The World Bank's Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) was held in Bangalore, India on May 21-23, 2003. The ABCDE, one of the world's best-known conferences on development, was held for the first time in a developing country. "Accelerating Development" was the theme of the 2003 conference. Eminent scholars and practitioners from around the world presented new research findings and discuss key policy issues related to poverty reduction at the conference. The ABCDE has been held annually in Washington DC since 1989; since 1999, a similar conference has been held each year in Europe. Starting with the 2003 conference in Bangalore, each of these conferences will be held in a developing country every other year. This change reflects the growing importance of research done in developing countries and the need to bring such conferences closer to participants in the developing world. Conference topics for the ABCDE in Bangalore included: Fostering Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Growth; Challenges of Development in Lagging Regions; Participation, Inclusion and Results; Scaling Up and Evaluation. |