11

Ist Meeting of the Project Advisory Committee (PAC)

Thursday, 19th May, 2011, Oslo

Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General

Promoting Sustainable and Inclusive Growth (PROSAIG)

Outline

Project: Goal, Purpose and Tools

Intended Beneficiaries

Prosaig: Overview

Prosaig I: Projects, Partners and Outcomes

Prosaig II: Proposed Projects and Partners

PAC: Role and Schedule of meetings

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Project: Goal, Purpose and Tools

Goal Rapid, inclusive and lasting growth in the Indian economy

Objective Generation of awareness about ways and means in diverse

fields for achieving the mentioned goal so as to induce needed action by diverse stakeholders

- Corporate social responsibility and norms for corporate governance

- Sector regulation - Environmental standards

Tools Research, awareness generation, advocacy and capacity

building based on research outputs

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Intended Beneficiaries

In India– Government, especially policy makers – Research organisations, academics and civil society

organisations working on issues relating to the Indian economy

– Ultimately Consumers and Producers

In Norway– Research organisations and academics – Government especially development actors and policy

makers – Existing and potential Norwegian consumers – Existing and potential producers/importers of

goods/services to and from India

Overview of ProsaigCUTS submitted a core grant proposal to Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE):

package of proposals geared towards the promotion of sustainable and inclusive growth in the Indian context but with a global perspective

PHASE I1. Exploring the interplay between business regulation and corporate

conduct in India2. A Study of Environmental Standards and their Trade Impact on Indian

Textiles & Clothing Sector3. Competition and Regulation in India, 2011 PHASE II4. The role of investment policy reforms in South Asia’s economic

development5. Trade and poverty linkages in South Asia6. Political economy of regulation and competition in South Asia 7. Climate change, food security and trade linkages in South Asia PHASE III8. Public transport in India9. Governance and regulatory challenges in public utility services in urban

areas of South Asia10. Regional disparities in agriculture and rural development performance

and policies -- A comparative assessment11. Examining the contribution of competition policy reforms to economic

development in developing countries: An empirical approach12. Corruption in electricity and healthcare in India - Dropped

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Prosaig- IProjects and Partners

Sr. No

Project Title Duration Norwegian Partners

1. Exploring the interplay between business regulation and corporate conduct in India (BRCC Project)

March 2011 – November 2012 (20 months)

Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)

2. Competition and Regulation in India, 2011 (ICRR Project, 2011)

January 2011 – December 2012 (24 months)

Norwegian School of Management (BI)

3. A Study of Environmental Standards and their Trade Impact on Indian Textiles & Clothing Sector (SESTI Project)

January 2011 – December 2012 (24 months)

National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO)

BRCC Project Goal

- Encourage better business behaviour to achieve sustainable development objectives Purpose

- Stimulation of government and private sector action regarding business regulation, corporate governance and CSR

Status- Launch meeting and 1st meeting of PRC organised in Delhi in April, 2011- Outline of the Thematic Research Report prepared and is being reviewed- 02 regional dialogues to discuss the draft thematic research report: July, 2011

Future Activities- 04 state level research papers on Business Regulation- 02 Sectoral papers on Corporate Conduct- State level and National Policy Discourse - Capacity building of stakeholders in States

Research inputs would feed into the Planning Commission of India’s Steering Committee on Industry: Two Working Groups on Business Regulatory Framework

http://www.cuts-ccier.org/BRCC/

ICRR Project, 2011 Goal

- Enhance the quality of regulation and level of competition in select sectors of the economy

Purpose- To provide suggestions and thereby stimulate actions by

governments (Central and State) and their agencies in regard to regulatory reform

Status– Organised 1st National Reference Group Meeting in January 2011– Authors presented the draft papers/outline during 2nd CUTS/CIRC

International Conference on Economic Regulation organised in April, 2011 in Delhi

– Perception survey of relevant stakeholders have started with support of partner organisations across India, one-to-one interviews and through internet.

Future Activities- External review and finalisation of papers by authors- Compilation and analysis of perception survey data- Organising 2nd NRG meeting to present the revised papers

http://www.cuts-ccier.org/icrr2011/

SESTI Project

Goal- Promotion of optimal use of eco-labels for enhancing

environmental sustainability and economic welfare Purpose

- Improving understanding of the communicative power of environmental labels for enhancing consumer welfare and environmental sustainability

Status- Literature review has been completed- Launch meeting in Oslo (Friday, 20th May, 2011)

Future Activities- Inventorisation of existing environmental standards for Indian

T&C products- Internet and field surveys to be organised in select north

european markets and India- Preparation of Research Report

Envisaged Outcomes from

PROSAIG -I Generation of awareness among Indian

stakeholders about the requirements for inclusive growth in the Indian context

Stimulation of an integrated approach which meets the above requirements

Enhancement of the capacity of Indian researchers to work on developing country issues

Generation of awareness among Norwegian business, consumers and other stakeholders about the opportunities relating to synergistic engagement with India

DESCRIPTION OF FOUR PROJECTS

(PROSAIG - II)

Prosaig (II) : Projects/Ideas

Project I: Political Economy of Regulation and Competition in South Asia Two research cycles will be conducted – on energy and on

transportation Gather research-based policy lessons from various parts of

the world and analyse the political economy issues affecting effective implementation of competition and regulatory laws

Key research questions would address issues such as - What are the current levels of competition in the markets- Is there support for competition policy and regulatory

reforms from key constituents? If not, why? - What are the existing political-economy and governance

constraints which come in the way of successful implementation of competition and regulatory laws?

Countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka Proposed Norwegian Partner: Norwegian School of

Economics and Business Administration (NHH) & SNF

Projects, contd…..

Project II: Climate change, Food Security and Trade Linkages in South Asia

Analyse impact of climate change on food security at the household level in South Asian countries

Focus on how trade policy instruments can be used to mitigate possible negative impact of climate change on food security?

Build capacity of CSOs, government officials, etc Proposed Norwegian Partner: National Institute for Consumer

Research (SIFO)

Project III: Trade and Poverty Linkages in South Asia Analyse value chain of a number of tradable sectors in South

Asian countries which can have significant impact on poverty. Key research areas: importance of flanking macroeconomic

policies in making trade policy more effective; governance aspects of trade policy-making process; trade complementarities among the South Asian countries and their spatial dynamics, etc.

Build capacity of CSOs, trade practioners, officials of various departments/ministries

Proposed Norwegian Partner: NUPI

Projects, contd…..

Project IV: The Role of Investment Policy Reforms in South Asia’s Economic Development

What kind of reforms are required in South Asian countries to get people out of agriculture (where a majority is unproductively engaged) and engage them productively in non-agricultural sectors (including in rural non-farm economy)?

Analyse changes required in investment policies in South Asian countries along with other important flanking policies

Draw lessons and best practices from countries such as China and Vietnam

Build capacity of CSOs, Government officials and community based organisations

Proposed Norwegian Partner: NUPI

PROJECT ADVISORY COMMITTEEROLE AND SCHEDULE OF

MEETINGS

Role of the PAC

Contribute to the implementation of the project. PAC members will participate in discussions on both the process and content of the project. Their contributions will be duly noted and will be incorporated suitably into project documents.

Participate in PAC meetings alongwith project events, training programmes, as and when convenient.

Reviewing major process decisions during the course of the project.

PAC Meetings Schedule

2011 2012 2013

May December May May

1st meeting to be organised on Thursday, 19th May, 2011 at Oslo

Mid Term Meeting at

Delhi

2nd Meeting at Oslo

End Project Meeting at Delhi/Oslo, to be decided.

Thank You

Pradeep S. MehtaSecretary General, CUTS

psm@cuts.org http://www.cuts-international.org