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Publication
World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2022: Reforms for Recovery
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-10)Growth in most countries in the East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) region rebounded in the first half of 2022, but China lost momentum. In much of the region, domestic demand revived after the distress of the COVID-19 Delta wave. In China, the public health measures to contain outbreaks of the highly infectious Omicron variant inhibited consumption. Most of the region is projected to grow faster and have lower inflation in 2022 than other regions. Beyond the end of 2022, three factors could be a drag on growth: global deceleration, rising debt, and policy distortions. Current measures to contain inflation and debt are adding to existing distortions in the markets for food, fuel and finance in ways that could hurt growth. In each case, more efficient measures could address current difficulties without undermining longer-term objectives. -
Publication
World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2021: Long COVID
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021-09-27)The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region is suffering a reversal of fortune. In 2020, many EAP countries successfully contained COVID-19 and economic activity swiftly revived as other regions struggled with the pandemic and economic recession. Now the region is being hit hard by the COVID-19 Delta variant while many advanced economies are on the path to economic recovery. The disease is damaging the economy and is unlikely to disappear in the foreseeable future. In the near term, the persistence of the pandemic will prolong human and economic distress unless individuals and firms can adapt. In the longer term, COVID-19 will reduce growth and increase inequality unless the scars are remedied and the opportunities grasped. Policy action must help economic agents to adjust today and make choices that avert deceleration and disparity tomorrow. -
Publication
World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, April 2021: Uneven Recovery
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021-03-25)A year after the first case was confirmed in Wuhan COVID-19 is proving hard to suppress even, while the emergence of more transmissible variants of the variant poses new challenges to the containment of the disease globally. The economies of the region began to bounce back in the second half of 2020. However, only China and Vietnam have followed a V-shape recovery path with output surpassing pre-COVID-19 levels. Most of the other countries have not seen a full-fledged recovery in terms of either output or growth momentum. Economic performance across countries continues to depend on (i) the efficiency with which the virus is contained; (ii) the ability to take advantage of the revival in international goods trade; and (iii) the capacity of governments to provide fiscal and monetary support. China and Vietnam are expected to enjoy strong growth in 2021, whereas other economies in the region will grow more gradually. Many economies, especially in the Pacific islands are not expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels of output until 2022 or later. Governments in the region need to work cooperatively to address three key issues: (i) a regional and global distribution of vaccines that minimizes the risk of a continued spread of COVID-19 and its variants; (ii) continue to provide economic support to their economies while carefully evaluating the trade-offs between the need for further stimulus and debt sustainability; and (iii) enact policies and prioritize investments that protect against climate risk to ensure sustainable economic growth. -
Publication
World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, October 2020: From Containment to Recovery
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020-09-28)COVID-19 has delivered a triple shock to the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region: the pandemic itself, the economic impact of containment measures, and reverberations from the global recession. Without action on multiple fronts, the pandemic could reduce regional growth over the next decade by 1 percentage point per year, with the greatest impacts being felt by poor households, because of lower levels of access to healthcare, education, jobs, and finance. Why were many economies in the region able to contain the disease while some others still struggle? How have these shocks affected economic activity and poverty in different countries? What are the prospects for recovery and how will longer term growth be affected across the region? Is there a tension between containing the disease and providing relief today and promoting recovery and growth tomorrow? These key questions are addressed in the World Bank’s October 2020 EAP Economic Update. -
Publication
Migrating to Opportunity: Overcoming Barriers to Labor Mobility in Southeast Asia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-10-08)The movement of people in Southeast Asia is an issue of increasing importance. Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are now the origin of 8 percent of the world's migrants. These countries host only 4 percent of the world's migrants but intra-regional migration has turned Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand into regional migration hubs that are home to 6.5 million ASEAN migrants. However, significant international and domestic labor mobility costs limit the ability of workers to change firms, sectors, and geographies in ASEAN. This report takes an innovative approach to estimate the costs for workers to migrate internationally. Singapore and Malaysia have the lowest international labor mobility costs in ASEAN while workers migrating to Myanmar and Vietnam have the highest costs. Singapore and Malaysia's more developed migration systems are a key reason for their lower labor mobility costs. How easily workers can move to take advantage of new opportunities is important in determining how they fare under the increased economic integration planned for ASEAN. To study this question, the report simulates how worker welfare is affected by enhanced trade integration under different scenarios of labor mobility costs. Region-wide, worker welfare would be 14 percent higher if barriers to mobility were reduced for skilled workers, and an additional 29 percent if barriers to mobility were lowered for all workers. Weaknesses in migration systems increase international labor mobility costs, but policy reforms can help. Destination countries should work toward systems that are responsive to economic needs and consistent with domestic policies. Sending countries should balance protections for migrant workers with the needs of economic development. -
Publication
Asset Recovery Handbook : A Guide for Practitioners
(World Bank, 2011-01-18)The handbook is organized into nine chapters, a glossary, and ten appendixes of additional resources. Chapter one provides a general overview of the asset recovery process and legal avenues for recovery, along with practical case examples. Chapter two presents a host of strategic considerations for developing and managing an asset recovery case, including gathering initial sources of facts and information, assembling a team, and establishing a relationship with foreign counterparts for international cooperation. Chapter three introduces the techniques that practitioners may use to trace assets and analyze financial data, as well as to secure reliable and admissible evidence for asset confiscation cases. The provisional measures and planning necessary to secure the assets prior to confiscation are discussed in chapter four; and chapter five introduces some of the management issues that practitioners will need to consider during this phase. Confiscation systems are the focus of chapter six, including a review of the different systems and how they operate and the procedural enhancements that are available in some jurisdictions. On the issue of international cooperation, chapter seven reviews the various methods available, including informal assistance and mutual legal assistance requests; and guides practitioners through the entire process. Finally, chapters eight and nine discuss two additional avenues for asset recovery-respectively, civil proceedings and domestic confiscation proceedings undertaken in foreign jurisdictions. -
Publication
The End of the Third World?: Modernizing Multilateralism for a Multipolar World
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-04-14)Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, spoke on the theme that we are now in a new, fast-evolving multipolar world economy in which outdated classifications no longer fit. He discussed these topics: (i) the end of the third world; (ii) multilateralism matters; (iii) new sources of demand; (iv) new poles of growth; (v) Africa as a potential pole of growth; (vi) economic shifts mean potential power shifts; (vii) the danger of geo-politics as usual; (viii) financial reform; (ix) climate change; (x) managing for crisis response; (xi) new role for rising powers; (xii) what does this changing world mean for development?; (xiii) modernizing multilateral institutions; (xiv) reforming to become more representative and legitimate; and (xv) reforming by adding resources; and (xvi) reforming to become more effective, innovative, and accountable. We need a League of Networks. -
Publication
Thailand Economic Monitor, November 2005
(World Bank, Bangkok, 2005-11)This paper tracks Thailand's economic performance for 2005-2006, particularly its economic growth rate, poverty headcount, oil pricing impacts, investment environment, competitiveness strategy, and infrastructure efficiency, as well as its trade, financial and corporate sector reforms. After an overview in Section 1, Section 2 examines Thailand's economic recovery and outlook, and section 3 focuses on the implementation of structural reforms. Appendix 1 details the country's key economic indicators and appendix 2 comprises matrices for structural reform implementation, including poverty reduction diagnostics and social protection.