This report captures ways in which policy makers and senior officials in railway organizations from emerging economies can accelerate modal shift to rail. Such officials, as well as the general public, aspire for more freight to be moved by rail. The environmental and societal benefits of such a...

This volume summarizes a series of studies undertaken to better understand the current socioeconomic context of the Northern and Eastern provinces in Sri Lanka. Nearly a decade after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, the Northern and Eastern provinces lag in key social and economic measures....

For African cities to grow economically as they have grown in size, they must create productive environments to attract investments, increase economic efficiency, and create livable environments that prevent urban costs from rising with increased population densification. What are the central...

Over the past decade, China has built 25,000 km of dedicated highspeed railway-more than the rest of the world combined. What can we learn from this remarkable experience? China's High-Speed Rail Development examines the Chinese experience to draw lessons for countries considering investing in...

Today 60 percent of Moroccans reside in urban areas, as opposed to 35 percent in 1970. By 2050, nearly three-quarters of the country's population will be living in cities. Along with the concentration of people, urbanization will lead to the increasing concentration of economic activities in...

Because malnutrition in early life significantly affects the physical and mental development of children, addressing malnutrition is fundamental to the development of Vietnam's human capital. Economic development of the nation depends on the strength, resilience, and intelligence of its...

Port Development and Competition in East and Southern Africa analyzes the 15 main ports in East and Southern Africa (ESA) to assess whether their proposed capacity enhancements are justified by current and projected demand; whether the current port management approaches sufficiently address not...

Recognizing that services affect the ability of countries and their firms to compete on international markets, the World Bank's Trade and Regional Integration Unit has developed an extensive work program to promote the performance of countries' domestic services sectors, including services...

This project, based on the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) data set, researched how PEFA can be used to shape policy development in public financial management (PFM) and other major relevant policy areas such as anticorruption, revenue mobilization, political economy...