CTTN Research Grants Program: Community Entrepreneurship in Central Asia: Learning from the “One Tambon, One Product” Program in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Under the CTTN Research Grants Program 2021, Linda Tjia Yin-nor from City University of Hong Kong and Guanie Lim from National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies made a comparative SWOT analysis of Mongolia’s and Kazakhstan’s respective agricultural products — camel wool and halal-certified lamb meat — against the famed “One Tambon One Product” (OTOP) program implemented in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). In the paper, the GMS and CAREC economies are juxtaposed not only for having comparable states of development but also for their past socialist influence, reliance on state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and generally underdeveloped entrepreneurship. The researchers argue that Mongolia and Kazakhstan may draw lessons from the GMS growth trajectories and challenges, for example, emulating its growing integration with wealthier more advanced East Asian economies to attract additional investment, technology, as well as stronger commercial and socioeconomic exchanges.