Limited competition hinders the optimal use of telecommunication services in the Dominican Republic, which lags peer countries in mobile subscriptions and internet penetration. Despite recent reforms designed to enhance competition, the telecommunications sector remains dominated by a small...

The Telecommunications Sector Assessment Note in the Palestinian territories is a knowledge product prepared by the World Bank in response to a specific request from the Palestinian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT) to assess the performance of the...

Myanmar has experienced a series of total and partial internet shutdowns since the military coup in February 2021. These restrictions have varied in intensity across the country and over time, ranging from the complete shutdown of all wireless broadband services and nightly shutdowns of fixed...

The purpose of this policy note is to present reform options on cabotage liberalization. The goal of cabotage liberalization is to help i) foster more competition in the domestic shipping industry, ii) reduce shipping cost, and iii) improve efficiency, maritime services, and safety standards....

This Policy Note focuses on distribution channels, the role they play in product diversification and costs, and how regulation can promote competition in mutual funds (MFs) distribution. In many emerging market economics (EMEs) where both the capital markets and the MFs have reached certain...

This note outlines barriers to competition in product markets based primarily on the screening of Serbian regulations using the OECD Product Market Regulation methodology and comparison to regulations in the OECD. The note focuses on topics covered by the 2018 OECD-WBG product market regulation...

Air transport plays an important role in fostering development, particularly in facilitating economic integration, generating trade, promoting tourism, and creating employment opportunities. It facilitates integration into the global economy and provides vital connectivity on a national,...

This policy paper explores airline restructuring and regulatory reform challenges and opportunities in the Southern African region with particular focus on Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the air transport sector in the region faced...

This report forms part of the World Bank's technical assistance project undertaken with the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) and financed under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) Annual Work Program 2020....

Although global economic activity is recovering and output in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is expected to grow in 2021, containing COVID-19 remains a challenge in the region. Enterprise survey data for the emerging and developing countries in the region show that COVID-19 had a profound and...