Assignment Archive

S.V.Divvaakar was selected as part of a multi-national team of experts for the evaluation of the EU’s Small Projects Facility Programme in India. The evaluation was completed in November 2006.

Ace Global undertook the evaluation of the GRANITE project funded by OXFAM (Novib) and NORAD, being implemented in eight states of India under CUTS. The report shall be submitted in November 2006.

HTH, North Europe’s biggest kitchens brand, launched its product range in India, at a high voltage event at the Le Meridien, New Delhi. The event was attended by more than 50 real estate developers in India. Ace Global are HTH’s advisors and strategy partners in India.

S.V.Divvaakar, Managing Director, was Team Leader of the Independent Evaluation of the Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP), leading a team of national consultants in the 16 beneficiary countries in Africa. This evaluation was commissioned jointly by UNCTAD, WTO and ITC, the three agencies that are implementing the Programme. The evaluation report was submitted in August 2006. S.V.Divvaakar, International Business Consultant, was invited by the Commonwealth Secretariat to Pretoria to speak at an Aid for Trade seminar, organized by SAIIA. He presented the Private Sector's expectations from a realistic Aid for Trade package and the emerging dimensions in South South cooperation in trade-related technical assistance in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Ace Global, International Business Consultancy Company, has been mandated by UNCTAD/DFID to monitor Component II of the £ 5 million Programme 'Strategies and Responses to Globalization', sponsored and supported by DFID/UNCTAD/Government of India. The monitoring shall cover the programme duration of four years i.e.2006-2009. Ace Global, finalized a contract for establishing a $7 million, state-of-the-art Cancer and Tumour Treatment Centre in north India, for its principals Gammastar, technology leaders in non-invasive radio therapy systems.
Ace Global submitted its report on the Indian market for wines for the Italian Wine Industry promotion agency.

S.V.Divvaakar was invited by New Zealand Trade and Investment, New Zealand's official trade and investment promotion agency to share with the industry the findings of Ace Global's research study on India's market opportunities in added-value wood products. He also visited leading companies in three regions, Wellington, Christchurch and Rotorua.

Ace Global completed a detailed study of opportunities for New Zealand in the Indian wood products sector. Based on this study, market entry interventions are expected from New Zealand companies.

Baseline studies were completed for the five sectors- Textiles &Clothing, Fisheries, Retail, SMEs and Agriculture, for Component II of the £ 5 million Programme which was designed in 2004 by Ace Global.

India's Ceramic Sector:Pankaj Agrawal, Director, Ace Global, was invited by ACIMAC, the Italian Association of Ceramics, to present Ace Global's detailed study on India's ceramics sector before the members of the industry. The event took place on 15th December, at Sasuolo, Bolognia, which is the heart of Italy's ceramics sector.

The results of the Joint Evaluation of the International Trade Centre (ITC) – carried out by the consortium of DMI, Ticon, CDC and Ace Global- were placed before the informal Joint Advisory Group (JAG) on November 24th, 2005, held at the Palais de Nations, Hall XXVI. The evaluation has received good comments from a number of donors, including for breaking new ground in evaluation methods.S.V.Divvaakar, member of the core team, presented the findings and conclusions on Performance of ITC Interventions.

S.V.Divvaakar was a special invitee to two events organized in Washington DC, to speak on ‘Trade Facilitation Experiences of Developing Countries’, based on a detailed and first-of-its kind study carried out in India, as inputs to making proposals on Articles V, VIII and X, under the WTO Trade Facilitation negotiations. The first meeting was at the St. Regis Hotel, organized by the Global Development Alliance, in which Mr. Divvaakar spoke about destination-specific problems faced by exporters, including problems faced in the US. The second was at the Woodrow Wilson Centre, attended by embassy officials from several countries. Mr. Divvaakar was invited to provide a perspective of the private sector from developing countries, following a presentation of transaction costs, made by an official of the World Bank.

Mr.S.V.Divvaakar was a special invitee to the UNCTAD Expert Group Meeting EM 24 held at Palais de Nations, Geneva on “Trade Facilitation as an Engine of Development”, where he presented results of the primary study of experiences of Indian exporters in key destination markets, as part of a project carried out for UNCTAD.