Promoting Competitiveness in Practice - Economic Growth - usaid

tourism, and meat. In addition, the initiative included a fourth component to strengthen public
and private dialogue on competitiveness issues. The mission is currently in the process of
launching a new phase of its competitiveness program that will combine its long-standing and
deep involvement in economic policy reform with its activities to promote cluster-based
competitiveness.
The Dominican Republic………………………………………………………………$2,551,978
Building on the momentum of local private sector leaders’ interest in competitiveness, USAID
assistance has focused largely on strategy development -- at the national level, regional level and
cluster level. Chemonics International has served as the lead contractor with additional assistance
provided by J.E. Austin Associates and Monitor Company. In late 1999, the team launched an
open and participatory strategic planning process designed to build consensus on a National
Competitiveness Strategy. This was followed by the development of two pilot strategies, one for
the province of Santiago and the other for the fruits and vegetable cluster. Over the past two
years, the team has focused on facilitating participatory strategic planning sessions at the cluster
level – specifically, for the tourism clusters in Romana-Bayhibe and Puerto Plata, and the ecotourism
and horticulture clusters in La Vega. The mission is now moving into a deeper phase of
assistance under its new Competitiveness and Fiscal Reform Project, the funding for which is not
included in the amount provided above.
Uganda: The “COMPETE” Project ....……………………………………………… $2,422,287
USAID first began to explore competitiveness through a bench-marking exercise conducted in
1997 by J.E. Austin Associates and the Monitor Company. However, it was not until 2000 that
the mission began implementation of its COMPETE Project through the Carana Corporation.
Working in close collaboration with a Special Task Force on Competitiveness appointed by
Uganda’s President, the COMPETE Project selected three sectors for its focus: coffee, fisheries,
and cotton. In addition, the project focused on the information and communications technology
sector as a cross-cutting support sector. Compared to most of USAID’s competitiveness
initiatives, COMPETE’s project duration was short: an eighteen-month period from November
2000 to March 2002.
Croatia Competitiveness Initiative ……………………………………………………$3,280,716
Launched in April 2001, the Croatia Competitiveness Initiative focused initially on developing
mechanisms for private and public dialogue. Specifically, with long-term technical assistance
provided by Nathan Associates and J.E. Austin, the project facilitated the formation of the
Croatian Competitiveness Council, one of the first business round-tables in the country.
Similarly, the project brought together leaders from business, government, labor and education to
form a National Competitiveness Council. At the cluster level, the project is focusing on wood
products, tourism and information technology.
Macedonia Competitiveness Activity .……………………………………………….$11,674,376
The Macedonia Competitiveness Activity is USAID’s largest competitiveness initiative to date.
Launched in September 2002, it is also USAID’s most recent major initiative. The project is
being implemented by Booz Allen Hamilton in collaboration with The OTF Group
(ontheFrontier) over a four-year period. Unlike USAID’s other initiatives, the Macedonia project
has developed a formal competitive process for identifying and selecting clusters. Thus far, the
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