Indices for benchmarking productive capacities for evidence-based policymaking in landlocked developing countries

Unlike other developing countries, landlocked developing countries find themselves in multiple development challenges.

On the one hand, their geographical disadvantages, such as remoteness from international markets and the resulting high transit-transport costs and relatively small domestic markets, continue to undermine their international competitiveness.

On the other hand, their heavy dependence on low-value, high-volume primary commodities for exports, weak productive capacities and the overall lack of structural transformation in their economies have compounded further their prospects for growth, poverty reduction and overall development.

Objective:

To strengthen the capacity of selected landlocked developing countries to develop productive capacity indices and use them to support evidence-based policymaking.

With this objective in mind, the project assists in defining the conceptual, methodological and statistical framework for identifying, selecting and validating indicators, which will be used in the construction of Productive capacity Indices.

Outputs:

Country case studies will be undertaken in the three beneficiary countries with the view to assessing the state and condition of policy and institutional framework for building productive capacities.

As key component of the project, series of national training and capacity building workshops - both at the expert level and policy level- will also be organized on conceptual and methodological and statistical issues as well as use of PCIs in the formulation and implementation of domestic development policies and strategies.

As an additional important output, the project will have a web portal for online publication of the PCIs together with key indicators used in the construction of the indices.

Expected accomplishments:

Increased capacity of relevant ministries and entities to measure and benchmark productive capacities with the help of productive capacity indices.
Increased capacity of policymakers in beneficiary countries to understand, interpret and use productive capacity indices as a tool to formulate and monitor policies and strategies aimed at enhancing productive capacity and structural transformation.
Improved capacity of selected countries to regularly collect statistics and related information in key areas of productive capacities.