Despite its challenging circumstances,
Bangladesh has proven to be remarkably resilient and
achieved significant human development gains. The country
partnership framework (CPF) will refocus the World Bank
Group’s (WBG’s) strategic direction on removing stubborn
impediments to job creation and growth. The CPF will build
on a well-performing portfolio, particularly in human
development, identified by the systematic country diagnostic

This report presents some figures
exploring the way Romanian installations have been operating
under the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
At the request of the Government of Romania, a two-year
Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) Program on climate
change and low-carbon green growth was launched by the World
Bank in July 2013. The RAS project focuses on
operationalizing Romania’s national climate change strategy

Myanmar grew at an estimated 8.5 percent
in real terms in 2014-15. Economic reforms have supported
consumer and investor confidence despite business
environment and socio-political challenges. The economic
impact of the floods that hit Myanmar from July 2015 is
still being assessed, but will likely adversely affect the
main rice crop this year. According to preliminary analysis
of census data, the areas most affected by the floods are

An efficient and transparent regulatory
framework governing international trade is a necessary
condition for countries to realize the benefits of
international trade. Over the last decade, Lao PDR has been
deepening its economic ties with the global economy through
the formal accession to the WTO in 2013. At the regional
level, the country is committed to be full member of the
ASEAN Economic Community. These agreements entailed profound

The primary aim of this evaluation is to
develop lessons from the Bank’s experience in the three
selected countries of Columbia, Tunisia, and Turkey
regarding assistance aimed at employment creation and
earnings growth. The evaluation focuses on employment
creation and earnings growth because these have a strong
bearing on the extent to which the central objective of
poverty reduction is achieved. The evaluation assesses the

These organizations have joined together to recommend the principles presented below. The document concludes with anticipated next steps, which point toward a toolkit of best practices, guidelines, governance frameworks, and possibly codes of practice by the major sets of private actors.

The Investment Climate Study is a
evaluation of the Operations Evaluation Department (OED).
The OED report reviews the Bank’s investment climate lending
and non-lending activities during fiscal years 1993 through
2002-03. The report presents the collected findings of
several evaluative exercises: a literature review; an
analysis of investment climate themes in country assistance
strategies and sector strategies; an analysis of lending

(covering the activities of IBRD/IDA), the Operations Evaluation Group (covering IFC), and
the Operations Evaluation Unit (covering MIGA). The purpose of the evaluation is to assess
the effectiveness of the World Bank Group (WBG) in helping its member countries improve
their investment climates, within the context of the WBG’s overall mission of poverty
reduction and sustainable development. Its findings and recommendations provide guidance for
the WBG’s future strategy and activities in this area. The evaluation was conducted in parallel

The paper analyzes the linkages between the reform strategies in transition countries and
economic performance. We focus on agriculture because of the sharpness of the policy
changes, fundamental differences among countries, and relative simplicity of agricultural
relationships. We document post reform performance in the transition countries of Asia and
Europe. We show how: a.) pricing reform and subsidy reductions; b.) land rights reform
and policies that affect farm restructuring; and c.) the presence institutions that facilitate

Production in 2004 was actually running
higher than consumption prior to 1995 and this has caused the existence of a world surplus of
baled cotton in the form of stocks in warehouse. It is the existence of these “ending stocks” that
has a large effect on the international price of cotton. Consumption began to
outpace production in 2001 to 2003 period and this, mixed with crop disasters in various regions,
caused the international price to rise. The reaction from many countries was to increase

Bleak short-term economic outlook raises the risk that social and environmental
achievements may not be sustained. The changed economic circumstances have exposed shortcomings in Brazil’s development model, epitomized by the struggle to achieve a sustainable fiscal policy. Against this background, some Brazilians are now asking whether the gains of the past decade might have been an illusion, created by the commodity boom, but unsustainable in today’s less forgiving international environment. Brazil thus finds itself at an important juncture and, to a certain extent, the policy

Sri Lanka is in many respects a
development success story. With economic growth averaging
more than 7 percent a year over the past five years on top
of an average growth of 6 percent the preceding five years,
Sri Lanka has made notable strides towards the goals of
ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity (the
‘twin goals’). The national poverty headcount rate declined
from 22.7 to 6.7 percent between 2002 and 2012/13, while