Publication: Investing in the Buddhist Circuit: Enhancing the Spiritual, Environmental, Social, and Economic Value of the Places Visited by the Buddha in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India
Loading...
Date
2017-01
ISSN
Published
2017-01
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
India is one of the world’s great reservoirs of history, cultures, philosophies, and religions. The Buddhist circuit is a route that follows in the footsteps of the Buddha from Lumbini in Nepal where he was born, through Bihar in India where he attained enlightenment, to Sarnath and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh in India, where he gave his first teachings and died. The Buddhist circuit is an important pilgrimage destination for the 450 million practicing Buddhists as well as travelers interested in history, culture, or religion. Investing in the Buddhist Circuit is the result of first-time collaboration between the Government of India’s Ministry of Tourism, the State Governments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the private sector, Buddhist monasteries and sects, and the World Bank Group. The work was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Extensive on-the-ground data collection, consultations, and analysis were conducted. The outcome is a framework for public and private sector investment that secures and enhances the experience of the sites while unleashing the full job creation potential of tourist spending at the towns and sites, and along the Buddhist circuit. The strategy outlined in this document seeks to grow the economic impact of tourism along the Buddhist circuit by attracting higher-spending tourists and linking them to local goods and service providers. This strategy recognizes that both public and private sector investment is required to drive demand and improve quality of experience while respecting, preserving, and enhancing the religious value and significance of the sites. For more publications on IFC Sustainability please visit www.ifc.org/sustainabilitypublications.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“International Finance Corporation. 2017. Investing in the Buddhist Circuit: Enhancing the Spiritual, Environmental, Social, and Economic Value of the Places Visited by the Buddha in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26096 License: CC BY-NC-ND 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 Handshake, No. 10 (July 2013)(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2013-07)This paper includes the following headings: education public, private, and partnerships, or PPPs come of age; vouching for the future; mobile learning dials up success; U.S. Secretary of Education by Arne Duncan; perspective; compass; and legalese.Publication Sustainable Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa(International Finance Corporation, Nairobi, 2011)Sustainable investment (SI) has a strong niche foothold in Sub-Saharan Africa, anchored in the region's largest investment market, South Africa. Yet more work is needed, at policy and portfolio levels, to grow this investment theme. This report recommends measures to expand SI in Sub-Saharan Africa. It forecasts that over the next five years there will be considerable growth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations applied to investment in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. While these three countries form the basis of the study, the lion's share of data and observations emerged from South Africa, which is home to the continent's most developed capital markets.Publication Global Investment Promotion Best Practices : Winning Tourism Investment(Washington, DC, 2013-12)Global investment promotion best practices (GIPB) assess how well national investment promotion intermediaries (IPIs) from 189 countries attract investment. The assessment is carried out by a review of IPI websites and mystery shopper inquiries that mirror the process in which foreign investors decide the location of the next projects. GIPB 2012 assessment results revealed poor performance of a staggering majority of IPIs in providing information and assistance to prospective investors in the tourism sector (investment facilitation) - a core function of IPIs worldwide. It should also be noted that less than half of the IPIs that listed tourism as a priority sector responded to the inquiry, which even then was often with incomplete information. Based on international best practices, this report recommends that IPIs adopt five key steps in order to position their agencies and locations more competitively for new tourism investment: (1) develop more strategic, focused, and relevant approaches to tourism investment promotion; (2) improve overall capacity and skills to deliver effective investment promotion with an emphasis on developing better tourism-specific knowledge in-house, especially regarding the market and the product; (3) present tourism information succinctly, using up-to-date facts, and data as well as testimonials from successful tourism companies; (4) disseminate information to investors more effectively through a mixture of existing and customized instruments (such as websites, detailed sector profiles, and tailored presentations); and (5) learn to leverage partnerships to maximize results. This report provides practical recommendations, tips, and examples aimed at helping IPIs implement the five-step approach, and it highlights actual cases from some of the best performers.Publication Assessing and Managing Environmental and Social Risks in an Agro-Commodity Supply Chain : Good Practice Handbook(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-08)Supply chain risk has become a major area of concern for companies in the agribusiness sector, as well as for their customers, financiers, and external stakeholders. The threats that environmental and social (E and S) risks pose to brand values and product quality are making those risks more material, often reaching thresholds of major importance to the core business of agriculture and food companies. This good practice handbook is intended for those agro-commodity companies that want to better manage supply chain E and S risks. Agro-commodity supply chains often stretch over multiple supplier companies and multiple countries. Through its eight performance standards on E and S sustainability, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) requires its clients to identify, avoid, mitigate, and manage E and S risks and impacts as a way of conducting sustainable business. IFC recognizes that there is a broader range of significant E and S risks in agro commodity supply chains beyond these four core areas, and the approach set out in this handbook can be applied beyond these areas. The handbook focuses on five major agro-commodity supply chains- palm oil, soy, sugarcane, cocoa, and coffee however, many of the tools, resources, and case studies can be used as guidance for other agro-commodities.Publication Regulatory Quality and Competition Policy(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010)Regulatory reform and competition policy are two important and inter-related areas of regulatory policy and public administration. Both can play a key role in improving the quality of regulation, and creating healthy and competitive markets and an attractive investment climate. This in turn leads to greater economic growth, employment and incomes. Part one of this paper discusses definitions and key issues associated with regulation, regulatory quality, and competition policy. This discussion focuses on competition policy as it relates to restrictions on competition and also pro-competitive regulation, which involves protecting consumers through economic regulation. Part two of this paper considers institutions and processes for implementing regulatory quality and competition policy agendas, including regulatory agencies, regulatory reform bodies, competition authorities and broader regulation-making processes. Part three notes the importance of assessing competition policy issues on a case-by-case basis and identifies the main objectives and features of competition policy. This includes a discussion about when competition policy issues are likely to play an important role in regulatory assessment and reform. Part four considers mechanisms for coordinating- where appropriate-competition policy and regulatory quality assessments, including undertaking competition assessments and providing advice to decision makers.
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 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 Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication World Development Report 1987(New York: Oxford University Press, 1987)This report, consisting of two parts, is the tenth in the annual series assessing development issues. Part I reviews recent trends in the world economy and their implications for the future prospects of developing countries. It stresses that better economic performance is possible in both industrial and developing countries, provided the commitment to economic policy reforms is maintained and reinforced. In regard to the external debt issues, the report argues for strengthened cooperation among industrial countries in the sphere of macroeconomic policy to promote smooth adjustment to the imbalances caused by external payments (in developing countries). Part II reviews and evaluates the varied experience with government policies in support of industrialization. Emphasis is placed on policies which affect both the efficiency and sustainability of industrial transformation, especially in the sphere of foreign trade. The report finds that developing countries which followed policies that promoted the integration of their industrial sector into the international economy through trade have fared better than those which insulated themselves from international competition.Publication Argentina Country Climate and Development Report(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)The Argentina Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) explores opportunities and identifies trade-offs for aligning Argentina’s growth and poverty reduction policies with its commitments on, and its ability to withstand, climate change. It assesses how the country can: reduce its vulnerability to climate shocks through targeted public and private investments and adequation of social protection. The report also shows how Argentina can seize the benefits of a global decarbonization path to sustain a more robust economic growth through further development of Argentina’s potential for renewable energy, energy efficiency actions, the lithium value chain, as well as climate-smart agriculture (and land use) options. Given Argentina’s context, this CCDR focuses on win-win policies and investments, which have large co-benefits or can contribute to raising the country’s growth while helping to adapt the economy, also considering how human capital actions can accompany a just transition.