Over the last sixty years, Ireland has experienced profound economic, social, technological, occupational, cultural, and demographic changes. It has emerged from the most recent economic crisis stronger than ever and remains committed to its vision of a nation of people armed with the relevant...

The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit) may have a negative impact on trade and investment flows not just for the UK, but also for the countries with the largest exposure to the UK. The indirect impact of a Brexit-induced recession in the UK -may also be felt in the EU...

The Palestinian economy is severely hampered by trade-related restrictions, high logistics costs, cumbersome procedures and institutional inefficiencies. Operating within an uneven customs union arrangement with Israel, the Palestinian economy has accumulated an enormous trade deficit and...

These Policy Notes seek to distill key findings from a broad range of World Bank Group engagements in Bhutan, including policy dialogue, analytical work, strategic documents, project lending and trust funded activities. They build on discussions with government counterparts, development...

Investment in young children in Liberia is a critical aspect to Liberia's development agenda. While progress is being made, greater momentum is needed to ensure that young children develop and thrive along physical, cognitive, language and socio-emotional dimensions. The quality and quantity of...

Bhutan has been reforming its doing business environment in recent years as part of a policy shift to improving its investment climate and economic performance.Overall, it is ranked 75 out of 190 countries and is the highest ranked country in the South Asia region, significantly outperforming...

The policy note assesses Bhutan's agribusiness sector and recommends steps the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) might consider to increase the sector's growth. The analysis relies primarily on Enterprise Survey conducted in 2015, supplemented by extensive literature reviews and fieldwork....

The Arab Spring protests marked the beginning of a new era in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2011. Minor public protests began almost immediately after the initial protests in Cairo in January 2011. The first large demonstrations began two months later in March, and the following months saw a...

The Enterprise Surveys (ES) focus on many aspects of the business environment. These factors can be accommodating or constraining for firms and play an important role in whether an economy's private sector will thrive or not. An accommodating business environment is one that encourages firms to...

This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Zambia. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that...