In a briefing held by the British Chamber of Commerce Myanmar in Sule Shangri-La, Yangon, on July 7, Peter Brimble, the team leader from DaNa Facility, outlined the progress on the development of Myanmar’s private sector and the program’s latest action plan.

He added that DaNa Facility (DaNa) will launch the Business Innovation Window in late August with an emphasis on businesses in agribusiness, community forestry, garments and textiles and financial inclusion.

The matching grant fund will primarily target companies and anticipate four separate sub-windows based on those four focus sectors. Grant sizes will be between £250,000 and £750,000.

Mr Brimble said that the Business Innovation Window would look for innovative business ideas which will address current market failures and disrupt “business as usual”. The project ideas have to aim to be commercially sustainable once the DaNa Facility grant funding ends.

“The DaNa Facility supports inclusive economic growth through responsible and sustainable private sector development.

“Already, we are implementing the Economic Empowerment Window for women and conflict zones since earlier this year.

“Next month, we are planning to run the Business Innovation Window [BIW] for start-ups,” he said.

DaNa is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), which provided £25 million (K43.9 billion), and supports inclusive economic growth and private sector development in Myanmar, through responsible and sustainable business growth, investment and trade.

The DFID-funded program was established in May 2016 as one of three components of DFID’s wider “Business for Shared Prosperity” (BSP) program, and runs for five years until December 2020. DFID’s portfolio of activities supports the Myanmar government’s objectives and policies on economic development, which includes the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund and trade and investment activities through the World Bank Group.

For DaNa, inclusive economic growth refers to growth which focuses on creation and expansion of economic opportunities, and ensures broader access to these opportunities.

Earlier this year, DaNa launched the Economic Empowerment Window. The program has since shortlisted 10 projects which are invited to submit full proposal.

In total, six projects were selected for grants, comprising mung bean project in dry zone locations, agriculture development project in Pa-O area, avocado, coffee and EFY project in southern Chin and Shan states, community forestry project in Kachin and more.

The six projects implemented via the Economic Empowerment Window are led by four domestic non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and two INGOS, and all six will have private sector partners involved in the consortia, according to Mr Brimble. The projects also have a wide geographical footprint, including minority ethnics and post-conflict areas.

The Economic Empowerment Window places an emphasis on empowering women and other disadvantaged groups, benefitting from Myanmar’s economic development, and helping to shape the growth of more inclusive, competitive and wealth-creating markets, he explained.

“The Economic Empowerment Window program focuses on women’s economic empowerment, conflict-affected or post-conflict areas and social and environmental sustainability.

“Currently, we have an emphasis on garments and textiles, agribusiness, community forestry and financial inclusion,” he said.

Source From: Myanmar Times