In 2017, the Philippines was among the top three growth performers in the East Asia region. Only Vietnam and China performed better. The Philippines growth performance slightly weakened in 2017 to 6.7 percent year-on-year from 6.9 percent in 2016. Growth was anchored in strong exports, while...

Improving the investment climate is a key pillar of the World Bank's private sector development strategy. Without a good investment climate, firms and entrepreneurs of all types-from farmers to micro-enterprises to local manufacturing concerns and multinationals-have few opportunities and...

In the decades prior to the Asian financial crisis, the Malaysian economy experienced rapid growth and a significant structural transformation. It went from an economy that relied on agriculture and commodities to one dominated by manufacturing and services. Since then, however, Malaysia's...

The objectives of this Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) are to: (i) provide an up-to-date, fact-based analysis of the business environment for policy-makers in the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), the private sector, civil society, and development partners; and (ii) outline priorities for...

This Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) uses a robust methodology that draws on a representative sample of 484 formal firms and 120 informal establishments. The sample covers small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and large firms in both manufacturing and services. Weights were used in the analysis of...

Despite decades of war and instability, Iraq's abundant natural resources, strategic geographic location and cultural history endow Iraq with tremendous potential for growth and diverse economic development. Driven by windfall oil revenues in recent years, the Government of Iraq has invested...

This report examines the key challenges faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Kyrgyz Republic, in an attempt to identify the issues and areas in most urgent need of reform. The IFC Study of Investment Climate as seen by Small and Medium Enterprises in the Kyrgyz Republic is the...

Sierra Leone's devastating 11-year civil war destroyed much of its infrastructure, and left its economy in tatters. In 2004, two years after the end of the war, Sierra Leone asked the investment climate (IC) advisory services of the World Bank Group to help create a better business and...

Many countries are convinced that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) should be an important component of their growth strategy. To encourage FDI, they have improved their business climates, developed various guarantees for investors, and offered incentives. In the real world, Investment Promotion...

This assessment of Zambia's investment climate highlights some of the impediments to growth and export diversification in the current business environment in the country. It is based on an analysis of enterprise survey data specifically collected for the purpose, namely, the World Bank's Zambia...