English

Solomon Islands - Review of investment incentives (December 2005)

This report provides an independent review of investment incentives in the Solomon Islands. The review encompasses an assessment of the Solomon Islands “location offer” to investors, the operation and effectiveness of the current system of investment incentives (tax and otherwise), and the appropriateness of special economic zones within the “location offer”.

Review of land and real estate cases prepared for the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (November 2005)

At the request of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, (FAS) the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS), a joint service of the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, has carried out a review of a sample of cases handled by FAS in recent years concerning land and real estate transactions where there are concerns about the possible anti-competitive behavior of public sector bodies. This project arises out of earlier projects between FAS and FIAS to identify administrative barriers to investment.

Strengthening Russia’s Engagement with Market-based Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Conclusions and Recommendations from Experience in Forestry and Lessons for other Sectors (November 2005)

FIAS designed this study for the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Federal Forest Agency to analyze voluntary forest certification in Russia as a tool of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), to measure the economic benefits, if any, to promote these practices in the forestry sector, if warranted, by suggesting the removal of administrative barriers, and to find applications to other sectors of the Russian economy. The study describes the world-wide development of voluntary forest certification as a mechanism to provide international and domestic buyers with an assurance that Russian forest products are not derived from environmentally destructive practices.

Final report on business access to land prepared for the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian federation (October 2005)

This report is the product of a program of cooperation between the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS), a joint service of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, and the Russian Federation Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) under a grant from the European Union Policy Advice Programme in Russia. The main subjects of cooperation were urban land reform, in particular improving access to land for small land medium enterprises; the role of the anticompetition laws in addressing business land issues; and development of a system for MEDT to monitor developments in land reform over time. This report summarizes only the conclusions and recommendations on the urban land issues and business access to land.

Land Markets: Promoting the Private Sector by Improving Access to Land (October 2005)

Land markets that allow access to land—and to buildings—through secure property rights, at transparent prices, and with efficient permitting processes and land tax systems are essential to a good business environment. Creating such markets, however, can be a long, complex, politically charged process, especially where most land is untitled and where there are conflicting claims. But experience points to practical interim or step solutions that can have a positive impact and generate the political capital to reform the overall land market system.

Southern Multinationals: A Growing Phenomenon (October 2005)

South-South FDI now accounts for one third of all FDI going to developing countries, and is growing. This is good news because this FDI typically reaches very poor and remote developing countries.

Indonesia - Mini-diagnostic analysis of the Investment Climate (2006)

This report was prepared by FIAS in response to a request from IFC/PENSA to undertake a rapid response, mini-diagnostic analysis of the investment climate in Aceh/Nias.

Improving the system for lodging, processing, storing and providing business registration information in the Fiji Islands (2006)

The aim of this review is to address the following shortcomings, including: • lack of transparency in how the process works, particularly how decisions are made • slow processing of applications, with company registration taking upwards of 20 working days to complete • poor security of registry information, resulting in lost documentation and incomplete registry files • inability of other government and private sector users to access registry information in a timely and user-friendly way • out-of-date British-based legislation that is inconsistent with modern business registration practice.

Establishing CSR Drivers in Agribusiness (August 2005)

From the perspective of countries supplying retailers and branded companies, the adoption of CSR standards can be to be used to enhance competitiveness. One of the tools that the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) of the World Bank Group uses to advise southern governments on strategies to improve productivity and competitiveness is Value Chain Analysis (VCA). FIAS has commissioned this report to enable it to adapt its approach to VCA to include an understanding of the factors enabling or hindering the adoption of CSR along agricultural supply chains. It would like to consider in more depth how governments can use CSR to promote agricultural exports and better integrate smaller producers into international food supply-chains. This report provides an overview of recent trends in CSR codes of conduct in the agriculture sector and explores how VCA can be used to highlight the nature of codes, what drives their adoption and factors affecting their implementation. It explores the enabling environment for the adoption of CSR practices, particularly the business case and the role that governments can play to facilitate the adoption of CSR, thereby improving competitiveness and increasing agricultural exports.

Pakistan - Improving the Performance of the Housing, Tourism and Retail Sectors (August 2005)

Each sector chapter in this report begins with a brief summary, followed by an evaluation of sector performance, an exposition of the main policy and institutional constraints to stronger industry performance, the value at stake if reforms are not undertaken, and recommendations for quick, medium- and longer-term reform options.

Rising Informality: Reversing the Tide (August 2005)

By some estimates more than 30 percent of the developing world’s GDP and 70 percent of its workers are outside the official economy. The implications: Most small firms are trapped in low-productivity operations with little access to finance, key government services, and formal customers. Workers lack safety and social protection. And bigger, better-connected firms use “unfair” informal practices to beat out more productive formal competitors. The result is slower economic growth and a growing social divide between the informal and formal parts of society.

CSR in the Tourism Industry? The Status of and Potential for Certification, Codes of Conduct and Guidelines (June 2005)

This study is a follow-up to earlier reports commissioned by the World Bank Group which have assessed Company Codes of Conduct and International Standards, Implementation Mechanisms for Codes of Conducts as well as various Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) reports. The objective of this study was to assess whether the development of national certification schemes may help countries to a) address expectations of tourists, investors and supply chain actors such as tour operators and travel agencies, b) ensure the sustainable development of their tourism industry, c) ensure a localisation of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda by guaranteeing that certification standards are developed in accordance with national criteria and d) whether certification schemes have contributed to spreading sustainable tourism practices or would align with international criteria or standards.