More than 50% of today’s international trade goes through regional trading arrangements. While trade is a critical component of regional integration, integration has several other dimensions including energy cooperation and intra-regional investment, to name a few. After carefully examining cases of regional integration in Southeast Asia, the Americas and Africa, we present five lessons for South Asia.Lesson 1: Facilitate trade ...
It was a Friday evening and the auditorium inside St. Xavier’s College in Kathmandu was packed with almost 300 people. Students, activists, experts from the government and civil society gathered inside the hall along with an eclectic panel comprising of a film celebrity, a lawyer activist, an IT entrepreneur and an INGO Head. They were all there to discuss ...
A huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Annual Meeting South Asia Youth Delegates competition! With so many fascinating and well qualified applicants, it was truly difficult to narrow them down. After days of rigorous review and deliberations, we'd like the candidates below to join us. No matter what,
In recent years, there has been growing demand by cities to create viable public spaces within and for slums. Cities recognize the multitude of benefits that public spaces provide including: Centers for social interaction and cultural expression; Drivers of economic development and wealth creation; Improved health, accessibility and safety; Environmental sustainability;
From the outset, I was interested and intrigued by research on gender issues in public transport in Kathmandu. Familiar with the chaotic, noisy, and smelly traffic of Kathmandu, the everyday challenges people face in their commutes to work and school were as well known to me as regular excuses for colleagues being late to meetings; buses were ‘full’, ‘late’, ...
Major crises like wars and disasters affect the lives of millions of people around the world. Sri Lanka itself has experienced the devastating consequences of a brutal 30-year war, violent insurrection and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Whilst mental health and psychosocial services have evolved to help survivors of these crises to cope with and recover from these impacts, ...
Street in old Delhi, India. Credit: World Bank South Asia’s urban population grew by 130 million – more than the population of Japan – between 2001 and 2011, and is expected to rise by almost 250 million people by 2030. If recent history is any guide, this trend could propel the region toward greater growth and prosperity.
Nikhil Chandra Roy, who received certification through the Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP),Skills recognition is changing the lives of informal workers in Bangladesh In 2014, Nikhil Chandra Roy was struggling to find and keep regular employment. He had extensive experience dating back to 1977, doing the work of an electrician. But because he had no formal training or ...
I just ended my first round of country visits as the World Bank’s Vice President for the South Asia Region. Over and above all, I have been immensely impressed by the resilience, determination, commitment and innovation of the women leaders that I had the privilege to meet during my visits. These women are succeeding in a region where it ...
Embed from Getty Images While some may think the Sri Lanka’s cricket team did well in the recent Champion's Trophy, myself included, vigorous debates have been going on, on TV and social media and even here in our office which clearly suggests that not everyone agrees on their performance. Despite these differences in perspective, I witnessed the excitement of ...
In India alone, 185 million people don’t get enough nutrients. This hidden hunger is especially pervasive among children. as more than 70 percent of India’s children under five are deficient in Vitamin D, and 57 percent of all children in the country lack adequate levels of Vitamin A. Credit: NDDBGlobally, more than two billion people are deficient in key micronutrients, ...
The Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Project has linked rural producers, including saffron farmers with markets to create businesses and provide employment opportunities to many Afghan women and men. Photo Credit: AREDP/ World Bank. Meet Mohammad Naim, a saffron farmer in Afghanistan’s Herat province. In 2013, Naim launched a new business, the Taban Enterprise Group after he and his partners received ...
When it comes to their heritage buildings, both Bhutan and Japan have one common enemy: Fire. Here a view of Wangduephodrang Dzong in Bhutan which was destroyed by fire in 2012. Credit: Barbara Minguez Garcia 2018 About 2,749 miles, three countries, and a sea separate Kyoto, Japan, and Thimphu, Bhutan. The countries’ languages are different, and so are their ...
Rahul Kumar is a 25-year-old community extension worker at Jeevika in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.. He set up an agri-business enterprise six months ago and it’s turned out to be quite a success. Kumar earned more than INR 180,000 ($2,700) in barely one month during the rainy season crop cycle, also known as Kharif crop in India. ...
Photo Credit: Rumi Consultancy / World Bank To associate a gun shot with foul play seems logical. But that’s not necessarily the case in Guldara, a district nearly 40 kilometers outside of Kabul City in Afghanistan.Gun shots typically come from communities living at the top of the mountain to warn vulnerable downhill communities of potential flooding from the Guldara ...
South Asia has enjoyed a growth rate of 6 percent a year over the past 20 years. This has translated into declining poverty and improvements in health and education. While worthy of celebration as we mark International Women's Day, the success could have been more dramatic if more women worked for pay. Only 28 percent of women in South ...
“Sabse jyada munafa chuski mein hai (The biggest margin lies in small ice pops)”, says Shanti Devi with the definitive confidence of a seasoned entrepreneur. Shanti, a resident of Kotwana village in Bihar’s Gaya district runs an ice-cream production and sales unit that has an annual revenue of INR 1.9 million and employs 22 workers for a significant part ...
South Asian countries’ exports are only one-third of what they should be, had they mirrored the experience of economies with similar characteristics. Without further integration into global markets, South Asia will not sustain its growth. Photo: Shutterstock Bela Balassa worked for the World Bank from 1966 till his death in 1991. Luckily, his insights on international integration, revealed comparative ...
Businesses generally stand little chance of doing well when politics is not stable. Political stability is a necessary condition for an enabling business environment. What can the business community do to help achieve sustained political stability? Experience shows more often than not they fail to do so. What keeps the private sector divided even when both their collective and ...
