LONDON (TrustLaw) – The majority of the world’s economies implemented reforms in the last year that improved business conditions for local companies, a Thursday report by the World Bank says.
The World Bank’s “Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World” ranked economies in ten areas of business regulation including ease of starting a new business, availability of credit and dealing with construction permits. The report found that governments in 123 of the 183 economies surveyed had implemented reforms in the last year that improved local business conditions.
“At a time when persistent unemployment and the need for job creation are in the headlines, governments around the world continue to seek ways to improve the regulatory climate for domestic business,” Augusto Lopez-Claros, director of global indicators and analysis at the World Bank Group, said in a news release.
“Small and medium businesses that benefit most from these improvements are the key engines for job creation in many parts of the world,” Lopez-Claros added.
Morocco saw the greatest improvement in its score compared to last year’s ranking, moving from 94th to 73rd. Other countries to have significantly improved their business regulations were Moldova, Macedonia, Sao Tome and Principe and Latvia, the report said.
The report named Singapore as the easiest place to do business followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, Denmark, the United States, Norway, the United Kingdom and South Korea. South Korea was a new entrant to the top ten this year, having made considerable progress on implementing e-governance initiatives, the report said. However, South Korea was not alone in favouring e-governance as a way of disseminating information about business regulation.
“More than 100 economies use electronic systems for services ranging from business registration to customs clearance to court filings,” Sylvia Solf, lead author of the report said in the news release.
“This saves time and money for business and government alike. It also provides new opportunities for increasing transparency,” Solf added.
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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