Publication Categories

The study aims to calculate Egypt’s real effective exchange rate at both the bilateral and multilateral levels, estimates the effect of real cross-rate movements on trade in goods and services and on foreign direct investment, and determines the fundamental equilibrium exchange rate for Egypt’s balance of payments. As part of this process, the study specifies and estimates a balance of payments model with considerable disaggregation in its trade components. The model provides a theory-consistent representation of the behavioral relationships in the balance of payments, and it offers forecasting and policy simulation capabilities targeted to the needs of the Government of Egypt. As such, the model serves a dual purpose. First, it provides a framework for making rational and consistent predictions about the standard components of the balance of payments. Secondly, it offers a means of quantitatively evaluating the impact of exchange rate policies on the balance of payments. USAID/Egypt (75 pages). December 1999.

Examines the range of non-USAID clustering experiences and supporting policies and practices, and assesses their success or failure, as well as identifying issues, obstacles, opportunities and constraints to their development. The focus of the survey is industrial clustering activities by donors and agencies other than that undertaken by USAID. It examines supply-side based competitiveness initiatives in both developing and industrialized countries. In so doing, it evaluates the efforts that have been made to make these countries successful international competitors in particular activities in terms of the various methods, approaches and procedures that have been used in the interventions. United States Agency for International Development (USAID). August 2003.

The study investigates the methods used by national and international organizations to evaluate the activities of professional researchers and their associated research projects. The study bases its findings on a review of the experiences of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Organization for American States (OAS). The three major analytical components of the study relate to the professional staff undertaking research activities and the life cycle of their research projects. The study also examines the organizational structure of each institution surveyed and determines the relationship between the research personnel and the operational personnel of the institution. Case studies are presented of the institutions' principal recurrent research. (In three volumes). The Institute of Developing Economies (Ajia Keizai Kenkyusho) (670 pages). December 1993. Client only disclosure.

The study bring together in a systematic manner the available information from recent expenditure and consumption surveys for Laos as they relate to the impact of the EWEC on different social and economic aspects of households in the Lao province of Savannakhet. The results of the study sustain a number of conclusions in terms of the transformation of the EWEC from a transport to an economic corridor. In the first place, the central districts of Savannakhet have benefited more from the transport infrastructure of the EWEC that the surrounding districts. Nevertheless, the peripheral areas surrounding the Corridor have benefited in a substantial way from improvements in the feeder road system. The second important finding of the study is that infrastructure development has been an effective way of directly impacting on household well-being and indirectly contributing to human endowments of those households by enhancing their consumption of education and health services. However, the results also indicate that infrastructural developments have not been allocated among districts in the province in a way that could have produced a more equitable distribution of their effects on living standards. The implication of this third finding is that infrastructural investment needs to better target low-income rural areas in the peripheral districts. In that way, public investments could help to reduce the growing inequality among districts in Savannakhet, especially if it were to target low-income groups in remote villages.

Provides an analytical and empirical basis for identifying the regional economic cooperation potential of the Maldives with South Asia counties. Topics covered include an assessment of the Maldives’ sectoral comparative advantages; analysis of opportunities for the Maldives regarding economic cooperation; quantification of likely gains for the Maldives from economic cooperation; evaluation of the Maldives’ institutional capacity for undertaking economic cooperation initiatives; and review of studies to be undertaken for regional and subregional economic issues in other countries of South Asia. Asian Development Bank. May 2004 Client only disclosure

The study examines the North-South Economic Corridor (NSEC) from a multi-sectoral perspective, reviewing spatial development options, and addressing practical infrastructure, human resource, policy, regulatory and institutional barriers to trade, investment, and the movement of goods and people. It also examines issues related to the strategic development of the NSEC. To that end, it summarizes the various initiatives related to the development of the NSEC and it identifies opportunities and challenges from the economic integration process in an effort to provide an understanding about the substantial potential benefits that are arising from current infrastructure investments, coupled with the ongoing progress on cross-border cooperation among GMS countries. It synthesizes these findings in logical framework that will be used for the analysis of the overall development strategy.

The aim of this report is to revise and update the strategy and action plan for the EWEC as a means of consolidating planning and programming activities by government authorities and development partners. It differs from the 2001 strategy and action plan in three ways. First, it shifts the vision of the corridor to the socio-economic development of the subregion with a poverty-based focus, linked closely to the other corridors and transport routes at the interchange, border and gateway nodes, as well as secondary and feeder roads offering access to markets for rural communities. Second, it focuses the action plan on a relatively few high-profile initiatives that have direct links to key strategic areas in private sector, social, environmental and multi-model transport development. Finally, it broadens the sector coverage to those of private sector, social and environmental development, while maintaining trade and investment, agriculture and agro-industry, tourism and infrastructure as core development areas.

Provides a detailed sector study on trade and investment for the planned East-West Economic Corridor spanning northeast Thailand, southern Lao PDR and central Viet Nam. The objective of the study is to examine opportunities and constraints on regional economic cooperation at regional, national, and local levels. The main components of the study are the analysis of the economic and social impacts of regional cooperation at the sectoral level, policy recommendations for developing the Corridor, and the identification of projects and project profiles. Asian Development Bank (ADB). May 2000

The report evaluates the country’s membership options in the WTO in terms of its negotiating issues and ways to measure the impact of that membership on the economy. It addresses key areas of the WTO agreements in trade of goods, trade of services, intellectual property rights, and trade-related investment measures. The report argues that Kazakhstan is likely to obtain the greatest benefits from its GATT/WTO membership in the expansion of trade in goods. There are also substantial benefits that the economy will derive from its participation in the TRIPs agreement resulting from greater foreign investment in the country. As a WTO member country, Kazakhstan will also benefit from the promotion of trade liberalization measures that enhance the growth of its internationally competitive industries. USAID Regional Mission for Central Asia (75 pages). April 1995.

Border Economic Area briefing and video production of border area progress since 2016 study. The driver is the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER). It is overseen by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA), which sets the strategy for a balanced and sustainable development of agriculture, manufacturing and services in the border region. NCER contains the Kulim Hi-Tech Park, which is the first high-technology industrial park in the country. Other industrial areas along the border are Kedah Science and Technology Park, Bukit Kayu Hitam Special Border Economic Zone, and Kedah Rubber City. Elsewhere, tourism is increasing in importance, particularly on the island of Langkawi.

The project updates a scoping study that was carried out by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2014 on the development of a border economic area between Malaysia and Thailand. Following that report, the two governments decided to initially focus on the border economic area (BEA) in the Malaysian state of Kadah and the Thai province of Songkhla since it handles the largest volume of cross-border movement of goods and people. The present report updates development since 2014 in that area.

The study examines the EU market potential and constraints to export development for priority sectors, with particular emphasis on EQI issues. It has three specific aims. First, it seeks to identify export opportunities in the EU market in light of the country’s competitiveness in priority sectors and trade compatibility with that market. Second, it aims to identify challenges to the realization of the country’s export potential in terms of EU market entry requirements, EQI constraints, the conduciveness of its trade policy, and the support provided by business ssociations. Third, it intends to provide recommendations to relevant parties like the Government of Indonesia, the European Commission, and the business community on actions that would help the country to fully realize its export potential.

The investment guide examines opportunities for investment in the machinery industry. At present, Kazakhstan’s machinery industry is closely linked to the revitalization process that is taking place in the agricultural and mining sectors. Notwithstanding the large endowment of mineral resources and the vast arable land area, the economy has experienced a difficult economic transition from the former centrally planned system to a market economy. Although the situation in the mining and mineral processing industry is not as severe as that in the agriculture and agro-industrial activities, enterprises operating in this area lack expertise in operating within a free market system. In agriculture and agro-industrial activities the capacity of the machinery industry has been limited. Most of the machinery has been imported from other countries, with local manufacturers currently supplying about 15 percent of domestic requirements. As a result of these conditions, there are a number of business opportunities in machinery and equipment supplies in agricultural and agro-industrial operations, as well as mining and mineral processing activities.

Examines the costs and benefits associated with the elimination of discriminatory procurement practices for the products produced by eight industries, which together account for nearly three-fourths of government purchases. Those industries cover (1) food and beverage, (2) chemicals, (3) pharmaceuticals, (4) paper, printing and packaging, (5) information technology (IT), (6) construction services, (7) furniture and fixtures, and (8) medical supplies. The analysis draws heavily on recent work funded by the AMIR Program and carried out by Computer Networking Services (CNS) to establish a database on government procurement covering 1997-2000, as well as an earlier study by the AMIR Program that developed the methodology for assessing the impact of the GPA on the Jordanian economy.

The study supports Government efforts to introduce reforms to the insurance industry and its negotiations for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It provides a consolidated perspective about insurance services in Laos, with particular reference to the impact of possible Government commitments to liberalizing the insurance industry as part of its WTO accession process. The study builds on a survey of the industry and its regulatory environment to determine the areas that could benefit from liberalization and restructuring. It uses these findings along with the experiences of other Asian countries and best practice recommendations to suggest possible reforms and commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the WTO. The implications of liberalization for the insurance industry are then considered and reforms supporting the Government’s overall economic plan are propose.

This report on resource exports serves as an input to the Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS) Update. Building on earlier studies such as that of the World Bank’s Lao PDR Development Report 2010, it evaluates the potential impact of resource-led export growth on the external sector as a whole and its feed-through effects on the production of domestic goods and the services industries. Of particular importance are the implications of those resource exports on the development of offshoot activities for the mineral and electricity industries, along with the possible broad-based diversification of the economy into high-value export products. To that end, the report explores a broad range of opportunities and offers recommendations both for generating more domestic value added activities and for strengthening linkages between resource-based industries and the wider economy. The recommendations are presented as possible technical assistance initiatives and policy actions that could assist the Lao PDR to achieve high and sustainable broad-based export growth, building on the Government’s current development strategy under the Seventh National Social Economic Development Plan (NSEDP VII).

The evaluation follows a standard framework to assess the performance of completed trade-related technical assistance. It adopts a set of evaluation criteria using a 6-point rating scale to assess project outcomes in terms of (i) relevance, (ii) effectiveness, (iii) efficiency, and (iv) sustainability. A sequenced approach is adopted that builds on the analysis of performance indicators and project documents; stakeholder questionnaires; structured interviews carried out during the preparation of this report; and feedback received from the presentation of a preliminary draft. Key sources of information are the project logical framework, outlining the results and corresponding indicators; the monitoring and evaluation system; technical, financial and narrative progress reports; aide-memoires following supervision missions; and other project-related documents.

The EIF Tier 1 project achieved its objectives by successfully building a strong organizational structure and system for EIF governance, supporting key activities for trade policy and regulatory reforms and their implementation, and efficiently utilizing fund resources to carry out those activities. The project’s overall performance is rated as highly satisfactory based on the results of evaluation criteria covering relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.

Tax rates and tax administration are both considered to be severe obstacles to doing business in Laos by nearly one-third of the firms interviewed as part of the Investment Climate Survey (ICS) conducted by the Government of Lao PDR, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Whether or not taxes are severe remains unclear, however, since information is lacking on the effective tax rates paid by firms. In practice, a considerably smaller amount of taxes than that implied by the statutory rates are collected by the Government. There are four channels through which substantial revenue losses occur in Laos: (a) non-registration of firms, mainly microenterprises and some small businesses, as a means of avoiding obligations to the tax administration; (b) misfiling by businesses in the wrong tax regime to take advantage of the contract system offered to small businesses; (c) evasion or fraud by taxpayer under-reporting of profits or turnover and over-reporting of deductible expenses; and (d) inadequate implementation of the revenue administration procedures. There are also losses of 30 to 60 percent of revenue from trade-related sources. Disincentives for businesses are nevertheless high since customs and handling charges represent about 25 percent of the cost of shipping goods abroad, despite the trade-weighted average tariff being only 9 percent.

Lao PDR’s agricultural and natural resource (ANR) sector is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Moreover, the abundance of natural resources and favorable policy and regulatory environment under the Government’s regional and global commitments are facilitating the sector’s transition to a modern commercial-based system offering value addition gains to producers. For the full benefits to be achieved, however, agriculture must be made more productive so as to generate widespread sustainable income and employment growth, and also improvements must occur in the governance and management of the ANR sector and its natural resource base. The present study focuses on trade and investment related-activities of the Government’s ANR Sector Development Program. It aims to contribute to the sector’s growth and development through improved food security, accelerated poverty reduction, and better environmental conservation. The immediate objectives are to promote modernization of the sector by (i) supporting the preparation of land-use master plans for southern provinces, (ii) strengthening the capacity of national and provincial government agencies, and (iii) funding specific investments in the sector.

The study examines the implications of Lao PDR’s WTO accessions on the domestic cement, steel bar and brewery industries with a view to developing recommendations on how to concurrently manage the Government’s domestic strategic objectives with the country’s effective involvement in the global economy. Calculations of total protection (TE) to the industries shows that beer receives the highest level of protection (110%), followed by steel bars (17%) and cement (16%). The actual level of effective rate of protection (ERP) with the existing tariffs and TEs of the non-tariff measures is 62 percent for cement and 50 percent for steel bars. Lowering the existing tariffs to zero on tradable inputs in the cement and steel bar industries would increase the effective rate of protection (ERP) on those industries to 84 percent for cement and 67 percent for steel bars. It would also create greater transparency, streamline administrative and bureaucratic procedures, and facilitate business practices in the country. As part of the WTO negotiations, Lao PDR is likely to undertake specific reforms of its trade regime covering tariff and non-tariff measures impacting on the selected industries covered by this study. The study examines the transformation of non-tariff measures to ad valorem tariff equivalents, and assessed the impact of alternative tariff reform strategies on the beer, cement and steel bar industries in terms of various performance indicators, including those related to the industry, government tax revenue and employment effects.

The study supports the formulation of the comprehensive master plan for the development of the machinery industry by identifying measures that need to be taken by the Government of Kazakhstan (GOK) to provide a conducive enabling environment for the machinery industry. It analyzes the economic conditions, policies and regulatory issues affecting the machinery industry in Kazakhstan, and it reviews the range of institutions and policies affecting the Kazakhstan economy in general, and those influencing the machinery industry in particular. The major areas covered are the transition to a market-oriented economy, macroeconomic conditions and policies, banking and finance, trade and the balance of payments, investment, privatization, legislative and institutional framework, and the national development plan. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Master Plan Study for the Development of the Machinery Industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan (170 pages). October 1998