Project number & title: HRD 01 2013 - Establishing Best Practices on Human Capital
Development to Enhance Productivity, Quality, Competitiveness and
Innovation among SMEs: Research and Workshop
Time period covered in report: May 2013 –Jan 2014 Date submitted: 29 Jan 2014
Committee / WG / Fora: HRDWG
Project Overseer Name:
Organization / Economy
Ms. Lee Saw Hoon &
Ms Noeline Chanan Singh
Malaysia Productivity Corporation, Malaysia e-mail: shlee@mpc.gov.my; noeline@mpc.gov.my
Briefly answer each of the questions below to a maximum of 2-3 pages. If you have submitted previous Monitoring Reports, focus on progress since your most recent previous report.
1. Current status of project:
 On schedule: YES / NO
 On budget: YES / NO
 On target to meet project objectives: YES / NO
If NO, provide details: How far off schedule, budget or objectives? What actions are being taken to resolve issues? What support is needed from your Committee or the Secretariat?
The project will follow the tender process since it is valued at US$80,000. We are in the process of completing the Request for Proposal (RFP) which had been submitted to the APEC secretariat in early January 2014 for feedback. Based on the feedback we are now in the process of finalising the document for open tender.
2. Implementation: Describe progress against the project’s work plan and proposed objectives. Was sufficient time allocated for planning of the activity? Were there delays in implementation and what are some of the risk management approaches in place to ensure effective implementation of this activity?
The work plan for this project is based on a time frame of 5-6 months for the research project, followed by a workshop. It is on target although the implementation will start sometime in February/March 2014 due to the tender process. Because sufficient time had also been allocated for planning the activity the project will meet its target of completion by year end.
The risk management approaches include working closely with the contractors to ensure the objectives of the research are met. Specific timelines will also be provided to the contractor to abide and the contractor is also be required to provide fortnightly progress to the project team. The APEC secretariat will also be updated regularly so that any discrepancies or irregularities in the project can be addressed immediately.
The project team will also review the reports thoroughly and ensure that it addresses the objectives and scope of work as specified in the RFP.
Challenges: If not covered in Q1, describe any issues which impacted on the successful completion of the workplan. Describe how you addressed these. Has this impacted on the project schedule or budget? How might your fora Committee or the Secretariat help in addressing such challenges?
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The APEC Secretariat has constantly been providing inputs and advise on the RFP for improvement.
3. Engagement: Describe the engagement and roles of stakeholders in the implementation of the project, including other APEC fora, experts and beneficiaries.
Will work with other APEC fora for identifying speakers and selection of participants from travel eligible economies.
4. Objectives and outputs: How do results of the project so far (if any) compare with its expected results? Are outputs being delivered on time and of appropriate quality?
The project is currently at the tender process stage.
FOR APEC SECRETARIAT USE ONLY APEC comments: Is the project management effective? How could it be improved? Are APEC guidelines being followed?
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