This global report examines the opportunity for special economic zones to promote women's economic empowerment and boost zone and enterprise competitiveness in developing countries. The research covers Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador, Jordan, Kenya, and the Philippines. The...

This note presents practical guidance on how to implement a framework for managing fiscal commitments from Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). It draws on specific regional operational experience and on World Bank Institute (WBI)'s wider thematic engagement with different partners worldwide. The...

The overall goal of this report is to assist the World Bank Group (WBG) to achieve greater impact for women from its current activities in agribusiness in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and to provide clear recommendations on additional interventions aimed at improving outcomes for women. The report...

This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Panama. In a series of annual reports, Doing Business assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 189 economies and ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency and...

The private sector, through investment and job creation, plays a crucial role in a country's fight against poverty. Where an effective private sector is lacking, business registration reform has been shown to be one of the essential first steps toward fostering private-sector growth. The easier,...

The report, a joint effort between the World Bank’s Social Development Global Practice and International Finance Corporation (IFC) advisory services, is based on the idea that local engagement, for example, through benefit sharing, is an important way for better risk management and creating a...

Morocco has steered significant resources towards large investments in economic sectors identified as strategic to growth, and for increased productivity and value addition. Despite Morocco’s strikingly high investment rate, one of the highest in the world at an average of thirty-four percent...

A small landlocked economy in the heart of West Africa’s French-speaking Sahel, Burkina Faso is characterized by its modest economic size, with a rapid population growth, with one of the highest per capita birth rates in the world. Burkina Faso needs to create 300,000 jobs annually to match...

Ethiopia has made impressive strides along its developmental path. Job creation is now the critical development challenge, raising the importance of the private sector agenda. After more than a decade of sustained public sector-led growth, the government is revising its growth strategy to allow...

This report presents findings from an assessment of quality of care in the health sector in Colombia, using a novel methodology developed by the World Bank Group to assess government oversight, promotion and stewardship of quality of care in the health sector. This assessment of quality of care...