Many emerging economies have skills shortages but fail to effectively deploy students andjob seekers towards filling those shortages. In emerging economies, new technologies,digitization, automation, and other trends like Industry 4.0 result in a constantly changing demandfor sophisticated...

This report aims to deepen the understanding of barriers to and incentives for the acceptance and use of electronic payments, from the perspective of micro, small and medium retailers (merchants). Developing and accelerating acceptance of electronic payments by these merchants is essential to...

The objectives of the analysis presented in this report are to: 1) affirm the existing estimates of small hydropower technical potential and assess the economic viability of small hydropower plant (SHPP) sites in the Kyrgyz Republic, 2) estimate the fiscal or financial support that would be...

This report provides a baseline analysis of the status of access to finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with a particular focus on women entrepreneur' ability and constraints in accessing finance in order to develop and grow their businesses. It is based on a...

Four mutually supportive strategic pillars and related policy priorities would help Kazakhstan continue the structural transformation that stalled during the oil booms, in order to eliminate poverty and build a large and secure middle class: 1. economic management for diversification, to...

Partnership for growth: linking large firms and agro-processing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) presents lessons learned from various models utilized by public and private sector programs to stimulate the growth of agro-processing SMEs through linkages to larger firms in developing...

Boosting productivity growth, especially that of the domestic private sector, is a key priority of Vietnam. The country has been successful in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and entering global value chains (GVCs). Most local firms, however, are small and only serve the domestic...

Despite being the backbone of the Albanian economy, micro, small and medium sized enterprises(MSMEs) face difficulties in accessing finance which impedes their growth. MSMEs in Albania aresignificant contributors to the economy. In 2016, MSMEs comprised 99.9 percent of active enterprises and 81...

Micro and small enterprise (MSME) insolvency is particularly likely to impact not only the business, but also the personal and family life of the owner-operator(s) of such businesses, raising particular concerns that apply much less frequently in the context of corporate insolvency. This report...

Limited access to finance, particularly bank credit, is a long-standing hurdle for Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs), with varying severity of financing constraints across countries. SMEs face higher transaction costs and higher risk premiums since they are typically more opaque and have less...