Publication: Supporting Private Sector Development in Iraq
Loading...
Date
2011-11
ISSN
Published
2011-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
While Iraq is a middle-income country it faces challenges which are more commonly found in low income countries. These include dependence on one primary commodity (crude oil); significant infrastructure reconstruction and rehabilitation needs; and poorly performing regulatory policies, institutions and processes. Iraq's recent success in stabilizing its macro economy and budget was an important step towards reversing this situation. However, much more needs to be done. For example, oil revenues generate over 95 percent of budget revenues but the oil sector employs only one per cent of the labor force. Developing a strong and healthy private sector is necessary for Iraq to develop a diversified and resilient market economy with rising living standards. Furthermore progress is needed in diversifying its economy and creating healthy competition in markets to generate employment and sustainable livelihoods for the majority of its growing population. Iraq's transition to a more diversified market economy continues to take place in a fragile political, security and institutional context.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Rimmer, Stephen; Al-Ani, Mohammed. 2011. Supporting Private Sector Development in Iraq. MENA Knowledge and Learning Quick Notes Series; No. 48. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10859 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 Reform of State Owned Enterprise and Public-Private Partnerships in Iraq(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11)While Iraq is a middle-income (IBRD) country it faces significant challenges which are commonly found in low income countries. Its economy also remains dependent on hydrocarbons and revenue from these resources generates over 95 percent of budget revenues. However, this sector employs only one per cent of the labor force. Iraq has significant infrastructure reconstruction and rehabilitation needs; and poorly performing regulatory policies, institutions and processes. Developing a strong and healthy private sector is necessary for Iraq to develop into a diversified and resilient market economy with rising living standards and sufficient jobs. In the meantime, Iraq's transition to a more diversified market economy continues to take place in a fragile political, security and institutional context. The Government has also requested support in implementing Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Iraq. The Bank has helped build a consensus among economic experts in the Government of Iraq that attracting international private sector investors and operators is critical to jumpstarting SOE reforms. Without such external support, the SOEs will lack the business and management expertise, as well as the access to capital which would allow them to restructure these firms into companies that could survive in the new Iraqi economy.Publication Pursuing Efficiency While Maintaining Outreach : Bank Privatization in Tanzania(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008-12)Profitability improvements after the privatization of a large state-owned bank might come at the expense of reduced access to financial services for some groups, especially the rural poor. The privatization of Tanzania's National Bank of Commerce provides a unique episode for studying this issue. The bank was split into the "new" National Bank of Commerce, a commercial bank that assumed most of the original bank's assets and liabilities, and the National Microfinance Bank, which assumed most of the branch network and the mandate to foster access to financial services. The new National Bank of Commerce's profitability and portfolio quality improved although credit growth was slow, in line with privatization experiences in other developing countries. Finding a buyer for the National Microfinance Bank proved very difficult, although after years under contract management by private banking consultants, Rabobank of the Netherlands emerged as a purchaser. Profitability has since improved and lending has slowly grown, while the share of non-performing loans remains low.Publication Private Sector Development in Iraq : An Investment Climate Reform Agenda(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-10)Despite decades of war and instability, Iraq's abundant natural resources, strategic geographic location and cultural history endow it with tremendous potential for growth and diverse economic development. Driven by windfall oil revenues in recent years the Government of Iraq (GoI) has invested heavily in rebuilding infrastructure with abundant oil reserves ensuring steady progress. However, decades of socialist policies have tightly bound Iraq's economy to the state. The private sector has had little opportunity or incentive to invest, operate efficiently or expand. Moreover, Iraq's conflicts have led to pervasive insecurity, an exodus of educated and skilled Iraqis, isolation from global networks of information and trade, and major damage to infrastructure.Publication Regulatory Capacity Review(Washington, DC, 2011)The regulatory capacity review of the East African Community (EAC) focuses on the capacities of the EAC institutional framework to develop, implement, and sustain the efficient, transparent, and market-based regulatory system that is needed to achieve the economic benefits of the EAC common market. This report argues that the EAC institutions will be successful in implementing the common market only if they safeguard the quality of regulatory practices. This is a highly pragmatic and operational agenda. Quality principles can be applied only if they are defined and institutionalized into the machinery of policy making. The idea is that, just as fiscal management can increase social welfare by better allocating resources, so can regulatory governance.Publication Mali - Private Sector Assistance Grant(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-03)The principal objective of the project was to help foster the development of private sector enterprises, so that they could lead the growth of Mali's economy. The project aimed at putting in place mechanisms and measures to support the government's strategy of breaking from past reliance on the public sector. The project proposed to achieve this by: (a) completing implementation of improvements to the regulatory environment that had been introduced starting in the late eighties; (b) assisting a private business support structure, APEP, the Agence pour la Promotion de l'Entreprise Privee, to coordinate a program of institutional support to private non-financial enterprises; (c) improving the functioning of economic chambers (principally the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Mali), the Government's office charged with public enterprise reform, BEP, and departments of the administration responsible of administering regulations affecting private enterprises; and (d) inducing the strengthening of the banking sector and the preparation of a coherent financial sector strategy.
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 The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.Publication Lebanon Economic Monitor, Fall 2022(Washington, DC, 2022-11)The economy continues to contract, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Public finances improved in 2021, but only because spending collapsed faster than revenue generation. Testament to the continued atrophy of Lebanon’s economy, the Lebanese Pound continues to depreciate sharply. The sharp deterioration in the currency continues to drive surging inflation, in triple digits since July 2020, impacting the poor and vulnerable the most. An unprecedented institutional vacuum will likely further delay any agreement on crisis resolution and much needed reforms; this includes prior actions as part of the April 2022 International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement (SLA). Divergent views among key stakeholders on how to distribute the financial losses remains the main bottleneck for reaching an agreement on a comprehensive reform agenda. Lebanon needs to urgently adopt a domestic, equitable, and comprehensive solution that is predicated on: (i) addressing upfront the balance sheet impairments, (ii) restoring liquidity, and (iii) adhering to sound global practices of bail-in solutions based on a hierarchy of creditors (starting with banks’ shareholders) that protects small depositors.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.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.