The SME Agency is a government agency that was established by the Mongolian Parliament in 2008. It aims to promote the sustainable growth and development of Mongolian SMEs through policy and regulation.
The Agency consists of four divisions with 25 employees, as well as five SME centres from which SMEs can gain business information and advice. I have a supervisor, Suvdaa, who speaks really good English, as well as four counterparts, half of whom speak English really well also. They have been really friendly and welcoming, taking me out to lunch every day since I began. There is also a lovely Japanese man of around 65 who’s here as an advisor on a two year contract. So I’m pretty lucky that I can speak English, Japanese and Mongolian (although very little of the latter) in the office!
My AYAD role at the Agency will be as a Business Projects Officer. When I applied there was a list of desired outcomes for the assignment, although it seems that these are going to change as priorities for the Agency and for the Government continually change. I don’t mind at all about that, I’m happy to be working on such a good cause with great people, who are passionate about improving the prospects for SMEs in Mongolia. This ultimately ties in to the Millennium Development Goal #1, which is to help reduce poverty.
In general, I will be assisting in project planning, particularly for upcoming events such as the Made in Mongolia exhibition that is held annually in January before the Lunar New Year. These events are opportunities for small businesses in Mongolia, such as those in handicrafts, to showcase their products. Skills in this area are supposedly lacking because of the abovementioned reason: priorities alter, which means work tasks frequently change also, and therefore it is difficult to plan for something that may not even happen.
It also sounds like I will be involved in policy development through research, from which I will assist in writing and submitting papers and reports. Some main issues that the Agency wants to deal with are:
- Advising SMEs about networking avenues through which they can then sell their product (markets, fairs, shops, etc.)
- Advising SMEs about the loan system and what sorts of loans are available to them depending on their structure, number of employees, etc.
Since I began last week (half days as I had language lessons in the mornings) it has been quiet in the office as a lot of the staff has been involved in rural trips for the monitoring and evaluation process of low-interest loans that the Agency provided to SMEs across the country. It has been good for me as I’ve been concentrating on learning about the Agency and its work, as well as the SME sector and rural and industrial development in Mongolia. I also got the chance to go the 90th anniversary event of cooperatives in Mongolia (even though it was all in Mongolian and I didn't understand any of the presentations..).
I have always been passionate about development, and I feel that this experience will definitely heighten this interest, especially in terms of community planning and development for rural and regional areas.
And one last thing – I have my own set of business cards for the Agency! This is definitely a sign that I have been fully accepted into the organisation!
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