In Pakistan, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) comprise 98 percent of the country’s 3.8 million businesses, but most of these businesses operate in the undocumented, informal sector. These SMEs face a variety of barriers, from burdensome regulatory procedures to limited access to finance and markets. The USAID Small and Medium Size Enterprise Activity (SMEA) is…
Farrukh Khan is a private sector development leader with over 25 years of experience leading Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development, competitive enhancement, and business enabling environment activities in Pakistan. He holds 19 years of experience in progressive leadership roles including five years as the value chain development component leader on the USAID-funded Pakistan Firms…
As Serbia progresses down the path to European Union integration, it is vital that the country strengthen its economic growth. USAID’s Sustainable Local Development Project (SLDP) promoted lasting economic growth in Serbia by building the capacity of its municipalities, business advocacy groups, and civil society organizations to engage the public and other stakeholders. SLDP focused…
Over the past several years, Moldova has made considerable progress in reforming its business environment. The USAID Moldova Business Regulatory, Investment, and Trade Environment (BRITE) project helped the government of Moldova make reforms that attracted investment, encouraged entrepreneurship, increased competitiveness, and solidified the foundation of the country’s market economy. BRITE focused on reforms that the…
Although the Sri Lankan government pursued reforms to modernize the country’s business environment after the 2015 presidential election, past administrations’ weak systems and processes hindered these efforts. The USAID Supporting Accelerated Investment in Sri Lanka (SAIL) project, with Chemonics as a subcontracted partner, collaborated with the national government to develop a regulatory environment that is…
With underdeveloped laws and regulations, Mongolia has had to make great strides in tax policy and reform to foster economic growth. The USAID Mongolia Business Plus Initiative (BPI) strengthened the private sector’s role in the country’s economic growth, developing laws and procedures to improve the legal and institutional environment in which businesses formed and expanded.…
Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a critical role in Georgia’s economy, but without the proper support, they have been unable to realize their full potential. The USAID Zrda activity in Georgia targets MSMEs across the country to help people in rural communities strengthen their skills and productivity and, in turn, contribute to broad-based…
Tourism is an industry with the capability to transform international development. Tourism is the largest service industry globally, accounting for nearly 10 percent of global GDP. Nearly 293 million jobs, or one in eleven jobs around the world, are within the tourism sector. Tourism is currently featured in three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),…
The USAID Pakistan FIRMS Project, implemented by Chemonics, strove to enhance the competitiveness of the small and medium-sized firms that represent 90 percent all enterprises, employ an estimated 80 percent of the non-agricultural labor force, and account for approximately 40 percent of GDP. FIRMS provided enterprise-level assistance, worked to improve the business enabling environment, and…
You’ve had experience stimulating investment in different countries, from Paraguay to Palestine. What are some ways that you’ve attracted investors in your career? I’ve been able to work directly with businesses to attract investment on a few different projects, and this is frequently one of my favorite project components. For example, both the USAID Poverty…
The landmark 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) Paris Agreement recognized the need for a multi-pronged approach to reach the ambitious development goals set by 195 countries, 34 of which are in Asia. With one-third of the world’s total population, Asia is increasingly vulnerable to climate change due to its low-lying, heavily populated coastlines and dependency…
From June 2008 to August 2013, the principal objective of the USAID West Bank/Gaza Trade Facilitation Project was to facilitate the flow of goods and people in a manner that satisfied the principles and benchmarks of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access. At the start of the project, TFP focused on three key components,…