activity will offer Mr. Youngquist’s services to develop an MMFA-sponsored program next quarter for locally owned MMFA MFI members on MFI Access to External Finance Preparedness.

Electronic Reporting. Additionally, following recommendations by the Activity, the FRD requested MFIs to report their monthly, quarterly, and annual performance as well as portfolio statistics electronically on-line rather than on paper. The number of institutions reporting online is growing (now up to forty.) While this is less than 25 percent of the total number of MFIs in Myanmar, it represents most of the overall MFI assets and deposits. The on-line reporting system increases the accuracy and availability of much needed data on the rapidly growing MFI sector, which in turn allows FRD to track more effectively key regulatory ratios and provides information on the sector such as geographical concentrations. This provides the MFI regulator with stronger tools to monitor early warning signs for stress among MFIs and for over-indebtedness in certain areas.

Component 3: Insurance Liberalization The focus on development of the insurance sector in Myanmar has been the single most important task for the Activity’s Access to Finance team in 2018, with important advances being made in insurance supervision, advancing insurance liberalization, and development of a new Insurance Business Law.

Building Capacity and Experience Conducting Risk-Based Supervision of Insurance Companies. In September 2018 and December 2018 Activity senior insurance consultant Gail Burns provided mentoring and oversight to FRD teams conducting their first ever on-site risk-based inspections of selected local insurance companies. Both of these inspections were considered pilots, with companies that volunteered to be examined on a non-binding basis, with the understanding that the focus was to be more on developing the FRD supervision skills than on leveling penalties or sanctions on the insurance company. The expectation as well was that the company being examined would, through the information sought in writing and through questioning, come to understand the expectations that the FRD would have for performance. Further, the insurance company was reasonably expected to talk about its experience with its peers, to start spreading the word about

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019 what an inspection was like and how insurance companies should be prepared for this. Ms. Burns developed templated and provided initial training for the FRD staff to prepare for the inspections. She and the Activity’s AtF program officer Ko Zai Seng Kaew attended the first pilot and mentored all stages of the process through to the FRD report back to the company. Ko Zai provided translations to enable Ms. Burns’ contributions. Ms. Burns and Ko Zai provided similar preparatory support for the FRD examination in December, but Ms. Burns’ role was cut short because she needed to return home unexpectedly due to a family emergency. Ko Zai continued to attend all sessions of the examination and worked with the team to develop their report and to translate the report for input from Ms. Burns through the internet. The final examination report to the second insurance company will be delivered in the next quarter.

The Activity also supported the FRD to organize a half-day seminar on risk-based supervision for the insurance industry on December 12, 2018 in Yangon with 65 participants (35 female). This workshop was aimed at providing the local insurance companies with a basic overview of how risk- based supervision works, which included presentations by the head of the FRD examination team and the company that was examined as well as a presentation on international best practice prepared by Ms. Burns (but delivered by a FRD expert). At that meeting, the FRD announced a plan to allow foreign insurance firms to operate in Myanmar by the first quarter of 2019 as part of the Insurance Liberalization Roadmap.

Advancing Liberalization of the Insurance Sector. The FRD folIowed up their announcement at the December 12 workshop by formally announcing the long awaited insurance liberalization plan to allow foreign companies to provide insurance services in Burma. Around this time, they selected a consulting firm to help them manage the application process. Three 100% fully foreign-owned subsidiaries will be allowed. Foreign non-life insurance companies and other life insurance companies would be permitted to develop joint ventures with local insurance companies, with maximum 35% ownership by the foreign insurer, and the number of these licenses will not be limited. Guidelines and information requirements for applications (i.e., the FRD’s Request for Proposal and Expression of Interest documents) were issued on January 18, 2019, and all local companies will be required to split their combined operations into life and non-life companies. Going forward, only life and non-life licenses will be issued, and companies will no longer be allowed to conduct combined lines of business. The Activity advocated strongly for this liberalization, hoping that full joint ventures (up to 80% foreign ownership) would be allowed.

Moving forward the Draft Insurance Business Law. As the insurance sector in Burma liberalizes and modernizes, it is critical that a new Insurance Business Law be developed to provide effective supervision of an increasingly dynamic sector. During this quarter, we understand that JICA provided some comments on the draft Law that the Activity developed but was not provided to us. While we recommended moving the draft law through to broader public consultation as quickly as possible, FRD chose to slow the process and to wait on input from JICA.

In December 2018, the Activity met with JICA to exchange information and experience on working with the FRD, and we will develop stronger working relationships with the team of 3 JICA resident experts sitting in the FRD office.

Next quarter, insurance consultant Ms. Burns will focus on developing a Market Conduct Manual and in the following quarter will conduct a training program for the FRD insurance supervisors on market conduct, and will continue mentoring on-site supervision visits.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Component 4: Bank Lending to SMEs

In the October to December 2018 period, there have been significant announcements by the Central Bank that will affect the market:

• Foreign banks will be permitted to make MMK loans to local companies – regulations on these still have to be worked out; and • While pricing on loans secured with real estate and cash equivalents are still limited to 13% (3% over the Central Bank’s base rate) loans that are unsecured or secured with non- traditional collateral may be priced at 16% (6% over the Central Bank’s base rate). This will commence on February 1, 2019.

These will facilitate more bank lending to the missing middle of SMEs in Burma. Although we did not work directly with the CBM to develop these reforms, the Activity and US government more broadly has consistently advocated during meetings with MCB officials for such reforms. We understand as well that the strengthening of the NECC has provided a stimulus for these and additional CBM reforms.

One bank that is strongly pursuing the SME market because it is size-appropriate for them is A Bank, an Activity partner. During the quarter, Activity A2F staff provided a half-day training on Sales and Prospecting for A Bank branch managers and lending staff, approximately 30 people. This is a part of supporting the bank to be pro-active in seeking SME clients, rather than passively waiting for them to come to the branches and apply for loans, and was coordinated with the assistance provided to A Bank on lending to MFIs noted above.

Enabling Credit Scoring. Credit scoring systems (CSS) are an efficient and sound method of processing relatively small loans. It is a promising method for quickly and safely increasing access to finance for SMEs and farmers across Myanmar, if adopted properly. In December, Activity credit scoring consultant Dean Caire returned to Myanmar for visits and work with Yoma Bank and PGMF that followed up earlier Activity assistance provided by the activity to these two financial institutions. For both institutions, Caire validated scorecards that had previously been developed with his assistance by doing comparisons to actual results, and recommend changes as appropriate. For Yoma Bank for instance, the scorecard evaluates the capacity to make hire-purchase finance payments for acquisition of agricultural and agribusiness equipment by SMEs and farmers. Scorecards are only considered reliable industry-wide if they are tested against actual performance data, so confirming that Yoma Bank’s scorecard accurately predicts the true behavior of hire-purchase credits is vital.

The use of this scorecard by Yoma Bank should lead to a substantial innovation in the bank’s lending procedures: the scorecard will now be used to evaluate hire-purchase credit applications that can help the bank move beyond guarantees provided by equipment dealer on the credits.

Mr. Caire also prepared a paper on Credit Scoring Lessons Learned for Myanmar, which will be finalized and circulated among the Activity’s partners and contacts next quarter. Mr. Caire concludes that the quality of credits in Myanmar have historically been so good that financial institutions would be better served to approve what might be considered more marginal credits, in order to test the real boundaries for default, and at the same time realize the benefit of a much higher volume of lending.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Component 5: Central Bank and Banking Reform

The Activity has been engaging with key government officials and private bankers for much needed reform in the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) and the country’s banking sector as a whole. The pace of CBM reform picked up this quarter, as noted above.

On November 8, 2018, the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) issued Directive #6, which allows foreign bank branches in Myanmar to provide local and foreign currency services to local businesses. Before this reform, foreign banks were only able to provide foreign currency services to foreign businesses. Limited access to finance and the inability to attract foreign investment are widely noted as a major constraint to stimulating inclusive growth in Myanmar. This reform in principle represents a major step forward to increase competition and provide best practice services to financial-service- starved businesses throughout Myanmar, but to date no foreign banks have actually invested in local banks, likely as a result on uncertainties regarding non-performing loans and capital adequacy.

With USAID, the Activity staff met with Deputy Governor U Soe Thein during the quarter and submitted another letter of interest concerning cooperation with the Central Bank; a positive response was finally received in February 2019 for USAID to provide the consultation services of Dennis Farley, an economics professor who was formerly with the US Federal Reserve.

Cross-Cutting Activities

3.1 Accelerate Development of a Market-Driven Agriculture Sector

In addition to the increase in lending to farmers from MFIs and banks this quarter mentioned in the previous section, during this quarter, grantee DEAR Myanmar continued its programs on strengthening Farmers’ Enterprises and improving related agricultural value chains in the post- conflict area along the border between Shan and Kayin States. Their activities in this quarter include participation in December in the 17th Myanmar-China Border Trade Products Fair in Muse, Northern Shan State to promote value added products (chili and black cardamom) they produced as well as to link these products with potential markets. Sales of 1.1 million Kyat were made at this fair and the Kayan Farmer Enterprise Company (composed of 31 Farmers’ Enterprises from Pekon Township Southern Shan State and Than Daung Gyi Township Kayin State) obtained contacts with a number of potential buyers from China. They also learned about the products and quality preferred by the buyers. For example, Chinese buyers were not interested in the pickled bamboo shoots. The company also got in contact with the administrative body of the Myanmar-China Border Trade Center and the Director to learn about potential market opportunity in China.

In addition, DEAR Myanmar held a meeting between farmers and the Pekhon Township Department of Agriculture Officer in the first week of November regarding the application process of Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) certification. In the meeting on December 9, the township Officer explained the application process and clarified the basic guidelines and procedures of implementing GAP and its benefits to the farmers so that farmers are better aware of the purpose and benefits of applying for GAP certification.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

3.2 Support Gender and Ethnic Minorities in Economic Development In this quarter, the Activity has integrated its support to gender equity and ethnic minorities in economic development in the following programs.

GEW 2018. Out of 59 events during the Global Entrepreneurship Week, 17 (nearly 30%) took place in ethnic States, including poorest remote areas in Chin, Kachin and Shan States.

Capacity Building on Business Reporting for Ethnic Media. This quarter, the Activity’s subcontractor Internews reached out to Monywa, a regional economic powerhouse in the north west of the country, to meet journalists’ networks in the region on December 16. A total of twenty- two journalists (including publisher, editors and reporters) from a number of national newspapers as well as those with ethnic minority background from neighboring Chin and Kachin States. Part of the networking event was a discussion on regional economy with a focus on investment, SME and tourism, which was opened by the Chief Minister.

Grants Focusing on Ethnic Minority Beneficiaries. Besides DEAR Myanmar mentioned above, grantee PSSAG is working to form “bottom-up” cooperatives at the township level in 30 villages as a platform for economic empowerment in conflict sensitive areas in Hpa-an Township in Kayin State in eastern Myanmar, where there is no other formal MFI or access to finance scheme. During the month of December 2018, PSSDA conducted a series of information campaign at the village-level on the formation of cooperatives and sales of shares to individual members and prepared documents to register their cooperatives at the Kayin Cooperative Office.

Another grantee, Kasante, focused on marginalized ethnic minorities in Kachin State, particularly finding sustainable agri-market opportunities in spice and non-timber products for rural communities through a series of participatory research. During this quarter, Kasante traveled to remote areas in western and north western parts of Kachin State and met with various local organizations to learn and collect data on availability of different spice products, land and forest policy. They will then analyze the data and come up with most promising commodities for the communities to focus on for market opportunities.

Overall this quarter, 2,997 (52%) of a total of 5,795 participants were female.

3.3 Improve Economic Policy Making at Sub-National Levels and Around Post-Conflict Areas The Activity worked to improve economic policy making at sub-national levels and around post- conflict areas this quarter through three different methods.

1. Training journalists to operate more effectively at the sub-national level and in ethnic and post-conflict areas. 2. Providing grants to groups operating in post-conflict regions, such as PSSAG in Kayin State, DEAR Myanmar in Southern Shan State and Kayin State, and Kasante in Kachin State. 3. Supported Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2018 events in almost every state and region throughout the country. 4. Continuing to work on gemstone policy, as gemstone mining often takes place in conflict and post-conflict areas and are often used to fund conflict.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

3.4 Facilitate Development of the ICT Sector As the world continues to go digital with the availability of various disruptive technologies, the ICT is no longer a standalone issue but has rather become an enabling factor across all sectors, including private sector development. The Activity has been working to facilitate and support development of the ICT sector widely in three key areas: (1) advocating a stronger regulatory ecosystem for the ICT to flourish through the US ICT Council for Myanmar; (2) equipping government agencies with updated IT technologies and technical assistance to support projects, such as the Myanmar National Trade Portal, the National Single Window – Routing Platform for the exchange of the electronic ATIGA Form D and related utilization messages among ASEAN Member States; and (3) cultivating a new generation of technology entrepreneurs through Phandeeyar.

The US ICT Council for Myanmar supported by USAID and members of the leading US ICT companies has continued to move forward significantly in this quarter. On October 11, 2018, a briefing with the US Ambassador Scot Marciel was held to exchange updates on the Council’s activities, such as the companies’ interests and the US government’s policies on Myanmar. During this quarter, two new members Facebook and Amazon Web Services (AWS) joined the Council, increasing membership to eight on top of the existing six companies Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, VMware and Visa. On November 7, the US ICT companies and UMFCCI signed a MOU to cooperate on business development and capacity-building activities. The MOU aims to help the UMFCCI member companies transform their businesses through technology so that they can become more competitive both domestically and internationally. On Dec. 10, the Council organized "SME Digital Transformation for Competitiveness Workshop” with sponsorship by Cisco, Facebook and Visa and in collaboration with MYEA and UMFCCI. Progress is moving forward to gradually shift ownership of the ICT Council by the US-ASEAN Business Council with funding support provided by the Activity ending by the end of the next year.

The Activity provided a wide range of IT hardware (desktops, laptops, printers, copiers, projectors, modems, routers, switches, wireless broadband devices, etc.,), software (MS Office and web-based applications) and services (networking and technical consultations) as part of total IT enhancements and solutions for government ministries and departments. The Activity also provided a comprehensive range of basic to advanced IT training for the DOCA and SPS-EP (PPD) focused on Microsoft Office applications, CompTIA A+, Database Management, Web Design and Development, and basic CCNA Networking.

Lastly, the Activity successfully supported technology equipment and technical expertise to develop and deploy web sites and web applications, such as the Myanmar National Trade Portal (www.myanmartradeportal.gov.mm/en), the Department of Consumer’s Online Complaint System (www.doca.gov.mm/), and the National Single Window – Routing Platform (NSW-RP – Intranet application).

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Grants

The grants program of the Activity continued to be active during Quarter 1 FY 19, managing the grants program of approximating $2.5 million that has, for the most part, already been awarded and made available over the course of the first three years of the project in the form of one-year grants to a number of nongovernment groups working in a variety of innovated programs contributing to the economic growth of Burma and awarding two new grants for approximately $600,000.

The Activity grant instrument is used to: (1) complement and leverage technical assistance with key government policy makers to promote economic reforms; (2) build the capacity of nongovernment groups to participate effectively in economic reform policy dialogue; and (3) provide NGO members with better services and understandings for them to take most advantage of the economic reforms.

The quarter saw a number of important administrative changes to the grants program of the USAID Private Sector Development Activity as first outlined under the Nathan contract with USAID, as well as, in the approved Nathan grants manual. Most significantly, the maximum ceiling amount of $100,000 per grant was modified by USAID, allowing the Activity for the first time to award grants to nongovernment organizations for over the amount of $100,000. In addition, the one-year time limitation per grant was removed, allowing grants to be awarded for more than one year in certain situations if grant programs could indicate that their programs would successfully finish within “30 days” before the conclusion of the PSDA contract. Finally, Nathan determined that since there was no contract restriction requiring that PSDA grants be paid in local kyat currency, grants could be paid in United States dollars, if necessary, for administrative and technical purposes.

To date, the USAID Private Sector Development Activity has awarded 29 grants paid in local currency for a total amount of 3,074,629,505 MMK and one USD grant for $569,332 for a total of 30 grants for approximately $ 2,830,088 USD as presented below:

Amount Amount No Grantee Organization Start date End Date (MMK) (USD) 1 ONOW Myanmar June 1, 2016 May 31, 2017 2 GRET June 23, 2016 June 22, 2017 Generation Focused 3 Monitor Aug 23, 2016 Aug 22, 2017

4 Building Markets Aug 23, 2016 Aug 22, 2017 Myanmar Consumers 5 Union Aug 23, 2016 Aug 22, 2017 Treasure Land March 30, 6 Development Sept 23, 2016 2017

7 CDEC Sept 30, 2016 April 30, 2017

8 Phandeeyar Nov 8, 2016 Nov 7, 2017 Myanmar Engineering 9 Society Nov 7, 2016 Nov 6, 2017

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Amount Amount No Grantee Organization Start date End Date (MMK) (USD) Entrepreneurs du Monde 10 (EdM) Jan 18, 2017 Jan 17, 2018

11 DEAR Myanmar Feb 10, 2017 Feb 9, 2018

March 20, 12 National YWCA March 21, 2017 2018 Myanmar Business 13 Executives Association (MBE) June 1, 2017 May 31, 2018 Myanmar Business 14 Answers (MBA) July 14, 2017 July 13, 2018 Development Resources 15 International (DRI) Aug 1, 2017 July 31, 2018

16 Kasante Aug 1, 2017 April 30, 2018 Food Science and 17 Technology Assoc. (FoSTA) Aug 21, 2017 Aug 20, 2018 Myanmar Microfinance 18 Assoc. (MMFA) Sept 5, 2017 Sept 4, 2018

19 Building Markets Sept 14, 2017 Jan 12, 2018 Intellectual Property 20 Proprietors Association of Myanmar (IPPAM) Nov 15, 2017 Nov 14, 2018

21 Phyu Sin Saydanar Action Group (PSSAG) Feb 7, 2018 Feb 6, 2019 Myanmar Engineering 22 Society (MES) (Phase 2) Feb 8, 2018 Feb 7, 2019

23 Koe Koe Tech April 30, 2018 April 29, 2019

24 DEAR Myanmar (Phase 2) May 21, 2018 May 20, 2019

25 Phandeeyar -Technology May 21, 2018 May 20, 2019

26 Phandeeyar -Entrepreneur April 30, 2018 April 29, 2019

27 Opportunities Now (ONOW) August 15, August 16, 2018 2019

28 Sept 4, 2018 Sept 3, 2019

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Amount Amount No Grantee Organization Start date End Date (MMK) (USD) Myanmar Consumers Union (MCU)

29 Kasante Oct 1, 2018 Sept 30, 2019 Myanmar Development 30 $569,332 Institute (MDI) Dec 4, 2018 Jan 3, 2020 N/A

3,074, 629, 505 $569,332 Total: MMK USD

Grants Awarded in Quarter 1 FY 19 During Quarter 1 FY 19, two new grants were awarded by the Activity. The first grant was awarded to Kasante for MMK and the second grant was awarded to the Myanmar Development Institute (MDI) for $569,332 USD. It is of particular note that the MDI grant represents the first of the PSDA grants that was awarded for more than 12 months and for more than the previous allowable maximum amount of $100,000 USD. Originally, grants were restricted to a maximum of one year and not more than $100,000 USD in Value. Lifting both of these restrictions is anticipated to allow for a great deal more flexibility in implementing the innovative technical program proposed by the grantee and help the grantee meet the objectives of the grant. The MDI grant was the first grant under the Activity that will be paid in US dollars.

The organizations, the award amount and a brief program description of each awarded grant follow:

Kasante MMK. Kasante’s grant entitled, “Kachin Community Commodity Development” is for the organization to address the challenges of the remote communities in Kachin that are suffering from conflict and displacement as they struggle with maintaining stable incomes and ongoing land grabbing practices. This is a follow-on to a previous grant Kasante received from the Activity. This grant will focus and expand on the grantee’s research that has shown that spices and non- timber forest products (NTFPs) present an opportunity for communities to develop livelihood options that are small scale, high value and easier to transport. These communities have traditionally traded spices such as walnuts, Sichuan peppercorn, nutmeg and other spices through fragmented and informal supply chains, sometimes to China or sometimes for their domestic livelihood purposes. The grantee’s technical program outlined that farming these spices requires much lower capital and smaller land requirements than traditional farming, causing more communities to engage in spice harvesting when faced with displacement, conflict, and other challenges. The grantee anticipates that this sort of small scale, high value spice farming will lead to increased harvesting and higher incomes. Kasante will implement this grant over a period of 11 months, from October 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019.

Myanmar Development Institute (MDI) $569,332 USD. MDI’s grant entitled, “Organizational Capacity Building Support for the Myanmar Development Institute” will build the short-term institutional capacity of MDI to meet wide-ranging and politically urgent needs while strengthening the foundation for its longer-term capabilities and financial sustainability. The grant will strategically increase MDI’s capabilities during a critical period of economic development and democratic transition to provide

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

the Government with effective and timely policy analysis, research and training on a demand-driven basis to meet the current and longer-term needs of policy makers.

As part of the process to advance the economic development of Myanmar, the Private Sector Development Activity grant will provide funding support to MDI in order to build its overall institutional capacities, including funding for foreign and local research staff to complement the current team that has been developed over the last one and a half year. Further, given the expanding responsibilities of the institute due to the representation of the senior management in various high level policy bodies and increasing demands from the government, it will be critical in the short run to augment resources and capacity with MDI for providing close support and coordination for multifarious policy-relevant research activities, enhancing the capacity of the staff and bringing in relevant experts and specialists to address specific gaps in the analytical capacity of the current staff.

This grant funding is part of a more comprehensive package of direct financial, technical assistance and training by the USAID Private Sector Development Activity to increase the internal capabilities of MDI.

MDI will implement this grant over a period of 13 months from December 4, 2018 to January 3, 2020.

Grants Closed in Quarter 1 FY 2019

The following grant was closed this quarter: 1. Intellectual Property Proprietors’ Association of Myanmar (IPPAM) November 15, 2017 - November 14, 2018 Total grant amount: MMK

Grants Anticipated to Close in Quarter 2 FY 2019 1. Phyu Sin Saydana Action Group (PSSAG) February 7, 2018 - February 6, 2019 Total grant amount: MMK

2. Myanmar Engineering Society (MES) February 8, 2018 - February 7, 2019 Total grant amount: MMK This grantee has requested a no-cost, three-month extension on this grant, which is in the process of being submitted to USAID for approval. If approved, the grant period will be extended until May 7, 2019.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Activity Locations

The following two maps show the location of grantee activities and the locations of all program activities in this quarter.

Figure 1. All Private Sector Development Activities Q1 FY 2019

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Figure 2. Grant Events Q1 FY2019

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Stakeholder Participation and Involvement

The Activity has built and continued to maintain strong relationships with stakeholders in Burma through a collaborative approach. Serving as a neutral coordinator, the Activity facilitates and supports stakeholder engagement on policy reform activities. The Activity supports government departments and agencies to develop laws and regulations while simultaneously facilitating participation of the private sector, civil society, research institutions and donor organizations in the policy reform process.

Some of the Activity’s civil society organization and private sector association partners are listed in the table below:

Sector Organizations Applied economic research • Myanmar Development Institute Business and entrepreneurship • Myanmar Young Entrepreneurs Association • Phandeeyar • Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) • Myanmar Business Executives Association (MBA) Consumer affairs • Myanmar Consumer Union (MCU) Finance • Myanmar Microfinance Association (MMFA) • Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) • Opportunities Now • Phyu Sin Saydanar Action Group (PSSAG) • Aya Bank • A Bank Food and agriculture • Food and Science Technology Association (FoSTA) • The Development for Environmental Friendly Agriculture and Rural Life of Myanmar (DEAR Myanmar) • Kasante Intellectual property • Intellectual Property Proprietor Association of Myanmar (IPPAM) Legal • Koe KoeTech Standards and measures • Myanmar Engineering Society

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Donor Coordination

During this quarter, the Activity continued to coordinate and cooperate with other USAID projects in Burma and with other donors, such as the World Bank, ADB, IFC, DfID (DaNa2), EU-GIZ (TDP), UNIDO, JICA, ADA, and the German Metrology Institute (PTB).

More specifically, the project continued to work with the EU-GIZ-TDP program and US-ACTI on the ASEAN Single Window.

The Activity representatives now participate in regular Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) meetings (led by the WB), based on our support for the Gemstone Policy. The Activity has also worked with a range of experts from other donors, including the WB, to get diverse and quality comments on the Policy.

In our Access to Finance work, we continue to attend vital meetings and conferences with various donors and facilitate private meetings when necessary

In our efforts to develop the Presidential Office Notification and establish the Project Bank and Public-Private Partnerships, the Activity worked closely with other donors including the ADB, an EU-funded advisor and the WB.

Through USAID this quarter, we have worked closely with the U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program on commercial arbitration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on IP issues.

Implementation Challenges

With the economic policy reform being a major objective of the Activity, we have been able to continue active dialogue with government agencies tasked with key economic reforms and related private sector groups in order to advance policy dialogue and reform advocacy. The legislative development process in Burma is still proving to be fragmented, slow and opaque. The IPR Laws are a case in point, where two laws, Trademark and Copyright has been approved by both Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament but have not been passed to the President’s Office for signature. The Upper House passed the draft laws 10 months ago but the Lower House only approved them in December and September, respectively. Amendments have been added to the legislation but the process of unifying the draft laws from each house into a single law for signature is unclear.

We hope that key reforms will advance over the next quarter or two, which will allow the Activity to shift from advancing key new laws from drafting to implementation, and we will continue to make every attempt to respond to new support initiatives arising from counterparts and USAID.

2 DaNa is the Burmese word for “prosperity.” The DaNa Facility is a DFID-supported private sector development program.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Priorities for Programming for Next Quarter

The following are programming priorities for the next quarter based upon our current understanding of the evolving political economic environment and on the momentum of our successful programming activities to date.

 Continue building the capacity of the Myanmar Development Institute and NECC, including support for the operation of the Project Bank through our embedded infrastructure team in MDI and support for the operation of the increasingly influential NECC.  Continue to deepen analysis on rationalization of the Myingyan Steel Plant and Peng Pet iron ore mine and engagement with the NECC.  Provide support to develop institutional and legal capacities to strengthen intellectual property rights, with the expected enactment of 4 new, path-breaking IPR laws, including a focus on developing an effective webpage for the new IP office.  Provide support to DOCA on the Direct Sales Law, including providing support for public consultations.  Work with DOCA to develop a notification and SOP to clearly provide for a transition to implement new labeling requirements in the new revised Consumer Protection Law that is expected to be approved next quarter, and also work with DOCA to develop implementing regulations for the new law.  Provide support to Phandeeyar to implement a national robotics competition in Myanmar.  Move to implementation of a program to modernize the Ministry of Commerce’s electronic TradeNet system of import and export licensing and registrations – creating an operational TradeNet 2.0.  Build the capacity of the Financial Regulatory Department to advance the liberalization of the insurance sector; build FRD’s capacities for risk-based supervision including development of a Market Conduct Manual that is needed for effective insurance supervision; and advance the draft Insurance Business Law. This will include developing an understanding on how micro- insurance should be handled differently that general insurance.  Work with the MMFA, FRD and ADB consultant David Grace to advance a strong draft revision to the MFI law.  Support USAID to develop a DCA3.  Facilitate the role of Activity advisor Dennis Farley to work with the CBM to provide training and support the development of monetary markets and policies.  Continue the process for developing a National Gemstone Policy with the tri-partite Supporting Group, with a focus on including international expert recommendations and finalization of the Policy.  Develop a plan to use a new IT system to streamline processes for food control, including more effectively implementing a risk-based food safety system.  Move toward completion of the basic National Single Window through the Routing Platform housed in the Customs Department, which will link to the ASEAN Single Window through the ASEAN Gateway, working closely with US-ACTI.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Personnel Management

There were no changes in personnel this quarter.

Financial Management

As of December 31, 2018, the amount invoiced to USAID was $ or % percent of the total obligated amount. During this quarter, monthly invoices averaged approximately $ per month.

Contract Management

All contract-required deliverables, such as work plans, quarterly reports, financial reports, annual reports and PMP, have been delivered to USAID.

Nathan’s President and CEO for International Development, Susan Chodakewitz, met with USAID leadership in December to get feedback on project and contract management issues. She also met with Activity staff for a full set of briefings on our work. This helps reinforce effective cooperation and support by the home office for the field office team. PROGRESS REPORT ON

INDICATORS

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Activity is on track to meet or exceed most of its targets for FY19. Targets were set by program staff with the best available information. In many cases they are surpassed because partners have been able to expand their reach more than expected.

Regarding the F indicators monitored by the Activity:

FTF indicator: EG 3.1-12 “Number of agricultural and nutritional enabling environmental policies analyzed, consulted on, drafted or revised, approved and implemented with USG assistance” has already met the annual target as many of these laws and regulations carry forward from FY18 and will be the subject of ongoing work in FY19. This reflects the long-term interventions required for policy reforms.

FTF indicator: EG 3.2-4 “Number of for-profit private enterprises, producers organizations, water users associations, women's groups, trade and business associations, and community-based

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019 organizations (CBOs) receiving USG food security related organizational development assistance” has also exceeded the annual target, reflecting a large number of firms participating in the MFI work.

Lags in data reporting mean that the results for Q1 for FTF indicator: EG.3.2-3 “Number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) including farmers, receiving agricultural related credit as a result of USG assistance” and FTF indicator: EG3.2-6 “Value of agricultural and rural loans” are lower than the proportion that would be expected per quarter; these amounts are not spread evenly over the year and the Activity expects the numbers reported in other quarters to still allow the target to be met.

Gender and Inclusion

The Activity met the target of 50% female participation in its interventions this quarter, as shown in the figure below.

Sector Journalists Entrepreneurs Government Non- Overall Officials Government People Proportion Women 34% 30% 62% 52% 52% Participants

Figure 3. Proportion of Women Participants in FY2019 Q1

Proportion of Women Participants in "Private Sector Development Activity" Eventsin FY2019 Q1 70%

60%

50%

40%

30% 62% 52% 52% 20% 34% 30% 10%

0% Journalists Entrepreneurs Government Non-Government Overall Officials People

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

ANNEX 1: FY2019 QUARTER 1 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR RESULTS Table 1. Private Sector Development Activity Indicators

FY19 Actual FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 Indicators Oct - Jan - Apr - Jul - Remarks Actual Actual Actual Actual Dec Mar Jun Sep Total Target 2018 2019 2019 2019 Intermediate Result (IR) 1: More Inclusive, Effective and Transparent Economic Governance Intervention Area 1: More Inclusive and Transparent Economic Policy Making and Implementation Intended Outcome 1.1: Transparency of government policies increased 1.1.1: Number of media stories Q1 - (1) Weekly journals - 31 stories on the economy published by (2) Newspapers - 56 stories (3) journalists completing Activity N/A 916 423 3,212 184 184 300 Websites – 25 stories (4) TV - 66 training (custom indicator) stories; (5) Radio – 6 stories 1.1.2: Cumulative number of Q1 - 167 cumulative laws/regulations economic laws, regulations, on Trade Portal Website and policies published with 0 41 70 116 167 167 165 Activity assistance (custom indicator) 1.1.3: Number of visitors to Q1 - 7,512 new visitors from 85 websites receiving Activity countries to Trade Portal website; 2,939 assistance (custom indicator) new visitors from 51 countries to 0 277 164 38,371 14,367 14,367 27,000 Internews website; 2,999 new visitors from 66 countries to MCU website; 917 new visitors from 31 countries to MMFA website Intended Outcome 1.2: Private sector and civil society input into policy making increased 1.2.1: Number of public- Q1- (1) World Standards Day in YGN private dialogues and public on Oct 14 (2-3) 2 Policy Consultation of

awareness events held with 2 11 86 70 60 60 60 Microfinance in YGN & MDY on Nov 16 & 19 (4) Introduction Workshop on

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Intended Outcome 1.3: Economic governance aligned with international obligations and best practices 1.3.1: Number of agricultural Q1- Analysis - (1) 1 process for Risk and nutritional enabling Based Food Regulation Policy (2) 1 environmental policies process for Standards Law (3) 1 process analyzed, consulted on, drafted for Consumer Protection Settlement or revised, approved and Body SOPs (4) 1 process for implemented with USG Microfinance Law (5) 1 process for assistance (FTF indicator: Policy Implement Insurance Supervision EG 3.1-12) (6) 1 process for Policy on Ports (7) 1 process for Labeling SOP for Department Of Consumer Affairs 1 11 42 109 24 24 20 (DOCA) (8) 1 process for Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty (9) 1 process for Entrepreneur Ecosystem Policy; Stakeholder Consultation – (1-3) 3 processes for Microfinance Law (4) 1 process for Policy Implement Insurance Supervision (5) 1 process for Labeling for Food & Drug Administration (FDA) (Drugs, Food, Cosmetics & Medical Devices) (6) 1 process for Labeling SOP

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

assistance (custom indicator) 1 15 6 6 6 3

1.3.3: Number of capacity Q1- (1-10) 10 credit analysis and saving building workshops conducted mobilization training of MMFA in Sep- with Activity Assistance Dec (11-15) 5 IT training for DOCA in (custom indicator) N/A 33 251 298 26 26 92 Nov-Dec (16-18) 3 training of MES in Aug - Sep (19-21) 3 training of Phandeeyar in Jun & Aug (22-23) 2

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

intervention Area 2: Support for Entrepreneurship Intended Outcome 2.1: Entrepreneurship opportunities and capacity increased 2.1.1: Number of for-profit Q1- (1-15) 15 organization in GEW private enterprises, producers events (7 For-profit private enterprises; organizations, water users 2 Producers Organizations; 2 associations, women's groups, Community based Organizations and 4 trade and business Disaggregates not available) (16-46) 31 associations, and community- Farmer enterprises in DEAR Myanmar based organizations (CBOs) Events (47-65) 19 microfinance receiving USG food security institutions in MMFA trainings (15 For- related organizational profit private enterprises; 4 Community development assistance. (FTF based Organizations) indicator: EG 3.2-4) 0 2 88 268 65 65 32

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

2.1.2: Number of Q1- (1) 3 events by Phandeeyar = 282 entrepreneurs (M/F) receiving People/89 women (2) Training by MES = Activity assistance (custom 4 People/2 women (3) Training by DEAR indicator) Myanmar = 24 People/2 women 646 1,664 310 310 290

N/A N/A

33% F 38% F 30% F % F % F % F 30% F 50% F

Intermediate Result (IR) 2: Broader Access to Finance Intervention Area 3: Improve Access to Finance and Mobilize Savings Intended Outcome 3.1: Access to Credit Increased 3.1.1: Number of micro, small Q1- (1) 13 MSMES by A Bank (2) 7 and medium enterprises MSMEs by AYA Bank (3) 81 MSMEs by (MSMEs) including farmers, GRET Chin (4) 133 MSMEs by MDP (5) receiving agricultural related 0 1,073 2,427 2,472 527 527 9,205 3 MSMEs by ONOW (6) 290 MSMEs by credit as a result of USG PGMF

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

3.1.3: Value of agricultural and Q1- (1) Value of 13 Agric loans by A rural loans (FTF indicator: Bank = $1.17million (2) Value - 7 Agric EG3.2-6) by AYA Bank = $0.26million (3) 81 Agric $0.34 $5.208 $14.5 $2.45 $2.45 $30.19 by GRET Chin = $48,600 (4) 133 Agric 0 million million million million million million by MDP = $0.14million (5) 3 Agric by ONOW = $2,052.5 (6) 290 Aric by PGMF = $0.82million

3.1.4: Value of non-agricultural Q1- (1) Value of 31 Non-Agric loans by and rural loans disbursed A Bank = $15.81million (2) Value - 17 (custom indicator) Non-Agric by GRET Chin = $10,200 (3) $1.417 $5.105 $43.64 $22.39 $22.39 $145.64 139 Non-Agric by MDP = $0.13million 0 million million million million million million (4) 19 Non-Agric by ONOW = $7,243.72 (5) 2,445 Non-Agric by PGMF = $6.42million

Intended Outcome 3.2: Access to savings products increased 3.2.1: Number of people with The Activity has not yet provided

a savings account or insurance technical assistance in this area. 1. Of the policy as a result of USG DCA MFIs, only PGMF has a license to assistance (custom indicator, take savings other than 5% forced and former F indicator 4.5.2-25) 5% voluntary. 2. MFIs largely do not have

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

FY19 Actual FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 Indicators Oct - Jan - Apr - Jul - Remarks Actual Actual Actual Actual Dec Mar Jun Sep Total Target 2018 2019 2019 2019 Intermediate Result (IR) 1: More Inclusive, Effective and Transparent Economic Governance Intervention Area 1: More Inclusive and Transparent Economic Policy Making and Implementation 3.2.2: Value of new savings the IT capability to offer savings on a account or insurance policy as widespread basis. The Activity does not a result of USG assistance anticipate providing technical assistance (custom indicator) in this area. Cross-cutting Indicators Indicator 4.1 Cumulative Q1- (1) 55 GEW events = 3,800 number of people (M/F) Total/2,087 women (2) 10 trainings of attending events conducted MMFA = 194 Total/117 women (3) 9 with Activity assistance events of Internews = 168 Total/70 (custom indicator) 3,293 14,267 20,721 5,795 5,795 4,500 women (4) 5 IT trainings for DOCA = 44 Total/25 women (5) 5 events of DEAR Myanmar = 74 Total/7 women (6) 4 events of PSSAG = 222 Total/94 women (7) 4 events with FRD = 212 Total/108 women (8) 3 trainings of MES N/A = 30 Total/15 women (9) 3 trainings of Phandeeyar = 295 Total/90 women (10) 2 events of Kasante = 8 Total/3 women (11) 2 trainings for A Bank = 49 Total/40 women (12) 2 events with DRI = 153 42% F 56% F 59% F 52% F % F % F % F 52% F 50% F Total/73 women (13) 2 events with FDA = 147 Total/65 women (14) 2 events with MMFA = 306 Total/138 women (15) 2 events on Arbitration = 79 Total/61 women (16) A training for YOMA Bank = 14 Total/4 women Indicator 4.2 Number of Q1- (1-51) 51 women saving groups (at women’s associations PSSAG events in Sep - Dec) (52-74) 23 participating in activities groups in GEW events on Nov 12-18 (3 0 9 372 242 133 133 62 (custom indicator) For-profit private enterprises; 7 women groups; 2 CBOs; 1 producer

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Indicator 4.3 Number of CSOs Q1- (1-5) 5 women saving groups (at or business associations Kasante events in Sep & Oct) (6-13) 8 representing ethnic minority groups in GEW events on Nov 12-18 (2 (custom indicator) For-profit private enterprises; 3 women groups; 2 CBOs and 1 Disaggregates not available) (14-44) 31 Ethnic Farmer enterprises (at DEAR Myanmar events in Oct) (45-46) 2 microfinance institutions 0 34 227 116 47 47 62 (at MMFA training in Sep-Dec) (47) 1 ethnic media at Internews event in Oct

Indicator 4.4 Total number of Q1 detail count? events supported by Activity N/A 89 431 526 111 111 157 (custom indicator) Indicator 4.5 Number of Q1- (1) 30 GEW events by MYEA (2) 4 supported events held outside 2 33 148 127 48 48 15 events of DEAR Myanmar in Kayah state (3) 4 events of PSSAG in Kayin State (4)

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Remarks: (1) In relation to indicators of Access to Finance, the figures reported do not include financial information from ASA, LOLC, Proximity, YOMA Bank and YWCA who have not yet submitted. We’ll update the figure in the annual report bases on the receipt.

(2) Total figure under indicator 1.1.2 reflects a cumulative output. (2) Events counted under indicators 1.2.1, 4.4 & 4.5 may be double counted. (3) Events counted under indicators 1.3.3, 4.4 & 4.5 may also be double counted. (4) People counted under indicators 2.1.2 and 4.1 may be double counted. (5) Associations counted under 2.1.1, 4.2 and 4.3 may also be double counted. (6) Events counted under indicators 4.4 & 4.5 may also be double counted.

ANNEX 2: Q1 FY2019 PSDA ACTIVITIES Table 2. Private Sector Development Activity Event List, Quarter 1, Fiscal Year 2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

1 10/5/ 10/8/2018 Yangon Yangon Trade/Investment? US Department Arbitration 33 6 27 2018 of Commerce Capacity Building Program at Yangon University

2 10/13/ 10/14/2018 Loikaw Kayah Entrepreneurship (Grantee) DEAR Meeting on 5 3 2 2018 Myanmar Clarifying and Discussing the Business Activities of Kayan Farmers Joint Venture Company Limited

3 10/14/ 10/14/2018 Yangon Yangon National Quality Department of World Standards 133 73 60 2018 Infrastructure Research & Day Innovation

4 10/15/ 10/15/2018 Pekon Shan Entrepreneurship (Grantee) DEAR Meeting on 35 32 3 2018 Myanmar Clarifying and Discussing the Business Activities of Kayan Farmers Joint Venture Company Limited

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

with Farmer Enterprises from 31 Target Villages

5 10/16/ 10/19/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Training on 21 10 11 2018 Credit Analysis of Individual Loans (IL)/SME Loan for Credit Officer

6 10/18/ 10/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship (Grantee) DEAR Management 10 4 6 2018 Myanmar Meeting of Kayan Farmer Joint Venture Company Limited between DEAR Myanmar and Empower Myanmar Company Limited

7 10/18/ 10/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Media in Internews Mentoring for 23 15 8 2018 Economic Reform Business Reporting Group - Current Situation and future prospects of Yangon Stock Exchange - YSX

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

8 10/19/ 10/19/2018 Yangon Yangon Trade/Investment? Department of Roundtable 30 14 16 2018 Research & Discussion on Innovation the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Enquiry Point and the Role of Ministry Contact Points

9 10/29/ 10/29/2018 Yangon Yangon Media in Internews Provide on-going 21 9 12 2018 Economic Reform Mentorship and Technical Assistance for Broadcast and Digital Media Partners - Mentorship for MRTV-TV

10 10/29/ 10/29/2018 Hpa-An Kayin Access to Finance (Grantee) PSSAG Cooperative 32 21 11 2018 Leaders' Workshop

11 10/29/ 10/31/2018 Myitkyina Kachin Market Driven (Grantee) Land & Forest 4 4 0 2018 Agriculture Kasante Access Networking

12 10/30/ 10/30/2018 Hpa-An Kayin Access to Finance (Grantee) PSSAG Conduct of 50 29 21 2018 Second Savings Group

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Consolidation Session

13 10/30/ 10/31/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Food Safety & Food & Drug Working Session 21 4 17 2018 Food Trade Administration on the Development of Medical Device Implementing Regulation

14 10/30/ 10/31/2018 Loikaw Kayah Media in Internews In-house 11 6 5 2018 Economic Reform Mentoring for National and Ethnic/Regional Media Outlets: In-house mentoring for Kantarawaddy Times

15 11/1/2 11/5/2018 Myitkyina Kachin Market Driven (Grantee) Land & Forest 4 1 3 018 Agriculture Kasante Access Networking

16 11/3/2 11/3/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance A Bank Sales and 30 6 24 018 Prospecting Training - A Bank

17 11/5/2 11/8/2018 Mandalay Mandalay Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Training on 24 4 20 018 Credit Analysis of Individual Loans (IL)/SME

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Loan for Credit Officer

18 11/9/2 11/10/2018 Mandalay Mandalay Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Saving 14 2 12 018 Mobilization Training

19 11/12/ 11/12/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Empower 27 10 17 2018 Entrepreneurs the New-Born Association Entrepreneur Inside

20 11/12/ 11/12/2018 Magway Magway Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 60 10 50 2018 Entrepreneurs Honorable Youth Association Winners

21 11/12/ 11/12/2018 Demoso Kayah Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Local 61 35 26 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur's Association Experiences Sharing and Dialogue

22 11/12/ 11/12/2018 Tamu Sagaing Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 36 23 13 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur and Association Development Talks

23 11/12/ 11/12/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 18 5 13 2018 Entrepreneurs Investment Association Readiness for Small and

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Growing Manufacturers

24 11/12/ 11/13/2018 Myitkyina Kachin Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Youth 38 12 26 2018 Entrepreneurs and Education Association

25 11/12/ 11/15/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Consumer Department of Database 9 0 9 2018 Protection Consumer Affairs Training

26 11/12/ 11/15/2018 Mandalay Mandalay Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Training on 21 9 12 2018 Credit Analysis of Individual Loans (IL)/SME Loan for Credit Officer

27 11/13/ 11/13/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 36 27 9 2018 Entrepreneurs Myanmar's Association Surviving to Thriving Business Environment

28 11/13/ 11/13/2018 Pakokku Magway Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 69 14 55 2018 Entrepreneurs Honorable Youth Association Winners

29 11/14/ 11/14/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 35 17 18 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurial Association Finance (Royal Village

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Knowledge Centre)

30 11/14/ 11/14/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 115 66 49 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Association for Business Leader

31 11/14/ 11/14/2018 Loikaw Kayah Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Kayah 116 58 58 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Association Symposium

32 11/14/ 11/14/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) MYEA 24 13 11 2018 Entrepreneurs Pitching 6 Association

33 11/14/ 11/14/2018 Kale Sagaing Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 29 16 13 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur and Association Development Talks

34 11/14/ 11/14/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Making 39 24 15 2018 Entrepreneurs the Leap from Association Employee to Entrepreneurs

35 11/14/ 11/14/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Food Safety & Food & Drug Stakeholder 131 79 52 2018 Food Trade Administration Consultation on Food, Drug, Medical Device and Cosmetics

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Labeling Guidelines

36 11/15/ 11/15/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Economic 61 2 59 2018 Entrepreneurs Empowerment Association through Social Enterprise Tour

37 11/15/ 11/15/2018 Bagan Mandalay Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Vitamin 61 33 28 2018 Entrepreneurs for Association Entrepreneurs

38 11/15/ 11/15/2018 Taungdwingyi Magway Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Vitamin 140 85 55 2018 Entrepreneurs for Association Entrepreneurs

39 11/15/ 11/15/2018 Khaikam Chin Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 42 18 24 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur and Association Development Talks

40 11/15/ 11/15/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) HR 16 10 6 2018 Entrepreneurs Innovation: Association Crazy? Not Crazy?

41 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Cikha Chin Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 33 18 15 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur and Association Development Talk

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

42 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Magway Magway Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 272 104 168 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur Association Day

43 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Ignite 118 44 74 2018 Entrepreneurs your Dreams Association

44 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Positivity 33 17 16 2018 Entrepreneurs Association

45 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 47 36 11 2018 Entrepreneurs RoboCoders Association Robotics Challenge

46 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Monywa Sagaing Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Vitamin 127 59 68 2018 Entrepreneurs for Association Entrepreneurs

47 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Mandalay Mandalay Access to Finance Financial Policy 52 29 23 2018 Regulatory Consultation Department Meeting

48 11/16/ 11/16/2018 Yangon Yangon Media in Internews Mentoring for 7 2 5 2018 Economic Reform Business Reporting Group - State-owned Enterprises (Natural Resources) and

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Public Financial Loophole

49 11/16/ 11/17/2018 Mandalay Mandalay Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Saving 23 9 14 2018 Mobilization Training

50 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Magway Magway Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 210 73 137 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur Association Day

51 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Mawlamyine Mon State Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 154 80 74 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Association for Youth

52 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Explore 23 11 12 2018 Entrepreneurs Yangon! Association Responsible Business Tour with Helen

53 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Journey 162 102 60 2018 Entrepreneurs to Business Association Excellence (Quality, Safety & Health, Environment)

54 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Maija Yang Kachin Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Local 79 33 46 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur's Association Experiences

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Sharing and Dialogue

55 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Pathein Ayeyawaddy Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Local 84 25 59 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur's Association Experiences Sharing and Dialogue

56 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Mentor 37 5 32 2018 Entrepreneurs Her Association

57 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Recycling: 43 28 15 2018 Entrepreneurs Good for Association Business and Good for Environment

58 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Women 17 6 11 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs in Association Microfinance and Leveraging Digital Finance for Success

59 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Tonzang Chin Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 27 10 17 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs Association and Development Talks

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

60 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Taunggyi Shan Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 31 20 11 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur and Association Business Plan Competition

61 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Mawlamyine Mon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Expert 175 105 70 2018 Entrepreneurs Talks - Effective Association Tools for Entrepreneurs

62 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Mandalay Mandalay Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 147 56 91 2018 Entrepreneurs Mentoring Association Workshop for Entrepreneurs

63 11/17/ 11/17/2018 Taunggyi Shan Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Steps to 194 58 136 2018 Entrepreneurs the Future Association

64 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Mandalay Mandalay Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Bright 11 1 10 2018 Entrepreneurs Future for Young Association People

65 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Pathein Ayeyawaddy Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Capacity 185 79 106 2018 Entrepreneurs Building in Association Ayeyarwady

66 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Employee 40 17 23 2018 Entrepreneurs 2 Business Association Owner

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

67 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 28 21 7 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur's Association Debate: All about Startups

68 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 15 12 3 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Association in 21st Century

69 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Maubin Ayeyawaddy Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) An 35 15 20 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Association Tour along the Ayeyarwady River

70 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Financial 30 13 17 2018 Entrepreneurs Toolkits for Association Entrepreneurs

71 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Puta-O Kachin Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Local 94 38 56 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur's Association Experiences Sharing and Dialogue

72 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Recipe 61 13 48 2018 Entrepreneurs for Success Association

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

73 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Mudon Mon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Vitamin 121 57 64 2018 Entrepreneurs for Association Entrepreneurs

74 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Vitamin 48 15 33 2018 Entrepreneurs for Association Entrepreneurs

75 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 14 5 9 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Association and Business Plan Competition

76 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Yesagyo Magway Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 113 70 43 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Association for Regional Eco Development

77 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Tiddim Chin Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) 28 16 12 2018 Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur and Association Development Talk

78 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Loilen Shan Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Success 20 10 10 2018 Entrepreneurs and Meaningful Association Life Style

79 11/18/ 11/18/2018 Pathein Ayeyawaddy Media in Internews Regional Business 29 27 2 2018 Economic Reform Reporters Network Support - Discussions on

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Current Situations and Challenges of Journalist Networks in Ayeyarwady & 'Local Economic Governance and Development Issues in Ayeyarwady Region'

80 11/18/ 11/21/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship Myanmar Young (GEW) Women 83 7 76 2018 Entrepreneurs Business Idea Association Competition

81 11/19/ 11/19/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance Financial Policy 106 55 51 2018 Regulatory Consultation Department Meeting

82 11/26/ 12/3/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Consumer Department of CCNA Training 10 6 4 2018 Protection Consumer Affairs

83 11/27/ 11/28/2018 Pekon Shan Entrepreneurship (Grantee) DEAR Training on Value 32 27 5 2018 Myanmar Addition to Chili, Black Cardamom and Bamboo Shoot with Farmer Enterprise from

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

24 Target Villages

84 11/29/ 11/30/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Saving 25 10 15 2018 Mobilization Training

85 11/30/ 11/30/2018 Yangon Yangon Media in Internews Provide on-going 20 10 10 2018 Economic Reform Mentorship and Technical Assistance for Broadcast and Digital Media Partners - Mentorship for MRTV-TV

86 12/2/2 12/2/2018 Hpa-An Kayin Access to Finance (Grantee) PSSAG Conduct of Third 69 38 31 018 Savings Group Consolidation Session

87 12/3/2 12/4/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance A Bank Delivering Loans 19 3 16 018 to Microfinance Institutions Training

88 12/3/2 12/6/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance YOMA Bank YOMA Bank 14 10 4 018 Credit Scoring Workshop

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

89 12/4/2 12/7/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Consumer Department of CMS & PHP Basic 7 2 5 018 Protection Consumer Affairs Training

90 12/4/2 12/11/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance Financial Risk-based 10 1 9 018 Regulatory Supervision (RBS) Department Pilot Inspection Exercise

91 12/6/2 12/6/2018 Yangon Yangon Trade/Investment US Department Willem C. Vis 52 13 39 018 of Commerce Commercial Arbitration Moot Myanmar National Competition

92 12/10/ 12/14/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Consumer Department of Advanced 8 3 5 2018 Protection Consumer Affairs Microsoft Office Training

93 12/12/ 12/12/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance Financial Introduction 65 30 35 2018 Regulatory Workshop on Department Risk-based Supervision (RBS) for Insurance

94 12/13/ 12/13/2018 Yangon Yangon Media in Internews Mentoring for 13 4 9 2018 Economic Reform Business Reporting Group - Banking New Policy and Impact

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

on Country Economy

95 12/13/ 12/13/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Access to Finance Myanmar Myanmar 163 94 69 2018 Microfinance Microfinance Association Association's Annual General Assembly

96 12/14/ 12/14/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Access to Finance Myanmar Stakeholders 169 89 80 2018 Microfinance Meeting for Association Microfinance Sector Development

97 12/15/ 12/15/2018 Monywa Sagaing Media in Internews Regional Business 22 18 4 2018 Economic Reform Reporters Network Support - Discussions on Current Situations and Challenges of Journalist Network

98 12/17/ 12/21/2018 Nay Pyi Taw Nay Pyi Taw Consumer Department of A+ Training 10 8 2 2018 Protection Consumer Affairs

99 12/18/ 12/21/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Training on 13 5 8 2018 Credit Analysis of Individual

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Sr. Begi End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. n Date Attendance Date

Loans (IL)/SME Loan for Credit Officer

100 12/24/ 12/24/2018 Pekon Shan Entrepreneurship (Grantee) DEAR Second Township 22 20 2 2018 Myanmar Coordination Meeting

101 12/26/ 12/26/2018 Yangon Yangon Media in Internews Provide on-going 22 7 15 2018 Economic Reform Mentorship and Technical Assistance for Broadcast and Digital Media Partners - Mentorship for MRTV-TV

102 12/27/ 12/28/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Saving 11 6 5 2018 Mobilization Training

Total 5,617 2,614 3,003

Remarks: The table constitutes the total number of attendants at the events. It may include representatives of other donors and some double counting because some people attend more than one event.

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Private Sector Development Activity Events Conducted in FY18, but reported by Grantees in Quarter 1, Fiscal Year 2019

Serial Begin End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. Date Date Attendance

1 6/3/2018 6/3/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship (Grantee) Introduction to 128 86 42 Phandeeyar Practical AI

2 6/12/2018 6/12/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship (Grantee) Software 127 87 40 Phandeeyar Development in Myanmar, Language Support

3 8/19/2018 8/19/2018 Yangon Yangon Entrepreneurship (Grantee) AI in Agriculture, 40 32 8 Phandeeyar Image Recognition Workshop

4 8/27/2018 8/28/2018 Yangon Yangon National Quality (Grantee) MES ISO 9001-2015 10 5 5 Infrastructure Awareness Training (For QMC's Technical Experts 2nd Batch)

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Serial Begin End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. Date Date Attendance

5 8/29/2018 8/31/2018 Yangon Yangon National Quality (Grantee) MES Fundamentals & 10 5 5 Infrastructure Internal Auditing Training (For QMC's Technical Experts 2nd Batch)

6 9/15/2018 9/19/2018 Yangon Yangon National Quality (Grantee) MES IRCA Approved 10 5 5 Infrastructure Lead Auditor Course (For QMC's Technical Team 2018)

7 9/18/2018 9/21/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Training on 23 10 13 Credit Analysis of Individual Loans (IL)/SME Loan for Credit Officer

8 9/25/2018 9/28/2018 Yangon Yangon Access to Finance (Grantee) MMFA Training on 19 12 7 Credit Analysis of Individual Loans (IL)/SME Loan for Credit Officer

9 9/28/2018 9/28/2018 Hpa-An Kayin Access to Finance (Grantee) PSSAG Conduct of First 78 44 34 Savings Group

PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT 1 FY2019

Serial Begin End Township State/Region Issue Area Counterpart Event Title Total Male Female No. Date Date Attendance

Consolidation Session

Total 445 286 159

Remarks: The table constitutes the total number of attendants of the events. It may include representatives from other donor(s) and may include double counting, as some participants attend more than one event.

ANNEX 3: SUCCESS STORY

Insurance Liberalization in Burma

USAID’s Private Sector Development The Ministry of Planning and Finance (MoPF) announced on January 2, 2019 that foreign Activity continues to support a strong insurance firms would be allowed to provide insurance products in Burma, both through liberalization of Myanmar’s Insurance joint ventures and through direct participation in the market by fully foreign owned life Sector. insurance companies. Initial licenses should be issued in March 2019.

USAID's Private Sector Development Activity (PSDA) has greatly contributed to the development of insurance liberalization by commissioning a study released in July 2018 that compares and contrasts the financial sectors of Vietnam and Burma, highlighting the benefits that Burma could realize through allowing foreign investment and international insurance company operators into the country. The paper was presented to and widely accepted by members of Parliament, the Financial Regulatory Department (FRD) of the Ministry of Planning and Finance (MoPF), and other relevant stakeholders.

Financial Regulatory Department. Risk Based Supervision Team reviewing Grand Guardian Insurance’s Articles of Association PSDA continues to advocate for a strong liberalization of Myanmar’s nascent insurance sector. Over the course of 2018, the Activity increased its support for prerequisites of a modern and dynamic insurance sector. The Activity provided training and systems development for risk-based supervision (RBS), developed a comprehensive RBS manual, and oversaw the first-ever risk-based on-site examinations of two insurance companies in Burma. PSDA also developed, discussed, refined, and translated a major new draft Insurance Business Law that is currently under review by government leadership, and subsequently submitted for stakeholder comments in early 2019. This insurance law is based on Insurance Core Principles (ICPs) of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) that prepare Burma for effective regulation and give the government Risk-based Supervision (RBS) Inspection of AYA Myanmar Insurance confidence to open up insurance market.

Over the last quarter, PSDA supported a 10-member team of inspectors from the FRD to conduct a limited scope, on-site examination of a Yangon-based insurance firm. Following the on-site visit, FRD held a half-day workshop to present their RBS methodology to the insurance industry. These examinations allow the regulators to test the skills learned from classroom training and mentoring session, and apply them to on-site assessments. Burmese insurance firms, which only began operating in 2013, gain practical hands-on experience through these supervision visits. The insurance industry can now prepare for and anticipate the expectations of the regulators regarding their organizations' management and adherence to insurance quality standards. Overall consumers will be better protected and Presentation to Members of Parliament on Banking and the insurance environment will benefit businesses. Insurance Reform

For more information, contact Private Sector Development (PSD) Activity, Myanmar Mr. Steve Parker (Chief of Party): [email protected] and Ms. Show Ei Ei Tun (Deputy Chief of Party): [email protected]