Private Sector Development, Privatization, and Industrial Policy
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Publication
Creating Markets in Jordan: Volume II, Sector Assessments - Country Private Sector Diagnostic
(Washington, DC, 2021-11)The Jordan Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) is a joint International Finance Corporation (IFC)-World Bank report that highlights the constraints as well as the opportunities facing the private sector in Jordan. It considers three sectors—tourism, logistics, and information and communication technology (ICT) - and the potential they offer for greater private sector contributions to the Jordanian economy, as well as the obstacles that they face from general or sector-specific policies and regulations. The CPSD also offers concrete recommendations to address some of these constraints. Although this report was largely prepared prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, its analysis and recommendations remain as, if not more, valid in the context of the pandemic and of an eventual recovery. A dynamic and resilient private sector is necessary if Jordan is to break the low-growth, high-unemployment trajectory it finds itself in today. The CPSD argues that tackling some of the major obstacles facing the private sector is essential to firm performance, investment, and productivity. These actions are as critical in times of crisis and especially afterwards to pave the way for a vigorous and sustainable recovery. Similarly, the sectors assessed by the CPSD continue to hold promise for the country. The pandemic has underscored the important role that digitalization, a strong ICT infrastructure, and supportive services have in creating a resilient economy and business continuity. E-commerce and logistics capabilities and services are an area put forward by the CPSD as an opportunity for Jordan in the coming years; they have boomed during the current crisis and are expected to be one of the post-pandemic growth sectors. Conversely, tourism, which had been experiencing a strong rebound in Jordan over the past few years, is one of the sectors hardest hit across the globe by the COVID-19 crisis. In Jordan the sector accounts for about 19.2 percent of gross domestic product and 32 percent of exports. Crafting a strategy that effectively addresses the many obstacles that prevent the tourism sector from attaining its potential is a necessary investment for a strong recovery - and a good use of what is likely to be a transitional period until travel re-commences. -
Publication
Creating Markets in Ethiopia: Sustaining Progress Towards Industrialization
(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2019-03-20)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 for a much greater role for the private sector in driving growth and job creation. Broadening the base for job creation beyond light manufacturing toward a wider range of high productivity agricultural and services activities will help to overcome the uneven spatial distribution of manufacturing jobs across the country. Ethiopia has a number of advantages that it can leverage to attract the investment needed for job creation. These include rapidly improving transport and energy infrastructure, low labor costs, a large and growing domestic market, cheap power, an ideal climate, and preferential market access to the European Union, the United States, and other major markets. The purpose of the Ethiopia country private sector diagnostic (CPSD) is to support the transition to a private sector- driven growth model that advances the country’s development objectives and, in particular, delivers the necessary jobs. It identifies investment opportunities that can materialize in the short term, and the reforms that are needed to enable these opportunities to emerge. It also discusses how specific actions by the public sector, in collaboration with the private sector, in filling gaps in public investment, reforming business regulations and trade policy, addressing market failures, and enhancing the efficiency of key backbone services and sectors, while tackling gender inequalities, can fully unleash the potential of private sector investment. -
Publication
Promoting Open and Competitive Markets in Road Freight and Logistics Services: The World Bank Group’s Markets and Competition Policy Assessment Tool Applied in Peru, The Philippines and Vietnam
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-12-01)This study shows how the World Bank Group’s Markets and Competition Policy Assessment Tool (MCPAT) can help economies identify reform areas that would make government interventions in freight and logistics services more conducive to competition. The study focuses on three case studies among Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries - Peru, Philippines and Vietnam - to illustrate the importance of identifying specific areas for behind-the-border reforms. The analysis focuses on containerized cargo and multimodal transport links between road and maritime transportation, building on primary data collection through novel questionnaires for stakeholders. This study identifies potential competition issues to monitor and makes specific recommendations by country and topic. Potential competition issues include abuse of dominance through exclusionary or discriminatory practices, predominantly in access to multimodal infrastructure and slot allocation along the chain, as well as potential collusive practices in the wholesale segment (for example, among carriers) and in highly specialized services, such as pilotage and towing in port terminals. Furthermore, given the tendency toward (horizontal and vertical) mergers and acquisitions in freight forwarding, it is essential to continue evaluating changes in market structure and the potential impact of these changes on market contestability.