95998 v2 Myanmar: Empowering People for Inclusive Growth EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Context: Supporting a Historic Transition 1. The proposed Country Partnership Framework challenges and opportunities, including (i) emer- (CPF) will succeed the Myanmar Interim Strategy gence from a long period of international isola- Note (FY13-14) and be the first full country strat- tion; (ii) widespread poverty, despite rich land, egy for Myanmar since 1984. This CPF comes at a water, and mineral resource endowments; (iii) a time of great opportunity for Myanmar; over the strategic location in the fastest-growing region in three year period covered in this CPF, the reforms the world; (iv) the role of the military and associat- initiated in 2011 have the potential to bring Myan- ed groups in the economy; and (v) long standing mar into a new era of peace and prosperity. armed conflict and ethnic and religious tensions. Myanmar is on a path of fundamental transforma- 2. Myanmar’s history, ethnic diversity, and geog- tion, seeking to address all these challenges and raphy combine into a unique set of development opportunities simultaneously. Myanmar: Empowering People for Inclusive Growth EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 country, reducing extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. 7. This CPF draws on the findings of the recent Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) carried out by the WBG, lessons learned since the WBG re-engagement in Myanmar in 2012, and exten- sive consultations with a wide range of stakehold- ers conducted in 2014. 8. With Myanmar’s poverty rate estimated to have been between 25.6 and 37.5 percent in 2010, the group of poor overlaps significantly with the bot- tom 40 percent of the consumption distribution. The SCD identified two main pathways out of extreme poverty. The first is promoting sustain- able private sector-led growth for more jobs. The second entails promoting universal access and empowerment for inclusive growth, particularly in rural areas. 9. Starting from the development priorities iden- tified in the SCD, the CPF uses three selectivity criteria to identify a CPF program of activities for WBG engagement. The three selectivity criteria are: comparative advantage; impact on achieving the twin goals of absolute poverty reduction and shared prosperity; and the risk-reward ratio. The resulting CPF program for the WBG is focused in three areas: reducing rural poverty; investing in people and effective institutions for people; and supporting a dynamic private sector to create jobs. Activities in these focus areas will integrate four cross-cutting issues that are important for the achievement of the WBG twin goals: gender, con- flict, governance and climate change/disaster risk. 2013/14 (from 22 percent in 2008/09), and exter- nal debt down to 19.2 percent of GDP in 2013/14 • Reducing rural poverty. At least 70 percent (from 37.7 percent in 2008/09). However, major of Myanmar’s poor live in rural areas, reduc- obstacles remain, including an underdeveloped ing poverty and boosting shared prosperity financial sector, infrastructure gaps and limited will entail increasing access to essential ser- capacities to manage shocks. vices, economic opportunities and markets. The WBG expects to provide support to help Proposed WBG Program: Pathways for increase agricultural incomes and productiv- Poverty Reduction ity, rural electrification, community-driven investments in local infrastructure and ser- 6. The CPF outlines how WBG global knowledge, vices, improve Ayeyarwaddy River navigation financing, and convening services can support and flood control, and reduce vulnerability to Myanmar and its people in transforming their shocks. The original had problem with text extraction. pdftotext Unable to extract text.