Country Economic Memorandum
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Publication
From Swimming in Sand to High and Sustainable Growth: A Roadmap to Reduce Distortions in the Allocation of Resources and Talent in the Pakistani Economy
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)This report focuses on growth in Pakistan, and on key aspects of its proximate determinants: productivity, capital, and talent accumulation. Productivity is crucial in accounting for differences in standards of living across countries and time. In addition, and particularly at the level of development of Pakistan, factor accumulation, investment, and human capital, also matters. Specific and policy relevant questions around these broad themes are this report's center of attention. The underlying framework of analysis and orientation of public policy recommendations is what is known as the 'ABC' of growth. This 'ABC' implies improving allocative efficiency of resources and talent, encouraging business-to-business connections and spillovers, and strengthening firms' capabilities. Public policies oriented to create an enabling environment around these three pillars will be powerful in boosting sustainable growth. However, the efficient allocation of talent and resources, and the business-to business interactions leading to spillovers and the conditions to upgrade capabilities, are limited by economic distortions (or market failures) that inhibit the growth process, sometimes making it as difficult as swimming in sand. -
Publication
Bangladesh Country Economic Memorandum: Change of Fabric
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022)Bangladesh’s development progress over the past decades has been remarkable. Bangladesh has been among the fastest growing economies in the world. Economic development has translated into higher living standards and improved social and health outcomes. The next years will determine Bangladesh’s longer term development trajectory. The milestones ahead reflect the deep structural transformation of Bangladesh’s economy over the past decades, but also serve as a reminder that further transformation will be required for a prosperous future. Sustaining fast growth and addressing these global challenges will require overcoming three critical growth constraint. This report explores these constraints and proposes actionable reforms to sustain development. It is expected to inform the public and help the authorities design policies to achieve the goals set out in the eighth five year plan and Bangladesh vision 2041. The report focuses on three growth constraints: (i) diversifying exports and increasing competitiveness to reach the next development stage through export-led growth; (ii) mobilizing domestic and international savings to channel them toward productive investment; and (iii) upgrading urban areas, unleashing secondary cities, and improving connectivity to sustain structural transformation and increase productivity. In addition, the implications of digital development and climate change are explored as crosscutting themes across the three topics. -
Publication
Vibrant Vietnam: Forging the Foundation of a High-Income Economy
(World Bank, Hanoi, 2020-05)Vietnam’s development strategy requires an urgent upgrade. Past growth has been impressive. But as a favorable domestic and international environment changes, future growth must be productivity-driven—obtaining more and higher quality output from firms, infrastructure, workers and natural resources. The World Bank’s Vibrant Vietnam report discusses priorities for an upgraded growth model based on extensive consultations, international experience and academic findings. -
Publication
Doing Business Reform Memorandum: Croatia
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-05)Croatia’s business environment has been identified as a priority area for reform by the Croatian Government. Under the government working group for business climate and private investments, the agency for investment and competitiveness has been designated to lead the dialogue with the private sector and coordinate the consultations with stakeholders, including international organizations on the design of a new wave of business environment reforms. This reform memorandum is prepared at the request of the agency for investment and competitiveness and aims to provide a concrete set of short and medium term reform recommendations that will address some of the business environment challenges currently faced by the private sector in Croatia. The World Bank Group’s doing business project provides a measure of the ease of doing business in 189 countries through a set of objective indicators that focus on the impact of laws, regulations, and their enforcement on the ease of doing business for domestic firms in 10 areas from starting a business, operations to insolvency. In the area of the judiciary, the implementation of the reform of the judicial map can improve the efficiency of some courts. The reform aims to increase specialization and balance out the uneven workload of judges by merging courts. This reform memorandum highlights potential reform opportunities in the areas covered by the doing business project that will allow the government to have a direct impact on business conditions by addressing some of these shortcomings through legal, regulatory, or administrative reforms.