The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency's (MIGA's) mandate to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries to improve people's lives and create more opportunities remains more important than ever. Despite a challenging business climate, during the past year MIGA sought out...

Mongolia was one of the East Asian economies hardest hit by the global downturn, as copper prices collapsed and external demand fell. With the recovery in economic activity currently well underway, but the policy challenges highlighted by the crisis yet to be fully addressed, this economic...

This book presents a new paradigm for introducing technology in the microfinance industry of Bangladesh that could help ameliorate current constraints. Under the new paradigm, a centralized Information and communication technology (ICT) platform will be established to serve the microfinance...

The mission of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people's lives. As part of this mandate, the agency seeks to foster a better understanding of...

The release of this year's global economic prospects finds the world economy at a crossroads. Markets all over the world are engulfed in a global economic crisis, with stock markets sharply down and volatile, almost all currencies having depreciated substantially against the dollar, and risk...

Examining innovative ways to address Africa's infrastructure deficit is at the heart of this analysis. Africa's infrastructure stock and quality is among the least developed in the world, a challenge that significantly hinders economic development. The study is structured around the most...

This report takes stock of enterprise sector performance in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and its key drivers: access to finance, infrastructure, and labor. It is the second of two complementary reports that examine selected trends emerging from the Business Environment and Enterprise...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) annual report continues an approach pioneered last year, combining information on the investments and advisory services, sustainability, development effectiveness, and donor partnerships. The report covers fiscal 2008 (July 1, 2007, through June 30,...

The globalization of corporate finance also points to other challenges. As emerging-market corporations have expanded their international operations, they have increased their exposure to interest rate and currency risks. Concerns are growing that several countries in emerging Europe and Central...

This book, written on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, addresses three questions that relate to recession, recovery, and reform, respectively, in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) transition countries. Did the transition from a command to a market economy and...