Regional Integration

Join us in a conversation with William Maloney, Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, and high-level experts, as we explore new growth opportunities emerging in the global economy and how the region can actively engage to drive inclusive and sustainable development. 

Our 8th #OneSouthAsia Conversation will share the experiences of such pioneer investor firms and explore the ways intraregional investments can be strengthened to boost robust recovery and overall economic growth in South Asia.

Registration not required. Visit this page when the event goes live. Regional integration, cooperation, and engagement can produce significant gains across South Asia. Intra-regional trade, for instance, stands at only a third of its potential with an estimated gap of $23 billion. Cooperation in energy between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal could lead to savings of $17 billion. Transporting goods across the region can cost up to 50 percent more than within the OECD countries. As South Asia grapples with the economic impact of COVID-19, it has an opportunity to strengthen regional institutions, improve regional infrastructure and connectivity, advance trade policy, and develop cross-border solutions to shared problems The One South Asia webinar series is part of the World Bank’s updated regional integration, cooperation, and engagement strategy for South Asia that focuses on enabling economic connectivity, reducing vulnerabilities, and investing in human capital. We invite you to send questions to panelists by email: OneSouthAsia@worldbank.org Join the conversation online with #OneSouthAsia  

Global leaders, activists, and investors gathered Thursday to discuss the power of infrastructure and the critical role it plays in connecting people to opportunity. Through a series of TED-style talks, speakers shared compelling examples of how regional integration, investment and innovation in infrastructure have worked to deliver better outcomes for communities and countries.  Panelists reflected on the examples shared and discussed priorities for bridging the infrastructure gap, including greater accessibility, more and better data, innovative financing vehicles, and expanded partnerships.

The first Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) West Africa Regional Summit will bring together heads of state, leaders of multilateral development banks, key We-Fi government representatives, private sector executives, and women entrepreneurs to discuss ways to expand opportunities for women-led small and medium-sized enterprises in West Africa. With a focus on the role of technology in supporting agribusiness and other high-growth industries, the Summit aims to galvanize high-level support for public policy reforms and private sector actions to promote women’s entrepreneurship in the region. The Summit is hosted by His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and organized by We-Fi in collaboration with the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank. The recording above shows the Fireside Chat with Kristalina Georgieva and Ivanka Trump, followed by a Women Entrepreneurs Panel. For the full replay of the event, please see below.

The State of the Africa Region event opened on a musical note with a performance by Menes la Plume, a songwriter, hip-hop artist and poet. La Plume, a refugee and activist living in Malawi, closed with a crowd-pleasing rendition of “Malaika.”    Hafez Ghanem, World Bank Vice President for Africa, welcomed the standing-room only crowd, highlighting the need for regional cooperation in tackling entrenched challenges, particularly fragility, the effects of which traverse national borders. He spoke of the importance of digital interventions in transforming African economies, sharing the story of a young Malian man who used a 3D printer to build a prosthetic hand for a girl who had lost hers as an example of young people using technology to create solutions.  Albert Zeufack, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa, added that the digital revolution could add up to 2 percentage points to Africa’s growth annually, while reducing poverty by 1 percentage point.  There was a touching moment of solidarity when Hassan ...

With the growth of much of the East Asia Pacific (EAP) region having been built on the expansion of exports and foreign direct investment, improving connectivity—intra-regionally as well as globally--is now recognized as the next step in sustaining inclusive growth for the region.  As a result, investment programs and trade initiatives are being put forward, including the Belt & Road, the Silk Road Fund, the TPP trade agreement, and a number of sub-regional connectivity initiatives—including the ASEAN Economic Community’s Connectivity Plan and the Mekong Economic Corridor--are being implemented.  Hear directly from governments in EAP as well as other financiers of trade and economic corridor programs on how plans for regional integration and World Bank initiatives can help improve the quality of cross-border investment planning and economic corridor management.

At a time when other regions are looking inward, this event will highlight the way in which Latin America, and particularly Argentina and Pacific Alliance countries, are taking steps to better integrate with the rest of the world, to boost growth and tackle their development challenges. The Pacific Alliance is a regional integration initiative comprised by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, some of the most dynamic economies in LAC. It seeks to be a new generation agreement, with a strong outward-looking focus and a platform for common approaches to issues such as poverty reduction, competitiveness, protecting the environment and cultural promotion.