Bosnia-Herzegovina Industry Cluster Development Initiative: In this project sponsored by USAID/Bosnia, SRI assessed seven candidate industry clusters and identified two clusters with significant growth potential – tourism and wood/furniture – for full implementation. Through a series of industry stakeholder meetings, priority competitiveness and growth initiatives were identified in each target cluster, and cluster working groups were formed to spearhead implementation of these initiatives. The implementation phase included targeted activities such as capacity building in marketing, advertising, and packaging; enhancing country-level promotion at major international trade fairs; firm-level assistance on product development; workforce development; training on international technical standards; developing long-term promotional strategies for regional niche; and improving the policy environment.
Building on Strength: A Vision and Strategy for Achieving "Quality Queensland." SRI analyzed the status and prospects for Queensland, Australia's economy in the 1990s and beyond. Detailed studies were undertaken of five sectors of the state's economy: agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism, and services. Additional studies were made of Queensland's economic infrastructure. After gathering input from stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, a comprehensive economic development strategy was formulated to guide decisions and allocate resources toward a vision of the state termed "Quality Queensland."
Business Assistance to Palestinian Enterprises in West Bank and Gaza: SRI assessed the needs of Palestinian business in West Bank and Gaza in the areas of business training, firm-level technical assistance, and market information, and designed a program to provide targeted assistance to manufacturing enterprises in the territories.
Colombia: Business Start-Up Regulations Reform: For the Inter-American Development Fund, the Swiss foundation FUNDES, and the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, SRI benchmarked international business start-up procedures, with an emphasis on policies and procedures affecting micro, small and medium enterprises. SRI evaluated Bogota's start-up environment, analyzed worldwide experience with start-up regime reform, and provided a strategy for improving Bogota's and Colombia's business start-up legal framework.
Economic Development Strategy for Dominican Republic. For the Dominican Republic Investment Promotion Council, SRI developed an investment and export-led economic development strategy for this Caribbean nation. SRI first assessed the nation's competitive advantages, and then identified industry subsectors likely to be attracted by the country's economic attributes. SRI marketed the nation's industrial sites to U.S., Japanese, European, and Latin American investors, developing a database of over 2000 qualified investment leads, attracting $112.2 million in foreign investment, and generated over 30,000 jobs (an average of 150 jobs/week over a period of four years).
Enhancing Technology's Impact on Economic Development. SRI administered a major three-year project designed to assist the U.S. Agency for International Development to enhance the economic development impact of technology. SRI undertook both basic and applied research, including work on intellectual property rights and transfers of environmental technology.
Eritrea Foreign Investor Perception Survey: SRI International worked with the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) of the World Bank to conduct a Potential Investor Perception Survey for the Government of Eritrea. The main objective of the Survey was to provide the Government with a better understanding of how potential investors such as the Eritrean Diaspora and foreign firms with potential interest in Eritrea, view Eritrea as a possible location for investment.
Grameen Bank Ownership Transfer Assessment in Nepal: Under funding by USAID/Nepal, SRI assessed the performance of the majority government- owned Grameen Bikas Banks (GBBs) in Nepal, and determined whether privatization might make them more effective. SRI made recommendations on how to proceed with an ownership change that would have the most favorable impact on the financial and operational integrity of the Grameen Bank.
ICT Growth Strategy for the State of Georgia. To support the development of Georgia’s Yamacraw initiative to stimulate the state’s information and communications technology sector, SRI prepared a detailed ICT industry cluster assessment, identifying both inputs and outputs of the state’s ICT sector. In addition, SRI assessed five successful state/regional ICT cluster case studies, and drew lessons for application in Georgia.
Industrial Growth Strategy in Papua New Guinea: SRI designed an industrial growth strategy for the government of Papua New Guinea. SRI assessed the policy, infrastructure, and cost structure constraints to industrial growth in PNG and proposed strategies for overcoming these constraints.
Intellectual Property Right Adjudication in the Philippines: In collaboration with a team of Philippine intellectual property rights (IPR) attorneys, SRI led a study to examine the IPR adjudication process in the Philippines with the objective to improve the investment and business environment in the country. The team worked with local IPR enforcement agencies and advocacy groups in assessing the adjudication procedures of IPR cases, provided legal and procedural recommendations, and led a series of workshops and symposia to advocate IPR reform in the Philippines.
Making Philadelphia the Leading Metropolitan Region on the East Coast. For Greater Philadelphia First, SRI assisted community leaders in their efforts to define a technology-based strategic economic development strategy for the Philadelphia metropolitan area. SRI benchmarked Philadelphia with competitors, and helped GPF define a long-term economic vision and goals for the region, as well as specific business plans for relevant initiatives.
R&D Divisions