Even while India is enjoying unprecedented economic growth, as one of the most populous countries in the world a vast number of its citizens still live below the poverty line, especially in rural areas. The government realized that dealing with this problem requires adopting best international practices. Very few poverty reducing models, however, are adaptable on such a large scale. China is the one country with a comparable population and has been widely recognized for its policies to reduce absolute poverty and develop rural areas.

To help reduce poverty, the Government of Vietnam sought to consolidate and modernize social protection programs. Vietnamese officials visited China and India to learn about ways to design, target, and manage social protection and social insurance programs. The visits built consensus on next steps for reform in Vietnam, including possible support for social protection through a Bank lending project.

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As in many other East Asian countries, the number of people living in poverty in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam has declined in the past decade. However, persisting poverty in less advantaged geographic areas and ethnic groups is still a challenge. The governments of the three countries were eager to gain practical lessons on innovative Community Driven Development (CDD) models that have been successful in several South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka.

In December 2009, Moldova began a journey of government transformation using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Moldova’s leadership wanted to leverage ICT to increase the country’s growth, following the example of Singapore and other countries that have used ICT to become global leaders in competitiveness. Senior Moldovan officials participated in a high-level workshop with Singaporean experts, followed by a high-level round table in August 2010 with the World Bank’s President Zoellick, leading e-government experts, and the former prime minister of Estonia.

Indian Railways (IR) is Asia’s second largest rail system, moving some 30 million passengers and 2.8 million tons of freight daily.¹ Railways are critical to both economic growth and reducing environmental impacts; and Indian officials recognized the need for a long-term strategy to expand and modernize India’s railways to meet the needs of its burgeoning economy.

The Mission Convergence (MC) or “Samajik Suvidha Sangam” in Hindi is an initiative by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) that aims to alleviate poverty and improve government social programs. GNCTD officials needed help and information on how to incorporate multiple poverty reduction programs into an improved program.

Growth in the Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing sector (IT-BPO) can transform a country’s economy and improve the lives of its citizens. No country is a better example than India, which has achieved phenomenal growth in this sector. As of 2010, India could boast of a 64 percent share of globally off-shored IT services and a 37 percent share in IT-enabled services (ITES)¹.  Skills development has been a key driver of that growth.

While Tanzania and Uganda had taken measures to increase milk production, including creation of National Dairy Development Boards (NDDBs), problems in the milk supply chains continued to hamper milk output. Tanzanian and Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture and other dairy sector officials wanted to learn from India, where a “white revolution” had expanded milk production dramatically over two decades.

Morocco sought to learn from India’s success in dealing with coastal zone overexploitation to help address sustainable management of its coastal resources for rapid and sustainable growth, improved governance, poverty eradication, and better social conditions to benefit smallholder farmers and fishermen as well as private sector investors.

Challenge

Regardless of their political side, all stakeholders agree that alleviating Cairo’s traffic congestion is a top priority. Public transport services are far short of what they should be in a city the size of Cairo with 17 million people and growing rapidly. The Cairo Transport Authority (CTA), the main bus operator, has suffered from the traditional inefficiencies as­sociated with state-owned enterprises isolated from competitive pressures.