The objective of the Car Service Delivery and Support to Communities Affected by Displacement Project for Central African Republic is to increase access to basic services, infrastructure and safety nets for communities affected by forced displacement.
... See More + There are three components to the project, the first component being Access to basic services and infrastructure. The objective of this component is to improve access by communities affected by displacement to basic services and infrastructure by financing the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure. The component funds are allocated based on factors of population and numbers of displaced in the areas of project intervention. Annex one presents the allocation of funds per area, based on a combination of these factors. The total amount corresponds to about US$78 per capita, which is quite high compared to other projects in sub-Saharan Africa, but should be seen in the context of historic underinvestment and absence of even the most basic services in project areas, including all-season roads, water and sanitation, etc. The second component is the safety nets. The objective of this component is to provide timely and regular cash transfers (CT) to selected households. These transfers will serve as relief to vulnerable households in areas affected by forced displacement so as to meet immediate consumption needs. It is also expected that by ensuring the timeliness of transfers over a period of two years the project will progressively build lost private assets. Finally, the third component is the community mobilization, capacity building, technical assistance, and project management. This component will finance the costs associated with community mobilization and accompanying measures foreseen for components one and two, capacity building, technical assistance to national and local institutions and costs associated with project management. This component includes three subcomponents: community mobilization and accompanying measures; capacity building and technical assistance; and project management.
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This is an assessment of the fiduciary arrangements of Government of Indonesia’s PKH Program in accordance with the World Bank’s OP/BP 9.0 to determine suitability of the application of the Program for Results (PforR) instrument and to mitigate fiduciary risks of the proposed Program.
... See More + This document contains summary findings on the Fiduciary Systems Assessment (FSA). In accordance with ‘PforR Financing Interim Guidance Notes’ a FSA was carried out that evaluated the fiduciary systems pertaining to the Program to determine whether they provide reasonable assurance that the Program funds will be used for their intended purpose. The objective of the World Bank operation is to enhance the results of the PKH CCT program by supporting coverage expansion, strengthening delivery system, and improving coordination with other complementary social programs. The program will be a US$ 200 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development using a PforR lending instrument, and will be implemented over a period of four years (2017-2021). The disbursement of funds under the PforR modality will be linked to DLIs tied to three result areas: i) expanding coverage and improving equity of the CCT program; ii) strengthening the program delivery system to improve efficiency, transparency, and accountability; and iii) improving access to complementary services by the CCT beneficiaries.
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The objectives of the OECS Regional Tourism Competitiveness Project for Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines are to: (i) facilitate the movement of tourists within the participating countries using ferries, (ii) improve selected tourism sites, and (iii) strengthen implementation capacity for regional tourism market development.
... See More + There are four components to the project, the first component being facilitation of the movement of people. This component aims to strengthen regional integration and facilitate movement of people in the region through: (a) support for developing a single regional space for immigration and customs entry of international tourists; and (b) development of a pilot ferry system through TA, information technology (IT), and small infrastructure improvements. The second component is the pilot tourism infrastructure investments. Market development and promotion capacity-building. This component aims to, (i) support the refinement and operationalization of tourism plans for each of the participating countries and (ii) develop a regional market development effort to position the participating countries as one travel destination. This component includes two subcomponents: support for tourism development, and preparation and implementation of a regional tourism market development program. Finally, the fourth component is the project implementation support.
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Ratings for the First Growth and Competitiveness Development Policy Grant for Lesotho were as follows: outcomes were moderately unsatisfactory, risk to development outcome was high, Bank performance was moderately unsatisfactory, and Grantee performance was moderately unsatisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: Future DPOs should chose indicators that support the objective of fiscal consolidation more directly and should address components of fiscal spending and revenues; programmatic lending limited to no more than 2 year programs could give more flexibility to adjust the program to changing circumstances; In the context of Lesotho, which has low capacity of implementation, all operations should include capacity building or should be linked to other ones that provide it
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR3665 DEC 19, 2016
Globalization is creating many new trade and growth opportunities, with services trade increasingly becoming an issue for export-oriented economies.
... See More + Services are important to country trade strategies, because they represent activities in which countries may have a comparative advantage, and they are drivers of competitiveness for the whole economy. This paper uses data from the World Development Indicators, two new databases (the Export in Value-Added database from the Global Trade Analysis Project, and Trade in Services data), and firm-level data. The paper employs a wide range of indicators to analyze the trade competitiveness of the services sector in the Russian Federation. Since service exports are less than would be expected considering Russia's level of development, the study finds that the contribution of services to export diversification could be heightened significantly. The scale of Russian business services exports is relatively low, although exports of traditional services, like transport and travel, are performing well. Despite the relatively minor importance of exports of modern services, the category of other business services has in recent years been growing fast, and business services have strengthened their revealed comparative advantages. Yet Russia still has much potential for expanding trade in modern services. There is also potential to diversify services exports to other markets, such as France, Germany, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia, which today seems underexploited. Finally, although exports of direct services are low, services such as transport, distribution, finance, and other business services are making major contributions to other exports, in particular energy.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7827 SEP 19, 2016
Saez,Juan Sebastian; Van Der Marel,Erik LeendertDisclosed
Ecuador is one of the least diversified countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, depending heavily on oil and agriculture. This policy paper examines how services and innovation can play a role in transforming the Ecuadorian economy from one based on natural resources to one based on knowledge and services.
... See More + The paper assesses the performance of the services sector and its contribution to other sectors. The paper shows that services make a significant contribution to the country's economic growth (albeit below the average for the region). However, the services sector in Ecuador performs poorly in productivity and trade competitiveness. Further, services do not add enough value for export providers and users over time. The deficit in the integration of business services, especially knowledge-intensive business services, is particularly high, affecting the competiveness of all sectors and their value chains. Among the drivers of productivity and competitiveness, innovation is the key quality and differentiation factor (as distinguished from price-related, regulatory, and competition factors). Innovation in Ecuadorian services firms does not significantly affect performance (for example, sales and exports), although innovation in manufacturing does improve the performance of manufacturing firms. Finally, the paper provides some conclusions and meaningful crosscutting policy recommendations for a services-related policy aimed at fostering competitiveness and innovation. Services need action in innovation policy (innovation programs could be better adapted to services innovation specificities), but also in areas such as coordination at the institutional level; internationalization and foreign direct investment; and quality, regulatory, and competition issues affecting the investment climate.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7767 JUL 25, 2016
The project development objectives for Regional Tourism Competitiveness project are to (1) facilitate the movement of tourists within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States region using ferries; (2) improve selected touristic sites; and (3) strengthen implementation capacity for regional tourism market development.
... See More + In the process of the preparing the project screening concluded that planned physical infrastructure works (e.g. rehabilitation and improvement to selected tourism sites) might involve either physical resettlement or land acquisition and subsequently impact beneficiary assets or access to assets. Involuntary resettlement may cause severe long-term hardship, impoverishment, and environmental damage unless appropriate measures are carefully planned and carried out. For these reasons involuntary resettlement will be avoided where feasible, or minimized, exploring all viable alternative project designs. Where it is not feasible to avoid resettlement, resettlement activities will be conceived and executed, providing sufficient investment resources to enable the persons displaced by the project to share in project benefits. Displaced persons will be meaningfully consulted and will have opportunities to participate in planning and implementing resettlement programs. Displaced persons will be assisted in their efforts to improve their livelihoods and standards of living or at least to restore them, in real terms, to pre-displacement levels or to levels prevailing prior to the beginning of project implementation, whichever is higher. The mechanisms for redressing the grievances of the affected populations will be put in place.
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The development objectives for Regional Tourism Competitiveness project are to (i) facilitate the movement of tourists within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States region using ferries; (ii) improve selected touristic sites; and (iii) strengthen implementation capacity for regional tourism market development.
... See More + Potential negative impacts of the project include : 1) loss of or damage to physical cultural resources; 2) destruction or damage to terrestrial natural habitat; 3) negative impacts on marine habitats and coastal environments; 4) increased road safety, traffic and community risk; 5) elevated vibration and noise levels due to transportation works; 6) poor solid and liquid waste management; 7) air pollution; 8) occupational health and safety issues; 9) involuntary resettlement (which could refer to permanent or temporary acquisition of private land; physical or economic displacement). Mitigation measures include: 1) development of a traffic management plan; 2) development and implementation of a public notification and construction noise management plan; 3) development and implementation of a waste management plan; 4) avoidance of the use of herbicides or other chemicals; 5)proper storage of all construction materials, including chemicals; 6) installation of appropriate erosion control measures; 7) involuntary resettlement will be avoided to the extent possible.
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This paper presents new data on the micro structure of the export sector for 45 countries and studies how exporter behavior varies with country size and stage of development.
... See More + Larger countries and more developed countries have more exporters, larger exporters, and a greater share of exports controlled by the top 5 percent. The extensive margin (more firms) plays a greater role than the intensive margin (average size) in supporting exports of larger countries. In contrast, the intensive margin is relatively more important in explaining the exports of richer countries. Exporter entry and exit rates are higher and entrant survival is lower at an early stage of development. The paper discusses the results in light of trade theories with heterogeneous firms and the empirical literature on resource allocation, firm size, and development. An implication from the findings is that developing countries export less because the top of the firm-size distribution is truncated.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7452 OCT 21, 2015
The paper estimates the effect of product standards on firms’ export decisions using two novel datasets. The first covers all exporting firms in 42 developing countries.
... See More + The second covers pesticide standards for 243 agricultural and food products in 63 importing countries over 2006–12. The analysis shows that product standards significantly affect foreign market access. More restrictive standards in the importing country, relative to the exporting country, lower firms’ probability of exporting as well as their export values and quantities. The relative restrictiveness of standards also deters exporting firms from entering new markets and leads to higher exit rates from those markets. Moreover, firm characteristics mediate the effect of product standards on firms’ export decisions. Smaller exporters are more negatively affected in their market entry and exit decisions by the relative stringency of standards than larger exporters. Positive network effects of exporters from the same country may help reduce the burden of importing countries’ standards on firms’ decisions to enter new markets.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7315 JUN 18, 2015
Trade facilitation is one of the key engines of growth in an economy. Improving the quality and reliability of the trade facilitation infrastructure and services is a major building block for reducing transaction costs, attracting domestic and foreign investment, and expanding access to economic opportunities.
... See More + The Government of Congo, Rep. recognizesthat more needs to be done to address existing constraints to intra-regional trade. Indeed, efficient trade facilitation is central to achieving the objectives of Congo’s Vision 2025, whose overarching goal is to transform the country from a lower middle income economy to an upper middle income export-oriented economy. Attaining the country’s vision will require the addressing of at least three key constraints. Firstly, low investment in the development and maintenance ofthe country’s physical infrastructure; secondly, an insufficient and ineffective capacity to deliver therequired transport and port services; and thirdly, a lack of international competitiveness and export diversification. Addressing these constraints will catalyze the development of modern transport infrastructureand services, contributing to a reduction in the cost of doing business and thus increasing the country’scompetitiveness.Several policies and other interventions have been implemented by the Government to address the country’s trade facilitation challenges. Some of these interventions prioritize improving the quality and reliability of transport and port infrastructure and service, whichis critical for reducing transaction costs and attracting investments, contributing to the broader goals of inclusive growth by connecting rural communities toeconomic activities. This report aims to complement these efforts by making two key contributions. Firstly, it identifies thecore trade facilitation bottlenecks facing the country,and explores options for mitigating these challenges. Secondly, it presents an action plan covering both theexpansion of physical infrastructure and the developmentof transport sector structure, regulation, and institutional capacity; distinguishing between the short-and longer-term measures. The action plan is expected to strengthen the strategy for sustainable economic development and for informing dialogue on required reform measures. The report’s recommendations are also expected to support more inclusive growth, and also ensure that said inclusive growth is sustainable. It is hoped that the report’s findings will be used to inform the designand implementation of the measures required to promote trade facilitation.
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Working Paper 115188 MAY 01, 2015
Tchana Tchana,Fulbert; Kebede,Ephraim; Kemtsop,Guy Tchinda; Tanase,Virginia; El Kamel,Jameleddine; Wa Dzon,Etaki; Laouali Ladjo,Karima; Maloueki Louzolo,JosianeFrenchDisclosed
Although Brazil has become one of the largest economies in the world, it remains among the most closed economies as measured by the share of exports and imports in gross domestic product.
... See More + This feature cannot be explained simply by the size of Brazil's economy. Rather, it is due to an economic structure reliant on domestic value chain integration as opposed to participation in global production networking. It also reflects more generally an export base that shows lack of dynamism. Opening up and moving toward integration into global value chains could produce efficiency gains and help Brazil address its productivity and competitiveness challenges.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7228 APR 02, 2015
Canuto Dos Santos Filho,Otaviano; Fleischhaker,Cornelius; Schellekens,PhilipDisclosed
The development objective of the Competitiveness for Tourism Development Project for Cape Verde is to increase the competitiveness of the tourism sector in Cabo Verde.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) using equipment in their optimal operating conditions (establishment of a regular inspection program and preventive maintenance; (2) providing access roads to the industrial area and businesses to avoid or circumvent residential areas; (3) ensuring safely management of hazardous products and storing them in confined areas with spill recovery equipment; (4) planning rejection of used waters taking into account absorption capacity of the receiving water body; (5) using existing borrow pits rather than creating new ones; after the work, restoring the borrow pits stabilizing slopes and facilitating the regeneration of vegetation; (6) avoiding locating borrow pits or operating grounds of natural resources in environmentally sensitive and protected areas; (7) providing appropriate training to employees to ensure safety in operation; and (8) developing infrastructure facility or sanitary equipment (showers, latrines, waste disposal sites) on the site and in labor camps.
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Chinas shift toward accelerated economic growth in central and western provinces and increasing levels of personal income and consumption are all consistent with the need for rail-enabled Integrated Logistics Centers (ILCs).
... See More + Yet, while hundreds of logistics clusters have been developed in China over the past few years, modern, international standard rail- and multimodal-transport enabled ILCs are less common. Close, long-term collaboration between public sector authorities and private sector specialized firms, such as real estate developers, have proven effective in the development of North Americas focused network of ILCs critical to facilitating transcontinental and other freight itineraries. This model can succeed in China as well. The ready availability of multimodal transport connectivity is the most critical component of any cluster of logistics activities. This note will argue that China could substantially benefit from developing a focused network of well-planned, economically justified, financially viable, and carefully implemented ILCs supported by rail intermodal operations.
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This report analyzes export competitiveness in the Dominican Republic drawing from the Trade Competitiveness Diagnostic methodology (Farole and Reis, 2012).
... See More + Dominican exports fare well in terms of performance, sophistication, and survival in Special Economic Zones. Three main challenges are identified: 1) quality issues and rejection of agro exports in the US border; 2) the role of Special Economic Zones in the new decade and the lack of backward linkages; and 3) excessive concentration in terms of markets that is not addressed by a fragmented institutional setup.
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Foreign Trade, FDI, and Capital Flows Study AUS6804 MAR 02, 2015
Iwulska,Aleksandra; Jouanjean,Marie Agnes; Moberg,Lotta Malin Johanna; Reyes,Jose Daniel; Sanchez Martin,Miguel Eduardo; Ugarte Romero,Cristian; Van Der Borght,Rafael; Wagle,Swarnim; Velasquez,GiselleEnglishDisclosed
This report analyzes export competitiveness in the Dominican Republic drawing from the Trade Competitiveness Diagnostic methodology (Farole and Reis, 2012).
... See More + Dominican exports fare well in terms of performance, sophistication, and survival in Special Economic Zones. Three main challenges are identified: 1) quality issues and rejection of agro exports in the US border; 2) the role of Special Economic Zones in the new decade and the lack of backward linkages; and 3) excessive concentration in terms of markets that is not addressed by a fragmented institutional setup.
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Foreign Trade, FDI, and Capital Flows Study AUS6804 MAR 02, 2015
Iwulska,Aleksandra; Jouanjean,Marie Agnes; Moberg,Lotta Malin Johanna; Reyes,Jose Daniel; Sanchez Martin,Miguel Eduardo; Ugarte Romero,Cristian; Van Der Borght,Rafael; Wagle,Swarnim; Velasquez,GiselleDisclosed
The Service Trade Competitiveness Diagnostic (STDC) Toolkit is part of a larger agenda of trade competitiveness work developed by the World Bank's International Trade Unit in recent years.
... See More + Services are a key input in countries' trade competitiveness, as well as a new source of trade diversification, making it critical to understand what factors and main constraints matter most for services competitiveness. The Toolkit provides a framework, guidelines, and set of practical tools to conduct a thorough analysis and diagnostic of trade competitiveness in the services sector with a methodology that sheds light on a country's ability both to export services and improve its export performance through policy change. This Toolkit is designed to be used in a modular way. Either a full country diagnostic can be undertaken or various parts of the toolkit can be used to address specific questions of interest, whether they pertain to existing services performance, the potential for expansion and growth in services trade, or policy options to increase competitiveness in services trade. The output of an STCD can be used to assess either the overall performance of a country's services sector or the performance of individual sub-sectors. This Toolkit complements the analytical framework for trade in goods provided by the Trade Competitiveness Diagnostic Toolkit (World Bank, 2012), and allows policymakers and experts in developing countries to better integrate services into their overall trade strategies. In addition, it will also be of interest to international organizations and development practitioners in both policymaking institutions and academia.
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Publication 93714 JAN 14, 2015
Hollweg,Claire Honore; Van Der Marel,Erik Leendert; Saez,Juan Sebastian; Taglioni,Daria; Zavacka,VeronikaDisclosed
At a time of significant change in the global economy, FIAS-funded work in FY14 maintained strong momentum across a broad range of activities, from promoting trade and competitive markets to streamlining business regulation to encouraging major new investment in specific industries.
... See More + FIAS-supported teams launched a new Trade Facilitation Support Program that will serve as a centerpiece of an increasing focus on trade as an engine of sustainable growth in developing countries. The portfolio has achieved results in the worlds poorest countries, nations in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS), and Sub-Saharan Africa. FIAS support helped achieve a substantial jump in investment generated for industry-specific sectors, continuing a strong trend of growth in this field. These achievements took place amid a major Bank Group reorganization that resulted in the creation of a new Trade and Competitiveness (T&C) Global Practice, which is expanding the reach of the FIAS program in FY15 and beyond.
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