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The signs of digital technology adoption are evident across Southeast Asia. In big cities, the use of mobile phones for messaging and social media has become ubiquitous. Ride-sharing services and delivery riders using apps to obtain their next booking are changing the face of urban transport and other services. As consumers go online to purchase products, they are recasting the future of brick-and-mortar retail businesses. The impacts of the digital revolution are not limited to a few prominent social networking sites, online businesses, or mobile apps. Digital platforms - a combination of technical innovation, new business models, and value proposition - in the private and in some cases the public sector, offer a range of products and services via digital channels. The use of digital technology is transforming - indeed, disrupting - all sectors, notably services such as logistics and finance, but also industrial production and agriculture. These are all visible manifestations of a growing digital economy. Southeast Asia is primed to embrace this digital revolution. There is a high level of interest from governments, businesses, and individuals in the region to support the growth of the digital economy and maximize its benefits. There is significant excitement about the rise of e-commerce platforms and app-based companies - including the region's own "unicorn" technology companies. Southeast Asia leads the world in some indicators on the use of the Internet, for example in social media and messaging.

Access to Finance --- Consumer Protection --- E-Commerce

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Bhutan has been reforming its doing business environment in recent years as part of a policy shift to improving its investment climate and economic performance.Overall, it is ranked 75 out of 190 countries and is the highest ranked country in the South Asia region, significantly outperforming Bangladesh and Pakistan. In the last decade, as part of a Government policy agenda to improve competitiveness, Bhutan has launched across the board reforms in many areas.During the DB 2018 period, there was not a reform momentum in Bhutan. The very slight downgrading of the ranking can be attributed to reform inertia after a decade of success. Another factor for the lack of improvements in DC in 2018 has been Government focus on other reforms, especially involving hydropower, cottage and small industries and SOE's.Reforms clearly need acceleration after a decade of strong reform momentum, spurred by desire to see improvements in Bhutan's overall ranking has not moved significantly in either direction. There has been significant improvement in dealing with construction permits and in enforcing contracts but deterioration in protecting minority investors and registering property. The lack of forward momentum reflects slippages in reform momentum due to policy environment and shifting government priorities.First, access to credit in Bhutan is improving due to the expansion of the scope of collateralizable assets and the deepening of the credit bureaus. Second, the National Land Commission, a competent and responsible public agency managing land administration, has made progress in terms of land registration and online portals. According to the National Land Commission (NLC), the average days to register property declined from 54 days in 2016 to 42 days in 2018. Finally, recent Government attempts to streamline regulations and dismantle administrative complexities should help reduce transactions costs for private operators.top of these areas, Bhutan's business climate remains constrained by imperfections in factor markets, limited access to product markets, and state dominance.The focus has been on ways to set up businesses, improve construction permits, improve credit bureaus, ensure better land registration, and protect minority investors. The Bank/IFC team is working in close collaboration with this new team and providing relevant international experience and support.

Access to Finance --- Business Environment --- Investment Climate --- Property Rights --- Trade

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This report seeks to support the larger jobs study by examining how investment in South Sudan's food sector can not only address food security needs, it can generate income and lay the foundation for livelihood and job creation in the country. It argues that applying a value chain lens to investments in the sector can contribute to creating direct, indirect, and induced labor in the food system. The goal is to move the country from a dependency on humanitarian aid to building recovery and resilience in the short term in a way that can produce stable jobs over the medium to long term. More specifically, it looks at the potential technology and organizational arrangements that investment programs can start supporting now to stimulate value chain development for increased economic activity and job creation. The assumption is that significant donor support will still be necessary for the short to medium term to support investments in reconstruction and food security. As security spreads, public sector capacity to support development can grow, private actors can establish or expand their operations, and the donor community can begin to disengage, addressing only the neediest communities while development organizations continue to work with the public and private sector actors to support development and economic transformation.

Access to Finance --- Finance --- Job Creation --- Land Tenure --- Marketing --- Trade

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Decentralized solar home systems (SHS), coupled with asset finance, can provide affordable and reliable electricity to the off-grid population in Pakistan and can augment the energy supply where the grid is available but the electricity supply is limited. Pakistan ranks high on the metric of market readiness for SHS technology. In addition, the country has all the underlying system requirements to leverage mobile banking for growing the local SHS market. In 2020, there were 167.3 million cellular mobile subscribers providing mobile phone access to 95 percent of the country's households. The GSM Association (GSMA) estimates that close to 30 million people, or 14 percent of the total population in Pakistan, is covered by a mobile network before having access to the grid. This brief analysis was compiled by the World Bank to assess the potential for using mobile banking to scale the SHS market in Pakistan. The report explores the synergy between mobile banking services and SHS businesses, and develops a use case for mobile wallets in SHS business models through a case study of the SHS market in Sindh, Pakistan.

Access To Finance --- Energy --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Regulation and Supervision --- Solar Energy

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Cambodia's openness to trade and financial flows has fueled one of the fastest credit growth episodes in Asia.A remarkable expansion in formal microfinance lenders contributed to increased access to credit. Since the promulgation of the National Strategy for Microfinance in 2007, Cambodia's microfinance sector has expanded rapidly, with both assets and credit growing at annualized rates of over 40 percent. While access to credit has helped ease financial constraints for households, one key concern is how the cost of credit and increased exposure to risk might affect household welfare. At the household level, low financial literacy could result in poor borrowing decisions and heighten risks. There are concerns that households may be over-borrowing and increasing their exposure to risks, as there are signs that the market is already highly saturated, given estimated absorption capacity at this level of development. This policy note assesses the impact of access to credit on household welfare in Cambodia and providesevidence on the drivers of the cost of credit in the microfinances sector. To fill the existing knowledge gaps, this policy note uses the latest available data from official sources to provide evidence on (i) the impact of microcredit on household welfare, (ii) profitability and cost of credit in the microfinance sector, and (iii) the effects of the interest rate cap in the sector. This note ultimately presents a series of policy options aimed at facilitating affordability and reducing the cost of credit, while maintaining sector profitability and minimizing risks (both for households and the financial system). The policy options have been developed in consultation with sector stakeholders.

Access to Finance --- Consumer Protection --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Rural Development