Uniting the informal and formal economies in Bolivia
Country: Bolivia
Client: Danish Embassy, La Paz / Danida
Year: 2008
Background: The development of the private sector in Bolivia is currently hampered by a large economic and political divide between the formal and the informal economy.
The assignment: The Danish Embassy, La Paz / Danida has contracted a Danish/Bolivian consultancy team, headed by DIBD, to map the private sector constraints in Bolivia, and define the modalities of a pilot Danida private sector support intervention.
The consultancy team has based the mapping of the private sector constraints on interviews with the business associations, the Government institutions, and the political leaders. In addition, the team has carried out focus group meetings with entrepreneurs in La Paz, El Alto and Santa Cruz.
The design of the actual pilot intervention is unique to the Bolivian context, and the implementation rests firmly with those who have designed the intervention. DIBD brings information, quality assurance, international best practice and process facilitation to the assignment.
The pilot intervention is being designed around 3 pillars:
- Linking growth oriented individual enterprises in the informal economy with formal economy partners.
- Linking business association of the informal economy actors with counterparts in the formal economy.
- Local business associations working directly to improve the framework for doing business in concert with external partners.