The Kyrgyz Republic has made major strides in the past decade in its transition to a market-based economy. Its trade and investment policies are arguably the most liberal among the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This report is aimed at assisting authorities...

This report addresses topics discussed at the fifth annual forum of the Berlin Workshop Series co-hosted by InWent and the World Bank, held in September 2003. At the meetings, key researchers and policy makers from Europe, the United States, and developing countries around the world met to...

The prospect of enlarging the European Union (EU) to Central and Eastern European countries with income levels far below those of present members, questions how, and when the candidates' aspiration to converge towards EU standards of living, could possibly by fulfilled. To address these...

The book contains complementary essays on the use of tax incentives, to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). The first essay presents results of the authors' original research, and explores FDI, and issues of tax incentives, in the context of Indonesia. Their results mostly support the...

The report is part of the continued investigation on the public-private investment relationship, and its focus for this year is on the quality of public investment, its interaction with corruption, and the resulting impact on private investment. The first chapter provides statistics on trends in...

This volume presents case studies of customs modernization initiatives in eight developing countries: Bolivia, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Peru, the Philippines, Turkey, and Uganda. The purpose of these case studies was to obtain a firsthand view of how these countries undertook customs reforms...

Many East Asian economies have grown briskly in the past few years. However, future development will depend on the quality and timeliness of regional and national policy actions. The policy agenda must address the problems that buffeted the region in the late 1990s-associated with the weakness...

India's trade policy establishment is perceived to be somewhat wary of multilateral engagement, even though India is implementing substantial economic, and trade policy reforms. Some essays in this well-researched volume may throw light on this paradox. More important, the essays take a hard...

Rapid and sustained growth in international trade has long been a hallmark of successful growth and development strategies in East Asia. Some success stories are well known: those of the newly industrializing economies (NIEs) such as the Republic of Korea, as well as middle-income economies such...

The growth of regional trading blocks is now a major feature of international relations. This book examines regionalism from the viewpoint of developing countries, and provides a comprehensive account of existing economic theory, and empirical results. In a thorough analysis of the politics, and...