Publication: Country Partnership Framework for the Republic of Panama for the Period FY15-FY21
Loading...
Date
2015-03-02
ISSN
Published
2015-03-02
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Panama's economic growth has been at the top of the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region in recent years. The country s rapid growth has been largely pro-poor and translated into significant poverty reduction. The new Administration is well placed to tackle these challenges, with its commitment to maintaining an open and diversified economy and redressing social imbalances. Looking ahead, the country s main challenges are to maintain the current growth performance and ensure that its benefits are extended to all. The World Bank Group s (WBG) new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) seeks to support Panama s continued high growth, while ensuring inclusion and opportunities for marginalized groups, and bolstering resilience and sustainability. These themes are highlighted as priorities in the Government s 2014-2019 Strategic Development Plan (SDP) and in the WBG s Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD). The CPF seeks to maximize over a six-year period, the comparative advantages of the WBG, through packages of innovative public and private financing options based on cutting edge global knowledge and experience.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2015. Country Partnership Framework for the Republic of Panama for the Period FY15-FY21. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23123 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Philippines - Transport for Growth : An Institutional Assessment of Transport Infrastructure(World Bank, 2009-02-24)Infrastructure needs in the Philippines must be addressed to ensure long term economic growth. After several years of fiscal pressure, the Philippines is now in a position to address these needs. Despite the current international financial situation, the country is now in a position to commit resources to improve transport infrastructure. To this effect, it is necessary to: i) make resource allocation more effective; and ii) improve governance in the coordinating departments and in implementation agencies. The suggested actions that follow address these two fundamental needs within four groups of recommendations. First, focus should be on improving infrastructure quality and service delivery. While the quantity of transport infrastructure in the Philippines in network and facility density compares well with other countries in the region, its capacity and quality does not. Some critical transport costs are higher in the Philippines than in its neighboring and competing countries. Second, the processes for allocating public resources could be improved. With additional public resources available, project preparation, planning and budget processes need to ensure that expenditures are well focused on areas that offer the best value for money in improving service quality. The government has taken important initiatives to achieve this end. But much remains to be done. The quality of multiyear planning and the quality of project preparation and selection in the annual budgetary process could be improved. Third, higher public spending on transport infrastructure will be effective only if accompanied by a program to confront institutional and policy distortions. In national budgeting and planning processes, this means improving the quality of planning documents and project appraisal and strengthening of prioritization in the national planning. Fourth, the private sector could be encouraged to continue its important role in transport infrastructure investment. Public resources alone will not meet the financing needs. In the mid-1990s the Philippines experienced a rich supply of proposals for private finance, mostly unsolicited. Often poorly coordinated with other facilities, these initiatives met with mixed success.Publication Private Sector Involvement in Road Financing(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-12)Achieving private sector involvement in financing, provision and management of roads requires specialized legal and institutional frameworks, public sector expertise, advisor support and sustained political commitment. In many African States, there is little experience of private sector involvement in the road sector but there is encouragement to promote such involvement from development partners. Increased private sector involvement in public sector procurement has been for many years an important aspect of the infrastructure investment policy of development partners, such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are one of a number of initiatives being pursued within Africa, in relation to road sector reforms. In particular, the road sector reforms under the Road Management Initiative (RMI), launched in 1988 by the SSATP and the World Bank, in collaboration with other development partners have sought to improve road service delivery by reforming public sector institutions and legislation through clearly defined responsibility, ownership, stable financing and commercialized road management. Section two of this paper provides the general requirements for private sector involvement in road financing, provision and management, including contractual and procurement issues. Section 3 introduces the three case study projects. Sections four, five, and six provide the findings of the case studies undertaken in Dakar, Accra and Lagos respectively. Section seven summarizes the conclusions of key issues and policy guidance from the case study analysis.Publication Privatization and Regulation of Transport Infrastructure in the 1990s(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2001-04)Although the link between improved infrastructure services and economic growth is uncertain, it is clear that reforms aimed at creating competition and regulating natural monopolies establish an environment conducive to private sector participation, incentives for companies to strive for efficiency savings that can ultimately be passed on to consumers, and greater provision of services (such as faster roll-out of infrastructure or innovative solutions to service delivery for customers not connected to an existing network). In determining the form that infrastructure restructuring might undertake or the design of a regulatory agency, policymakers can generally benefit from a review of the experiences of other countries. A key element of any decision making process should be a review of how the various types of reform will affect the efficiency of the sector and whether they will increase private financing of its significant investment needs.Publication An Expressway Development Strategy for Vietnam(Washington, DC, 2008-12)Vietnam's rapid economic growth continues to create new demands for transport infrastructure and services. Bottlenecks to business activities caused by infrastructure constraints are already appearing in several areas. High rates of urbanization, rising traffic accidents, new capacity constraints, and a large increase in asset preservation requirements to meet the fast expansion of transport assets presents further challenges to the sector. To address these infrastructure bottlenecks, and to gradually remove the transport constraints on industry, Vietnam is embarking on an ambitious expressway development program. To date the transport sector has facilitated this growth principally through the rehabilitation and widening of existing arterial roads. The national road network has expanded to 17,000 km, the overall condition has improved with 66 percent of the network being in good and fair condition and 84 percent of the network is now paved. If traffic growth rates continue at their current rate these constraints could adversely impact future economic development. The successful development of an expressway system is a significant physical and financial commitment which will require a number of changes to laws, regulations, institutions and operations of the network.Publication Poland Transport Policy Note : Toward a Sustainable Land Transport Sector(Washington, DC, 2011-02)This Policy Note addresses strategic issues facing Poland s transport sector. Despite recent growth and integration within the European Union (EU), the overall quality and efficiency of transport infrastructure and services is still poor. About 40 percent of the national roads network, which carries the largest volume of people and goods among all transport modes, is in poor or unsatisfactory condition. The government and freight-logistics industry recognize the railway sector's low efficiency but not much has been achieved since the 2001 restructuring that separated the infrastructure company and operators. Low staff productivity - more than 40,000 employees managing 17,000 km of track - and almost no investment in signaling and IT systems modernization are still major constraints with important long-term consequences, affecting current railway performance. The scope of the Note is on land transport, mainly on national roads and railways with a priority on strategic issues requiring immediate actions. The Note addresses issues specific to single modes and those requiring policy-making coordination. The current chapter sets the study context and helps to understand better the drivers for the current state of the sector and policy orientation. This chapter explains the note s focus and its organization. Chapter 2 reviews the national road network with a focus on infrastructure efficiency and sustainability. Chapter 3 covers the railway sector with an emphasis on the various entities of the PKP Group and how the sector competes with roads. Chapter 4 addresses road safety in Poland with the human and economic costs of current situation. Chapter 5 looks at land transport emissions and derives most of its conclusions from a recent study on GHG emissions in Poland s transport sector. Chapter 6 reviews the current policy path and offers three alternative policy options. The direct and indirect impact of implementing each policy options is assessed and compared to the current situation with a focus on medium-term (2020) sustainability.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 2006(Washington, DC, 2005)This year’s Word Development Report (WDR), the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person’s chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report’s main message is that, in the long run, the pursuit of equity and the pursuit of economic prosperity are complementary. In addition to detailed chapters exploring these and related issues, the Report contains selected data from the World Development Indicators 2005‹an appendix of economic and social data for over 200 countries. This Report offers practical insights for policymakers, executives, scholars, and all those with an interest in economic development.Publication Remarks to the Annual Meetings 2020 Development Committee(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-16)David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, announced that the Board approved a fast track approach to emergency health support programs that now covers 111 countries. Most projects are well advanced, with average disbursement upward of 40 percent. The goal is to take broad, fast action early. The operational framework presented back in June has positioned the Bank to help countries address immediate health threats and social and economic impacts and maintain our focus on long-term development. The Bank is making good progress toward the 15-month target of 160 billion dollars in surge financing. Much of it is for the poorest countries and will take the form of grants or low-rate, long-maturity loans. IFC, through the Global Health Platform, will be providing financing to vaccine manufacturers to foster expanded production of COVID-19 vaccines in both part 1 and 2 countries, providing production is reserved for emerging markets. The Development Committee holds a unique place in the international architecture. It is the only global forum in which the Governments of developed countries and the Governments of developing countries, creditor countries and borrower countries, come together to discuss development and the ‘net transfer of resources to developing countries.’ The current International Financial Architecture system is skewed in favor of the rich and creditor countries. It is important that all voices are heard, so Malpass urged the Ministers of developing countries to use their voice and speak their minds today. Malpass urged consideration of how we can build a new approach to debt restructuring that allows for a fair relationship and balance between creditors and debtors. This will be critical in restoring growth in developing countries; and helping reverse the inequality.Publication World Development Report 2011(World Bank, 2011)The 2011 World development report looks across disciplines and experiences drawn from around the world to offer some ideas and practical recommendations on how to move beyond conflict and fragility and secure development. The key messages are important for all countries-low, middle, and high income-as well as for regional and global institutions: first, institutional legitimacy is the key to stability. When state institutions do not adequately protect citizens, guard against corruption, or provide access to justice; when markets do not provide job opportunities; or when communities have lost social cohesion-the likelihood of violent conflict increases. Second, investing in citizen security, justice, and jobs is essential to reducing violence. But there are major structural gaps in our collective capabilities to support these areas. Third, confronting this challenge effectively means that institutions need to change. International agencies and partners from other countries must adapt procedures so they can respond with agility and speed, a longer-term perspective, and greater staying power. Fourth, need to adopt a layered approach. Some problems can be addressed at the country level, but others need to be addressed at a regional level, such as developing markets that integrate insecure areas and pooling resources for building capacity Fifth, in adopting these approaches, need to be aware that the global landscape is changing. Regional institutions and middle income countries are playing a larger role. This means should pay more attention to south-south and south-north exchanges, and to the recent transition experiences of middle income countries.Publication Classroom Assessment to Support Foundational Literacy(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-21)This document focuses primarily on how classroom assessment activities can measure students’ literacy skills as they progress along a learning trajectory towards reading fluently and with comprehension by the end of primary school grades. The document addresses considerations regarding the design and implementation of early grade reading classroom assessment, provides examples of assessment activities from a variety of countries and contexts, and discusses the importance of incorporating classroom assessment practices into teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers. The structure of the document is as follows. The first section presents definitions and addresses basic questions on classroom assessment. Section 2 covers the intersection between assessment and early grade reading by discussing how learning assessment can measure early grade reading skills following the reading learning trajectory. Section 3 compares some of the most common early grade literacy assessment tools with respect to the early grade reading skills and developmental phases. Section 4 of the document addresses teacher training considerations in developing, scoring, and using early grade reading assessment. Additional issues in assessing reading skills in the classroom and using assessment results to improve teaching and learning are reviewed in section 5. Throughout the document, country cases are presented to demonstrate how assessment activities can be implemented in the classroom in different contexts.Publication Doing Business 2014 : Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises(Washington, DC: World Bank Group, 2013-10-28)Eleventh in a series of annual reports comparing business regulation in 185 economies, Doing Business 2014 measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity: Starting a business, Dealing with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit, Protecting investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts, Closing a business, Employing workers. The report updates all indicators as of June 1, 2013, ranks economies on their overall “ease of doing business”, and analyzes reforms to business regulation – identifying which economies are strengthening their business environment the most. The Doing Business reports illustrate how reforms in business regulations are being used to analyze economic outcomes for domestic entrepreneurs and for the wider economy. Doing Business is a flagship product by the World Bank and IFC that garners worldwide attention on regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship. More than 60 economies use the Doing Business indicators to shape reform agendas and monitor improvements on the ground. In addition, the Doing Business data has generated over 870 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals since its inception.