Georgia is the only country in the CAC region that can access markets around the world through its own seaports and thus less dependent on China's BRI overland corridors for trade, investment and growth. Nevertheless, the Georgian government is investing in the one BRI corridor China, Europe...

Armenia is a small land-locked mountainous country with relatively difficult access to regional and global markets. The borders with Azerbaijan in the east and with Turkey in the southwest and west are closed. Only the borders with Georgia in the north and Iran in the south are open for trade...

Uzbekistan is a resource-rich country with a relatively young population of 33 million, the largest in Central Asia. It is also a geographic pivot for the region, bordering all other Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, with transit connections in all directions. As a double landlocked...

Tajikistan is the poorest country in the region despite strong growth for nearly two decades; sustaining growth in future will need substantially higher growth in private investment and exports. Its per capita income (GNI) is close to USD 1,000 but nearly a third of its population, of around 9...

Kazakhstan is an upper-middle income, resource rich country. Its ascent to upper-middle income status was propelled by rising oil production and booming oil prices which pushed the average annual rate to above 7 percent during 2000-2013. The halving of world oil prices and lower export demand...

This note looks at the experience countries have had in introducing reforms that improved the business environment. Instead of examining what was done (that is, the content of reforms), the focus is placed on how reform programs came to be successful. The note aims to provide an overview of...

Collusive agreements among competitors create unmitigated harm. When competitors agree to limit competition, id est to form economic cartels, the poor pay up to 50 percent more for essential goods, growth is stymied as competitiveness and productivity declines, and public policies become less...

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) reported over 30 million Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and around 960,000 deaths as of May 2021. Official tracking data shows that Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina have the highest number of reported cases throughout LAC, which in turn is the region with among...

The maximizing finance for development (MFD) approach can be implemented to close the financing gap in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, helping the region in getting closer to achieving sustainable development goal (SDG 6), particularly if emphasis is put on...

The COVID-19 pandemic represents the largest economic shock the world economy has witnessed in decades, causing a collapse in global activity. Nevertheless, there are signs that global activities are stabilizing, and have picked up in many large emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs)....