Borrowing capacity estimates

Financial and environmental returns to energy efficiency

The financial returns to cost-saving investments are of interest to all businesses, as well as finance providers and development partners. EMC provided our client with quantitative conclusions despite limited local data when we estimated the returns to energy efficiency solutions. This is a continuation of our previous blog post (see here), on how we estimated the returns. The previous post detailed our approach. Here we present the results of our analysis. This analysis was then used to design a Fund...

April 4, 2020
By Business Consulting
Read more...

How we estimated the returns to energy efficiency

The financial returns to cost-saving investments are of interest to all businesses, as well as finance providers and development partners. EMC was able to provide our client with quantitative conclusions despite limited local data when we were asked to estimate the returns to energy efficiency solutions. This blog post is based on a 2016 EMC study, conducted with Arup, that specified and analysed the financial (and environmental) returns to Cambodian firms investing in improved energy efficiency. Our analysis was used...

April 3, 2020
By Business Consulting
Read more...

Estimating the Market Size for New Products

Quantifying the market size, and other demand factors, for new products and services is important for both firms and development partners. This blog post focuses on EMC work to identify key market segments, total demand and buying behaviour for a new ‘advanced cookstove’, introduced by SNV. However, this new product costs approximately twenty times more than the traditional cookstoves commonly available in local markets. So, for a successful introduction it was critical to understand how many consumers could afford such a product,...

March 26, 2020
By Business Consulting, Market Entry & Investment, Private Sector Development
Read more...

Vietnam’s entrepreneurial ecosystem – new perspectives

The Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), in cooperation with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam, partnered with EMC Consulting, the Mekong Business Initiative, Vietnam Angel Investor Network, and Saigon Innovation Hub to gather local stakeholders in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, to discuss new perspectives on Vietnam's entrepreneurial ecosystem. On 15 and 17 May 2018, local stakeholders from Vietnam’s entrepreneurial ecosystem gathered at two workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to share their appreciation of the...

March 15, 2020
By Private Sector Development
Read more...

Human trafficking in Lao PDR – who is vulnerable?

After more than 15 years of strong economic growth, the official poverty rate in the Lao PDR has declined significantly. Nevertheless, there remain many districts throughout the country with very high rates of poverty. In addition, many Lao people live just above the poverty line. These people are vulnerable to falling back below it in the event of agricultural or health shocks. This can make them vulnerable to human trafficking. Lao PDR labour market The Lao labour market is characterized by a...

March 2, 2020
By Economic Research, Private Sector Development
Read more...
Borrowing capacity estimates

Borrowing capacity of Cambodian businesses

Although access to finance is oft-cited as a constraint on small and medium business, many Cambodian companies do have at least moderate borrowing capacity. This blog post is part of our work to design a Fund that would assist Cambodian SMEs invest in improved energy efficiency. In order to help determine the potential size of the Fund, the borrowing capacity of businesses was assessed. This borrowing capacity assessment was undertaken using micro-data from the 2014 Cambodian Inter-Censal Economic Survey (CIES) produced...

November 23, 2019
By Business Consulting
Read more...

The Financing Gap Faced by SMEs

This post on the financing gap is based on EMC Consulting’s 2018-19 work for the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) ‘Investment Fund Local SMEs’, an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The study was commissioned to better understand the ‘missing middle’ in the Mekong region – those businesses that have outgrown microfinancing but do not yet have access to conventional financial services. We used the ANDE framework for analysing countries' entrepreneurial ecosystems. In-depth country studies were undertaken in...

September 10, 2019
By Economic Research, Private Sector Development
Read more...

Gazelles in Myanmar and Cambodia

This post about business "gazelles" is based on EMC Consulting’s 2018-19 work for the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) ‘Investment Fund Local SMEs’, an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The study was commissioned to better understand the ‘missing middle’ in the Mekong region – those businesses that have outgrown microfinancing but do not yet have access to conventional financial services. We used the ANDE framework for analysing countries' entrepreneurial ecosystems. In-depth country studies were undertaken in Cambodia,...

June 3, 2019
By Economic Research
Read more...

SMEs in the Mekong Region are not all alike

This post is based on EMC Consulting’s 2018-19 work for the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) ‘Investment Fund Local SMEs’, an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The study was commissioned to better understand the ‘missing middle’ in the Mekong region – those SMEs that have outgrown microfinancing but do not yet have access to conventional financial services. We used the ANDE framework for analysing countries' entrepreneurial ecosystems. In-depth country studies were undertaken in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar...

April 2, 2019
By Economic Research, Private Sector Development
Read more...

What is a property bubble?

Our other post examines the current state of the Phnom Penh property market. This post explains what a bubble is and why property can behave differently from other asset classes. What is a bubble? A bubble is a situation where the price of something is higher than its fair (or intrinsic) value. That is, the price is above that supported by economic conditions (“fundamentals”). The fundamental value of an asset is the present value of all future cash flow that the asset...

May 24, 2016
By Economic Research, Market Entry & Investment
Read more...

Accessing capital via financial modelling

Our first blog post explained the access to finance experienced by Private Water Operators in Cambodia. This second post details how our financial modelling and business planning helped 20 businesses overcome it. A more detailed description of our work and its success is in this World Bank report. Introduction Profitable businesses frequently lack access to finance to grow, whether that be investing in productive assets (fixed assets), or financing working capital and supply chains (inventory). Businesses in Cambodia, as in many other...

January 14, 2016
By Business Consulting, Market Entry & Investment
Read more...