Contains an updated comprehensive explanation of the criteria, procedures and methodology used in establishing which countries are eligible for inclusion in, or recommended for graduation from, the least developed country (LDC) category. It also provides an overview of the special support measures that can be derived from having least developed country status.

Deep trade agreements (DTAs) cover not just trade but additional policy areas, such as international flows of investment and labor and the protection of intellectual property rights and the environment. Their goal is integration beyond trade or deep integration. These agreements matter for economic development. Their rules influence how countries (and hence, the people and firms that live and operate within them) transact, invest, work, and ultimately, develop. Trade and investment regimes determine the extent of economic integration, competition rules affect economic efficiency, intellectual property rights matter for innovation, and environmental and labor rules contribute to environmental and social outcomes. This Handbook provides the tools and data needed to analyze these new dimensions of integration and to assess the content and consequences of DTAs. The Handbook and the accompanying database are the result of collaboration between experts in different policy areas from academia and other international organizations, including the International Trade Centre (ITC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and World Trade Organization (WTO).

Economic and social progress requires a diverse ecosystem of firms that play complementary roles. Making It Big: Why Developing Countries Need More Large Firms constitutes one of the most up-to-date assessments of how large firms are created in low- and middle-income countries and their role in development. It argues that large firms advance a range of development objectives in ways that other firms do not: large firms are more likely to innovate, export, and offer training and are more likely to adopt international standards of quality, among other contributions. Their particularities are closely associated with productivity advantages and translate into improved outcomes not only for their owners but also for their workers and for smaller enterprises in their value chains. The challenge for economic development, however, is that production does not reach economic scale in low- and middle-income countries. Why are large firms scarcer in developing countries? Drawing on a rare set of data from public and private sources, as well as proprietary data from the International Finance Corporation and case studies, this book shows that large firms are often born large—or with the attributes of largeness. In other words, what is distinct about them is often in place from day one of their operations. To fill the “missing top†? of the firm-size distribution with additional large firms, governments should support the creation of such firms by opening markets to greater competition. In low-income countries, this objective can be achieved through simple policy reorientation, such as breaking oligopolies, removing unnecessary restrictions to international trade and investment, and establishing strong rules to prevent the abuse of market power. Governments should also strive to ensure that private actors have the skills, technology, intelligence, infrastructure, and finance they need to create large ventures. Additionally, they should actively work to spread the benefits from production at scale across the largest possible number of market participants. This book seeks to bring frontier thinking and evidence on the role and origins of large firms to a wide range of readers, including academics, development practitioners and policy makers.

The present Handbook contains a comprehensive explanation of the criteria, procedures and methodology used in establishing which countries are eligible for inclusion in, or recommended for graduation from, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) category. It also provides an overview of the special support measures that can be derived from having least developed country status and the implications of graduating from the list in terms of the potential loss of such measures. The Handbook aims at promoting a better understanding of the LDC category and the benefits derived from membership therein.

The Manual of Tests and Criteria contains criteria, test methods and procedures to be used for classification of dangerous goods according to the provisions of Parts 2 and 3 of the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations, as well as of chemicals presenting physical hazards according to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). As a consequence, it supplements also national or international regulations which are derived from the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods or the GHS. At its ninth session (7 December 2018), the Committee adopted a set of amendments to the sixth revised edition of the Manual as amended by Amendment 1. This seventh revised edition takes account of these amendments. In addition, noting that the work to facilitate the use of the Manual in the context of the GHS had been completed, the Committee considered that the reference to the "Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods" in the title of the Manual was no longer appropriate, and decided that from now on, the Manual should be entitled "Manual of Tests and Criteria".

The United Nations definitive report on the state of the world economy, providing global and regional economic outlook for 2019 and 2020. Produced by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the five UN regional commissions, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, with contributions from the UN World Tourism Organization.

In light of the current economic difficulties facing traditional development partners and the non-sustainable and non-inclusive nature of performance of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) over the last decade, LDC governments need new development paths to tap into dynamic growth poles in the South. This publication explores the role of South-South cooperation and regional developmentalism, and finds that, in order to benefit from evolving South-South relations, LDCs need to transform into Catalytic Development States that are highly sensitive to LDC vulnerabilities and offer new policy agendas.