Seminar Highlights Key Findings of “World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development”

The World Bank, in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of International Cooperation, Graduate School of Toyo Eiwa University, held a seminar on April 10, 2026, to present the key findings of the World Bank’s flagship publication, “World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development ”. The report emphasizes that standards are the hidden infrastructure of modern economies and a prerequisite for trust, trade, innovation, and public service delivery.

Following an overview of the report, including policy recommendations to developing economies, by Xavier Giné , Director in charge of the “World Development Report 2025”, and Kerina Wang, Program Manager, Knowledge for Change Program, World Bank, Homma Toru, Senior Advisor at JICA, joined the seminar online as a discussant.

In his presentation, Homma noted that this report is groundbreaking in demonstrating how standards can drive development in developing countries. He then presented the key findings of the report. He noted that it examines Japan’s period of rapid economic growth—often referred to as the “East Asian Miracle” (see WDR 2025 page 67)—during which the country placed strong emphasis on standardization and quality control in its industrial policy. Through coordinated efforts between the public and private sectors, Japan successfully transformed itself from a source of “shoddy imports” to a “paragon of global quality.” Finally, he introduced JICA’s cooperation on standards, including initiatives implemented in countries such as Indonesia, and on Quality and Productivity Improvement, known as Kaizen.

Xavier agreed with Homma’s points, and a lively discussion ensued, with questions from the audience during the Q&A session on issues such as approaches to promoting tiered standards.

Please check the following site for the seminar video once it is published.

To access the full report, please visit the link below: