Governments play a critical role in the economies of Europe and Central Asia, where government expenditures are close to 40 percent of gross domestic product and the public sector accounts for nearly 27 percent of total employment, which is almost twice the global average. The public sector...

This note documents the experience of several countries that leveraged these tools under the Financial Inclusion Support Framework (FISF) program. FISF is a World Bank Group initiative that aims to accelerate and increase the effectiveness of reforms and other country-led actions to achieve...

As increasing the pace of productivity growth continues to be a strong challenge in Europe despite the continuous global technology developments, promoting the adoption and usage of digital technology has become more important than ever, particularly among micro, small, and medium enterprises...

The Twenty-sixth United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) was held in early November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, at which Vietnam's Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, pledged once again that Vietnam would be part of the global climate change solution. The country aims to increase the share...

In response to a request from the Government of Vietnam, this World Bank study was conducted from July 2020 to April 2021 to deepen knowledge about the different plastic waste types leaking into rivers and the ocean in Vietnam and identify their market alternatives for potential substitution....

Vietnam has demonstrated great and almost unrivaled development success over the past few decades as evidenced by a variety of measures, including national income, poverty reduction, and access to services. However, Vietnam's performance in terms of progress on robust, equitable and sustainable...

This report focuses on promoting low-carbon rice production systems in Vietnam. There are many sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the agricultural sector in Vietnam, including along value chains and within the whole agri-food context. However, because rice production is so...

The Mekong Delta (MKD) is Vietnam's most productive agricultural region, and its agroeconomy is well integrated into international markets. Nevertheless, there are increasing threats to the MKD's agricultural achievements, and other serious questions are emerging about the sustainability of many...