Greater Heights: Growing to High Income in Europe and Central Asia 

Hello,

We have the pleasure of inviting you to the presenation of the report "Greater Heights: Growing to High Income in Europe and Central Asia".

Speaker
Ivailo Izvorski
Chief Economist
Europe and Central Asia region
World Bank

Moderator
Robert Holzmann
Governor
Oesterreichische Nationalbank

Date and time
Monday, March 24, 2025, 2:00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m. (CET)

Venue
Oesterreichische Nationalbank
Veranstaltungssaal, Ground Floor
Otto-Wagner-Platz 3, 1090 Vienna
or
online via Webex

Abstract
Twenty-seven countries have reached high-income status since 1990. Ten of these are in the Europe and Central Asia region and have joined the European Union. Another 20 in the region have become more prosperous since the 1990s. However, their transition to high-income status has been delayed. This reflects partly a slowdown in structural reforms at home and partly the challenges associated with a deterioration in the global environment.

The concern has emerged that many countries in the region may be caught in the middle-income trap, a phase in development characterized by a recurring deceleration in growth and by per capita incomes that are systematically below the high-income threshold. To ensure that these countries overcome the obstacles to growth and achieve progress toward high-income status, policy makers need to make the transition from a strategy driven largely by investment to a strategy that is supported by the importation and diffusion of global capital, knowledge, and technology and then to a strategy that complements these with innovation.

The report Greater Heights: Growing to High Income in Europe and Central Asia relies on the 3i strategy described in World Development Report 2024 - Investment, Infusion, and Innovation - to propose policy options to assist middle-income countries in Europe and Central Asia in the effort to reach high-income status. The key changes involve the need to discipline incumbents, boost the role of the private sector, strengthen the competitive environment, and reward merit. The emphasis on a strategy driven by innovation is also critically important for those countries that have already attained high-income status.

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OeNB Event-Management