Islamic trade finance (ITF) offers a meaningful opportunity for Malaysia. ITF can play a substantial role to support trade, foster growth, and accelerate post-pandemic recovery. In addition to its impact on the domestic economy, enhancing ITF can bring benefits to other Organization of Islamic...

The Philippines has made remarkable progress in the last decades in improving its health outcomes. However, performance is still poor compared regionally and with similar economies. This report was developed with the aim of informing health policy during the political transition from the...

The halal economy (HE) plays an important role in Malaysia's economic growth, contributing 7.5 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as of 2020. Under the Twelfth Malaysia Plan, 2021-2025 (12MP), one of the key strategies to boost Malaysia's economic growth is enhancing the competitiveness...

Adolescence is a dynamic period of biological development and social change, and also a period when adolescent girls are at risk of school dropout, early marriage, pregnancy, and gender-based violence. Adolescents have the highest unmet need for family planning in Bangladesh, and married...

This knowledge note is designed to support operational teams to design interventions to help address the challenges of female labor force participation in Bangladesh. The note presents a brief overview of the status and dynamics of female labor force participation in Bangladesh, along with a...

This World Bank Group Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) 2021 Update presents a diagnostic of Bangladesh's growth and poverty reduction since the previous diagnostic in 2015. It identifies emerging opportunities and challenges for the next decade as the country recovers from the COVID-19...

Disability-inclusive development directly responds to the World Bank's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. Disability and poverty are inherently linked, with persons with disabilities having poorer health outcomes; lower education achievements; less economic...

Bangladesh's economy is growing at a healthy pace and macro conditions are strong. Progress in social outcomes in Bangladesh is inspiring other countries, but deep challenges persist as the pace of poverty reduction slows down. Bangladesh labor market is dominated by low-productivity and...

Situated in a fertile low-lying river delta, Bangladesh combines high vulnerability to floods, tropical cyclones, earthquakes, and climate change with one of the world's highest population densities, with around 159 million people living in less than 150,000 sq. km. With the world's second...

SABER-Tertiary Education is a diagnostic tool to assess how education systems perform and to identify priorities for reforms at the national level. It is part of the World Bank's Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER), which aims to benchmark education systems at the country...