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Standards and regulations are an integral, if easily overlooked, part of our daily life. They determine whether a plug fits into a socket, whether food is safe for human consumption or whether a bank...

This report looks at the missing link to inclusive growth for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are less productive relative to large firms in the developing world than in the developed world...

The 2017 Commodities and Development Report investigates the transmission channels through which commodity dependence affects micro- and macro-level development outcomes, examines long-term commodity...

This year’s report focuses on regional trade, the most common form of trade for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It contains 50 country profiles, featuring detailed SME competitiveness...

Smallholder farmers constitute the largest contingent of the poor and yet they produce more than 80 per cent of the world's food, in value terms. Though there are marked differences by country and...

The Commodities and Development Report 2012, released during the 13th session of UNCTAD, shows that developing countries suffer from high prices for commodities and food, in particular Least Developed...

This report highlights pathways to economic diversification in commodity-dependent developing countries in an environment where decarbonization of the global economy has become the overarching...

This SME Competitiveness Outlook assesses the impact of conflict and fragility on business performance. It unveils a Fragility Exposure Index, and shows that fragility, as experienced by firms, can be...

Our services sectors are key to an economic transformation. This report calls them ‘connected services. Transport and logistics, financial services, information and communication technologies, and...

Commodity dependence is a trap: once a country is commodity dependent, it is difficult to develop a productive sector out of commodities and export non-commodity products. This publication argues that...

The SME Competitiveness Outlook 2021 analyses how small businesses can rebuild from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic so they are better prepared to face the looming crisis of climate change. It...

This report explores key aspects of the two-way relationship between commodities and climate change, discusses the concept of natural resource conversion and explores its application to renewable and...

Increasing annual investments in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries by $1 trilling would yield disproportionate dividends in terms of progress towards the Sustainable...

New technologies like advanced robotics, 3-D printing, big data and the internet of things are rapidly changing the way in which firms do business. A strong business ecosystem is necessary to manage...

This publication is released at a time where the world is carefully moving out of the 'great lockdown' stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, a partial or complete lockdown of the majority of...