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This volume builds on the foundation laid by the 2005 report by focusing on the factors affecting the region's competitiveness and the critical role that the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) has to play as a driver of integration and economic development. In addition it highlights the potential of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), if properly implemented, to significantly increase the region's competitiveness and to help it attain long-term sustained development. This potential, however, will only be realized if precise trade and competitiveness strategies are crafted to focus primarily on removing the constraints to competitiveness endemic in the region. In addition, and this is a critical element of any newly-devised strategy, is the necessity to revise regional institutional mechanisms and mandates to promote implementation and to take advantage of the market access opportunities presented by successive trade agreements such as the EPA. This report, while highlighting the need for immediate and concrete actions on the part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states, also recognizes the responsibility of the donor community in helping to play a catalytic role in supporting trade reform and macroeconomic stability. The aid for trade agenda must seek to address the weaknesses inherent in the formulation and application of international aid policies and implement new frameworks aimed at enhancing the ability of these small nation states to meet and overcome the challenges of global competitiveness.

Firms have employed strategic alliances with other firms to effectively manage costs, overcome resource and technology constraints, and enhance competitive position. Strategic alliances can lead to productive institutional collaborations in rural financial markets, thereby expanding the array of financial products, and scaling up access of rural households and micro-businesses to financial services. Strategic alliances comprise a new theme in rural finance. The institutions in the study used strategic alliances to tap new capital resources, manage transaction costs, access banking technology and infrastructure, and acquire new skills to provide an expanding array of financial services to wider markets. The authors carefully examine the experiences of selected rural finance institutions, and their strategic allies or development partners in Guatemala, the Philippines, Ghana, and India to draw out the main findings and share lessons that may be applied in other country settings. The study addressed a number of key questions: What motivated the rural finance institution to structure its alliance or partnership with a bank, commercial, or development organization? How are gains from and costs of alliances and partnerships shared between collaborating institutions? What are the key elements that make partnerships or alliances successful, and which conditions lead to unproductive ones? Which financial products and services are best introduced through strategic alliances?

Armenia meets about 75 percent of its energy needs through imports, with natural gas imports from Russia accounting for about 80 percent of total energy imports and 60 percent of total primary energy supply. Because of high dependence on imported energy, Armenia is vulnerable to external energy price shocks, which are often beyond the control of its policymakers. A most recent case in point was the 2010 Russian gas tariff increase, which led to a nearly 40 percent increase in the retail gas price for residential consumers. Coming on the heels of the global economic recession that hit Armenia's economy hard, the price hike amplified the impact on households that rely primarily on gas for heating and cooking. Using aggregate energy consumption data and a nationally representative household survey immediately before the crisis, this paper provides an overview of household energy consumption patterns, highlights Armenia's energy vulnerability, and estimates the direct poverty and distributional impacts of the increase in the cost of imported gas. The analysis shows that the gas price hike resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditures, with disproportionately higher impact on the poor and vulnerable households. The paper concludes with a discussion on the effectiveness of the mitigation measures employed by the Government of Armenia.

Hatton National Bank is the largest private commercial bank in Sri Lanka and one of the handful of commercial banks in the world that have initiated microfinance programs. The bank launched its program in 1989 as an integral part of its operations, motivated by two business objectives. First, the program aims to protect the bank s market share from state-owned rural banks and nonbank microfinance institutions such as credit cooperatives, especially in rural and semiurban areas, where more than 75 percent of the country s population lives. Second, the program is an investment in the future: it targets microfinance clients with the potential to grow into small enterprises in the formal sector. This Note profiles Hatton National Bank's microfinance operations, highlighting two questions: How does a privately owned bank downscale part of its operations for microfinance? Is microfinance consistent with profit orientation?

Over the last two decades, Moldova has achieved major development results: with average annual growth of 4.6 percent since 2000, poverty has decreased dramatically, and the growth has also benefitted more citizens: Inequality, as measured by the Gini Index, has declined from 36.4 in 2000 to 26.3 in 2016. Macroeconomic stability has been maintained despite the 2014 banking crisis, and monetary and the exchange rate policies have led to a declining inflation protecting the living standard of Moldova’s citizens. The country has benefitted from its unique assets, such as a strategic European location and growing global integration. The authorities’ focus on investment policy put the country on investors’ map: commitment demonstrated in investment promotion and the level of service and attention that was given to investors led to attracting manufacturing FDI. They on the other hand helped reorient exports towards more technology-intensive products and allowed for a stronger contribution of exports to growth and employment generation. Moldova has also significantly reformed its business environment, ranking today 47th of the 190 countries measured on ease of doing business. There was also effort to improve the quality of human capital. The education system reform led to improvement of student learning outcomes in Moldova, as measured by the Program for International Students Assessment (PISA), although there are still major gaps in learning outcomes that need to be addressed. The preprimary enrollment rates increased substantially, and labor force participation rate increased to historical highs, albeit at 43 percent still comparatively low.

Bakgrund och problem: Till följd av samhällets och företags ökade medvetenhet avseende hållbarhet har det banat ny väg för idéer om vad som utgör styrinformation i företag. Hållbarhet har blivit allt mer integrerat inom företag vilket har förändrat dess interna processer. Förändringar i de interna processerna har lett till att det inte enbart handlar om finansiell information längre, utan nu även hållbarhetsinformation. Som följd av detta har arbetsuppgifter omformats och utmanats vilket har ändrat controllerns arbete. Hållbarhet har fått ett sådant stort fokus att det har tillkommit en ny roll vid namn hållbarhetscontroller. Vad en hållbarhetscontroller är har inte diskuterats tidigare i litteraturen, vilket följande studie ämnar att göra. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap om vad en hållbarhetscontroller är och gör i en organisation. Detta kommer att undersökas genom att utreda vilka arbetsuppgifter och kunskaper en hållbarhetscontroller utför och besitter för att ytterligare förstå sig på rollen. Metod: Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod som omfattar en explorativ undersökning. Den empiriska datainsamlingen gjordes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer, som har hållits med åtta hållbarhetscontrollers samt en hållbarhetsstrateg. Vidare har det använts elektroniska källor och dokument i form av arbetsannonser. Det teoretiska materialet är hämtat från vetenskaplig litteratur och det utgörs av controllerns bakgrund, arbetsuppgifter, roll, kunskaper samt hållbarhet. Slutsats: Utifrån studien anses hållbarhetscontrollers vara en kombination av en traditionell controller och business controller, därmed en hybrid. Detta då den arbetar med verksamhetens hållbarhetsredovisning men också som en affärspartner som bistår ledningen med underlag. Hållbarhetscontrollers fundamentala roll är hållbarhetsredovisningen vilket kopplas till en kamrer. Rollen analytiker var den roll som framkom tydligast i hållbarhetscontrollern och därmed konstaterades vara den viktigaste. Rollen som pedagog ser vi idag vara mindre då hållbarhet har blivit så pass integrerat, däremot innebär rollen idag att agera mer som en coach till följd av det stora fokuset på hållbarhet. Studien kunde därmed se att rollen har skiftat från att vara en traditionell “bean counter” till en affärspartner till organisationen. Hållbarhetscontrollern arbetar likt en controller där det som skiljer sig åt är att fokuset ligger på sociala och miljömässiga aspekter. Till följd av detta innebär det att kunskap kring hållbarhet och dess riktlinjer och ramverk var den viktigaste kunskapen för att besitta rollen. Vidare behövs god kunskap för verksamheten och ett innovativt tänkande vilket är viktigt för att ständigt kunna utveckla hållbarhetsarbetet och applicera nya riktlinjer i verksamhetens kontext. Antalet hållbarhetscontrollers på marknaden ökar gradvis och med hjälp av denna studie kommer fler företag få en inblick i varför företag väljer att ha en hållbarhetscontroller i deras verksamhet.  Background and problem discussion: As a result of the company's and society's growing awareness of sustainability, it has established new ideas about what constitutes control information in companies. Increasingly, sustainability has been integrated within the organization, and the company's internal processes have changed. The change in the internal processes has developed it to be more than just financial information and sustainable information. Tasks have thus been reshaped and challenged, which has also changed the controller's work. Sustainability has received such a significant focus that a new role has been created, called a sustainability controller. A sustainability controller has not been discussed before in literature, which is the following study's intentions. Purpose: This study aims to contribute knowledge about what a sustainability controller is and does in an organization. This matter is investigated on what tasks and knowledge a sustainability controller performs and possesses to understand the role further. Methodology: The study is based on a qualitative method that includes an exploratory study. The empirical data collection was done through semi-structured interviews, which have been held with eight sustainability controllers and a sustainability strategist—furthermore, utilizing electronic sources and documents in the form of job advertisements. The theoretical material is obtained from the scientific literature on background checks, tasks, roles, knowledge, and sustainability. Conclusion: According to this study, sustainability controllers are considered a hybrid of traditional controllers and business controllers. It works with a business's sustainability reporting and being a business partner that assists the management with data. The fundamental role of sustainability controllers is the sustainability report, which is linked to a bean counter. The role analyst emerged most clearly in the sustainability controller and was the most significant. Today's role as an educator is minor as sustainability has become so integrated; however, the role needs to act more as a coach due to the significant focus on sustainability. Thus, the study could see that the role has shifted from being a traditional bean counter to a more business partner to the organization. The sustainability controller works like a controller where what differs is that the focus is on social and environmental aspects. As a result, knowledge about sustainability, the guidelines, and the framework was essential to possess the role. Furthermore, good knowledge is expected for the business and innovative thinking, which is vital to constantly develop sustainability work and apply new guidelines in the business context. The number of sustainability controllers on the market will gradually increase. With the help of this study, more companies will gain insight into why companies choose to have a sustainability controller in their operations.

Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena on esitellä energiatehokkuutta koskevien lakien ja määräysten nykytilannetta ja selvittää niiden vaikutusta esimerkkikohteena olevan Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston rakennusten energiatehokkuuteen sekä esittää keinoja, kuinka energiatehokkuutta voidaan parantaa. Energiatehokkuuden parantamiskeinojen löytämiseksi on selvitetty Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston energiankäytön nykytilaa. Energiatehokkuuden parantamiseksi tehtävät toimenpiteet on jaettu potentiaalisiin ja lisäselvitystä vaativiin toimenpiteisiin seuraavalle viidelle vuodelle. Työssä esitellään esimerkkitarkasteluja mahdollisista toimenpiteistä ja arvioidaan investointeja vaativien toimenpiteiden kustannuksia, saavutettavia säästöjä ja investointien takaisinmaksuaikaa. Toimenpiteet on rajattu sellaisiin, jotka voidaan toteuttaa seuraavan viiden vuoden aikana This Masters’ thesis concentrates on improving energy efficiency in Lappeenranta University of Technology. The main focus is on finding useful ways to reduce energy consumption in LUT. The theory chapter deals new energy efficiency laws, norms and settings in Finland. There’s also statistics of energy consumption in office and university buildings. How the government regulations and new building codes for energy efficiency will affect energy consumption in LUT have also been analyzed. This thesis concentrates on current state of energy consumption in Lappeenranta University of Technology. The main focus on this research is to solve how to improve energy efficiency in LUT. The research case covers heating and electricity consumption and presents many different ways to improve energy efficiency in LUT. These ways are divided into two groups: the possible ways to improve energy efficiency now and ways that look promising but need more research. There are a couple of examples how much energy it is possible to save with and without investments during the next five years. Investments and their costs are analyzed using the payback time method.

A matriz energética e elétrica do Brasil é uma das mais limpas e renováveis no mundo. Seu planejamento e expansão consideram fatores, tais como o desempenho setorial, econômico e social. Para tal, são necessários investimentos em infraestrutura que estejam alinhados às políticas de desenvolvimento do país, bem como do desenvolvimento sustentável do setor energético. O Ministério de Minas e Energia prevê a participação expressiva de fontes renováveis na matriz energética, mas o sistema energético, particularmente o elétrico, de um país deve valer-se de fontes diversas de energia primária para manutenção e estabilidade da energia disponível nas redes de transmissão e distribuição, pois as fontes renováveis estão sujeitas às intempéries e sazonalidades. Dessa forma, fontes fósseis como o carvão mineral são utilizadas em usinas termelétricas e há previsão de aumento de oferta de energia elétrica por essa fonte até o ano de 2030. Este tipo de geração de energia tem como principal desvantagem a poluição e impacto ambiental decorrente da exploração, beneficiamento e combustão do carvão mineral, como as emissões de gases do efeito estufa, as cinzas leves e pesadas, acidificação dos recursos hídricos entre outros, devido a qualidade do carvão mineral nacional. Neste contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho é estudar os aspectos relacionados à sustentabilidade na geração de energia elétrica por combustão de carvão mineral, por meio de estudo de caso único do Complexo Termelétrico localizado na região sul do Brasil. A escolha se justifica por ser o maior complexo termelétrico em capacidade instalada no Brasil, da importância econômica para a região e estabilidade do Sistema Interligado Nacional. Este estudo tem caráter exploratório e abordagem qualitativa. Como fontes de evidencias foram realizados o levantamento do referencial teórico, documentos do setor energético e meio ambiente, relatórios do objeto de estudo, entrevista semiestruturada com funcionária do setor de meio ambiente e uma visita técnica. Os dados foram analisados e triangulados para a conclusão do estudo. Como principais resultados da pesquisa estão os impactos ao meio ambiente, tais como a contaminação de águas subterrâneas e emissões atmosféricas, geração de cinzas e sua gestão. Entre os benefícios encontrados destacam-se o desenvolvimento de empresas e fornecedores locais, geração de emprego e conhecimento técnico e cientifico. Conclui-se que um sistema de gestão ambiental bem estruturado é uma ferramenta importante para que os prós e contras dessa forma de geração de energia elétrica sejam comunicados e mitigados, além de evidenciar a importância desse empreendimento para o desenvolvimento regional, pois é um importante movimentador da economia local. Brazil's energy and electrical matrix is one of the cleanest and most renewable in the world. Its planning and expansion considers factors such as sector performance, economic and social development. Investments in infrastructure that are aligned with the country's development policies as well as the sustainable development of the energy sector are needed. The Mines and Energy’ Ministry foresees significant participation of renewable sources in the energy matrix, but a country's energy system, particularly electric power, must rely on several sources of primary energy for maintenance and stability of the available energy in the transmission networks, because renewable sources are subject to weather and seasonality. Thus, fossil sources such as coal are used in thermoelectric plants and there is a forecast of an increase in the supply of electric energy by this source until the year 2030. This type of energy generation has as main disadvantage the pollution and environmental impact resulting from exploitation, processing and combustion of coal, such as greenhouse gas emissions, fly and bottom ashes, acidification of water resources, among others, due to the quality of the national mineral coal. In this context, the objective of this work is to study the aspects related to sustainability in the generation of electric energy by coal combustion through a unique case study of the Thermoelectric Complex located in south region of Brazil. The choice is justified because it is the largest thermoelectric complex in installed capacity in Brazil. This study has an exploratory and qualitative approach. Documents of the energy sector and environment, reports of the object of study, semi-structured interview with environment worker and a technical visit complete the sources of evidence used in this study that were analyzed the contents and triangulated. The main results of the research are the impacts on the environment, such as groundwater contamination and atmospheric emissions, ash generation and management. Among the benefits found are the development of local companies and suppliers, employment generation and technical and scientific knowledge. It is concluded that a well-structured environmental management system is an important tool so that the pros and cons of this form of electric power generation are communicated and mitigated, besides evidencing the importance of this enterprise for the regional development, since it is an important mover of the local economy. Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-13T17:49:06Z (GMT). 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Access to insurance, as part of a broad range of essential financial services, is especially important for poor households in order to smooth consumption, build assets, absorb shocks, and manage risks associated with irregular and unpredictable income. Without access to good formal insurance services, the poor depend on less reliable and often far more expensive informal sector mechanisms. Yet, in many majority Islamic countries, accessing and using insur-ance products has been quite limited, as many Muslims avoid such services over concerns about riba (interest), gharar (uncertainty and ambiguity in contracts), and maysir (speculative risk), among other factors. Takaful insurance products are emerging as a central part of the Shariah-compliant family of financial services, helping meet insurance needs in ways that are consistent with the local norms and beliefs of many majority Islamic countries. Takaful has been developing steadily since the first Shariah-compliant insurer was founded in 1979, based on a Shariah-compliant cooperative model resembling mutual insurance. This is based on a group of participants donating funds into a pool that members can then use in the event of specified unfavorable contingencies. While practitioners have applied varying business models and standardization remains a challenge, many policy makers recognize the potential of takaful to expand financial inclusion and have aimed to promote the industry with supportive legislation and effective regulation. The response has been strong, with premiums growing about 30 percent (inflation adjusted) annually between 2007 and 2010, reaching US$8.3 billion. This robust performance is expected to continue, based on substantial latent demand in Muslim majority countries and improvements in the industry, including better distribution capabilities.

In the manufacturing process of fiber, textiles and finished garments, it consumes an enormous amount of energy, water and chemicals. In addition, the fashion industry causes greenhouse gas emissions that affect climate change throughout the life cycle of an item of clothing. This study examines whether an upcycling workshop can be a solution to the fashion industry's environmental problems and how an upcycling workshop can be designed to increase consumer involvement in efforts to extend the life of clothing.In the problem discussion of the study, the business and consumer perspective are described as two areas that previous research has examined and further describes consumer involvement as the field this study examines. The research questions that the study will answer are which parts are important in the design of an upcycling workshop and how an upcycling workshop with consumer involvement in focus can be beneficial from a business and consumer perspective.The study's frame of reference describes how an upcycling process is done, what upcycling methods exist and how upcycling is beneficial for a sustainable consumer. With the help of literature and previous research projects in the theoretical model, the design of the first 8 building blocks begins as a foundation for the design of an upcycling workshop. The study has an abduction research approach and has used literature studies and a delphi inspired method approach for the collection of empirical material.The results and analysis present the empirical material that the delphi method has collected through qualitative interview questions. Clarifying structure and content, development of duration, equipment and cost, and simplification of process progression and upcycling methods were knowledge generated by the research.The conclusion of the study is that upcycling workshops can be used as a tool to engage fashion consumers to be a more creative consumer. Based on the results of the study, an additional 6 building blocks were identified and the development of asset, structure, cost, content and duration was necessary to increase the feasibility of an upcycling workshop. Från framställning av fiber, till produktion av textilier och till försäljning av färdiga plagg är det enorma mängder av energi, vatten och kemikalier som går åt. Dessutom orsakar modeindustrin utsläpp av växthusgaser som påverkar klimatförändringen i hela livscykeln av ett klädesplagg. Denna studie undersöker huruvida en upcycling-workshop kan vara en lösning till modeindustrin miljöproblematik och hur en upcycling-workshop kan vara utformad för att öka konsumentinvolvering i arbetet att förlänga livslängden på kläder.I problemdiskussionen av arbetet beskrivs företags- och konsumentperspektivet som två områden som tidigare forskningar har undersökt. Vidare beskrivs forskningsfältet konsumentinvolvering som studien undersöker. Frågeställningarna som studien ska besvara är vilka delar som är viktiga i utformningen av en upcycling-workshop samt hur en upcycling-workshop med konsumentinvolvering i fokus kan vara fördelaktiga från ett företag- och konsumentperspektiv.I studiens referensram skildras huruvida en upcyclingsprocess går till, vilka upcyclingsmetoder som finns samt vilka fördelar det finns med upcycling för den hållbara konsumenten. Med hjälp av litteratur och tidigare forskningsprojekt i den teoretiska modellen konstrueras de första 8 byggstenarna som en grund till utformningen av en upcycling-workshop. Studien har en abduktiv metod och har använt sig av litteraturstudier och en delphi inspirerad metodansats för insamling av empiriskt material.I resultatet och analys presenteras det empiriska materialet som studien med hjälp av delphi-metoden samlat in. Undersökningen har förtydligat strukturer kring varaktighet, utrustning och kostnad samt förenkling av process och upcyclingsmetoder. Slutsatsen är att upcycling-workshops kan användas som ett verktyg för att engagera modekonsumenter till en mer kreativ konsumtion. Baserat på studiens resultat identifierades ytterligare 6 byggstenar samt utveckling av tillgång, struktur, kostnad, innehåll och varaktighet var nödvändig för att öka genomförbarheten i en upcycling-workshop.