This Zambia Investment ClimateAssessment (ICA) forms part of World Bank Group globalinitiative to systematically analyze conditions for privateinvestment and enterprise growth. Improving the investmentclimate is recognized as a key pillar of developingcountries' path to promote economic growth and reducepoverty. The I C A compliments and amplifies a series ofdiagnostic work on this issue being undertaken by the WorldBank Group in collaboration with the Government of Zambia.Throughout this report, empirical results showing therelative position of Zambia versus potential competitorswill be presented. To understand the quality of investmentclimate in Zambia from the perspective of the privatesector, the report draws on the results of a firm surveyconducted in 2003, covering a sample of more than 200service and manufacturing firms, large and small, located indifferent parts of Zambia.' This Investment ClimateAssessment has three key parts: Empirical analysis ofproductivity; examination of investment climate constraints;and strategy for improving the investment climate andproductivity. The report contains ordered recommendations infive key areas:Macroeconomics and finance, public-privatesector interactions, infrastructure, labor market issues,and rule of law.