Prioritizing Trade Over Aid requires building dynamic private sectors that create jobs, generate investment, and expand the tax base needed to fund national priorities. Rather than relying indefinitely on foreign assistance, governments can create the conditions for long-term economic self-reliance through growth-led development.
Achieving this transition requires a combination of sound policies, capable institutions, and competitive markets. Four areas are particularly important:
- Business, trade, and investment environment
- Public financial management
- Private sector development
- Financial sector development
Together, these reforms help countries attract investment, strengthen governance, create jobs, expand exports, and mobilize domestic resources for development. The following section addresses each of these reform areas.
The final section of this page presents country scores and rankings from the World Bank’s Business Ready (B-Ready) program, which measures the competitiveness of business and trade environments across ten key areas of economic performance: international trade, business entry, business location, utility services, labor, financial services, taxation, dispute resolution, market competition, and business insolvency. [Please scroll to the bottom to see the international trade and other B-Ready scores and rankings]
Improving the Business, Trade, and Investment Environment
A transparent, efficient, and rules-based business environment is the foundation of economic growth. By reducing regulatory barriers, improving trade facilitation, and strengthening investment frameworks, countries can encourage entrepreneurship, attract capital, and boost competitiveness.
Support Pro-Business Regulatory Reform: Align laws, regulations, and government procedures with international leading practices through regulatory modernization, digital transformation, effective implementation, and stronger public-private engagement.
Streamline Trade Facilitation: Create faster, more predictable, and more transparent trade processes by modernizing customs administration, reducing border delays, implementing risk-based inspections and post-clearance audits, and strengthening compliance with WTO and regional trade agreements.
Promote Investment: Improve investment frameworks, strengthen promotion agencies and attract investment through effective strategies and incentives.
Public Financial Management
Strong public financial management enables governments to finance their own development priorities. Effective budgeting, transparent procurement, modern tax administration, and rigorous auditing and oversight help maximize public resources, strengthen accountability, and reduce dependence on foreign assistance.
Improve Expenditure Management and Treasury Operations: Establish robust expenditure controls, strengthen transparency and reporting, and modernize treasury systems through single treasury accounts and government financial management information systems (GFMIS).
Strengthen Budget Formulation: Support multi-year budgeting processes and enhance budget planning procedures to enable long-term investments and more strategic allocation of resources.
Enhance Audit Functions: Build the capacity of Supreme Audit Institutions and align audit practices with internationally recognized standards.
Modernize Tax Administration: Support the development of tax policy frameworks, digital tax systems, compliance monitoring capabilities, and evidence-based tax analysis to increase domestic revenue collection.
Improve Public Procurement: Strengthening procurement systems to promote transparency, competition, value for money, and public trust through digital procurement and modern evaluation methods.
Strengthening Social Protection: Design and implement targeted social assistance programs that support vulnerable households while maintaining fiscal sustainability.
Private Sector Development
Building the skills and capabilities of the private sector is important so that all firms (including small and medium-sized companies and not just the very largest firms) can take advantage of the opportunities opening to them from market reforms. Firms need capabilities to do business planning, to manage their operations, to bring in finance and capital, and to identify and make deals in new markets, domestically and abroad.
Strengthen Business Capabilities: Help entrepreneurs and business managers improve strategic planning, operational management, access to finance, and market development skills.
Identify Competitive Industries: Conduct economic and market analyses to identify sectors with strong growth and export potential using tools such as Economic Complexity Index (ECI), revealed comparative advantage, and value-added analysis.
Increase Job-Relevant Skills: Support vocational education, workforce training, and employment services that align worker skills with private-sector demand.
Expand Market Access: Work with chambers of commerce, business associations, and exporters to strengthen trade promotion, business networking, country branding, and international market connections.
Support Standards and Certification: Help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) meet international standards and certification requirements needed to access high-value markets.
Financial Sector Development
Economic growth depends on a financial system that helps businesses access financing and capital while protecting against money-laundering, terror financing, and financial instability. By strengthening financial institutions, improving oversight, and expanding access to financing, financial sector reforms promote stability, support private-sector growth, and build a more resilient economy.
Strengthen Financial Supervision: Train central banks and regulators in modern supervisory approaches, risk management, financial stress testing, and crisis preparedness.
Enhance Deposit Insurance Systems: Improve deposit insurance frameworks and institutional capacity by aligning with international standards and best practices.
Combat Illicit Finance: Strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) systems, financial intelligence capabilities, and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance practices.
Expand Access to Credit: Support the transition toward credit-risk-based lending models that improve financing opportunities for SMEs and entrepreneurs.
Improve Financial Literacy: Equip SMEs with practical knowledge of financing instruments, financial management, and international trade finance tools.
Develop Non-Bank Financial Institutions: Support the regulatory and institutional frameworks needed for insurance companies, pension funds, leasing firms, and other non-bank financial institutions.
Expand Trade Finance: Promote wider use of trade finance instruments such as letters of credit and bills of exchange to facilitate international commerce.
World Bank Business Ready Scores and Rankings
The World Bank’s Business Ready (B-Ready) program assesses how effectively countries create an environment that supports private-sector growth and economic development. The framework evaluates economies across ten areas, including international trade, business entry, financial services, taxation, labor markets, dispute resolution, and market competition.
The analysis below focuses on international trade performance while also providing country scores across the other B-Ready categories. Regional charts highlight trade performance, while detailed tables present overall scores and results across the three B-Ready pillars:
- Regulatory Framework
- Public Services
- Operational Efficiency
Business Ready assessments currently cover 101 countries and provide a useful global benchmark for trade competitiveness and reform progress.
World Bank 2025 B-Ready Data
Data Source: World Bank B-READY Data (2025)
