Washington, D.C., September 9, 2009
—In a record year for regulatory reform worldwide, most South Asian economies strengthened business regulations and made them more efficient, creating more opportunities for local firms.
A record 131 of 183 economies around the globe reformed business regulation between June 2008 and May 2009, according to
Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times
, the seventh in a series of annual reports published by IFC and the World Bank. In South Asia, six of eight economies reformed.
Bangladesh, the region’s most active reformer, implemented an online company registration system—cutting start-up time by nearly a month—cut corporate income taxes, and expedited trade by introducing an automated customs clearance system at its main port.
India improved its score on the "closing a business" indicator by taking steps to ease resolution of insolvency cases—a critical area in times of crisis. The recent report,
Doing Business in India 2009
, which goes beyond Mumbai to look at the application of business regulations in 17 major cities across India, shows the tremendous potential in India for drawing on home-grown good practices to cut red tape and streamline regulation.
Nepal lowered property transfer costs. Pakistan made it easier to start a business by introducing an e-service registration system. And Sri Lanka improved access to credit information to help expand access to finance.
“In an active year of business regulatory reform, economies in South Asia have picked up their reform pace—though there is still room for more action,” said Dahlia Khalifa, an author of the report. “Governments are paying attention to the quality of business regulation to make their economies more competitive and encourage local entrepreneurs. Making it easier to start, operate, and even close a business is always important, but especially during these difficult times.”
This year, there were 4 new reformers among the global top 10: Liberia, the United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan and Moldova. Others include Rwanda, the top global reformer, Egypt, Belarus, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Colombia. Colombia and Egypt have been top global reformers in four of the past seven years.
Doing Business
analyzes regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycles, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business.
Doing Business
does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors. For example, it does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, skill level, or the strength of financial systems.
About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please visit
www.worldbank.org
,
www.miga.org
, and
www.ifc.org
.
For more information on
Doing Business 2010,
please contact:
Nadine Ghannam +1 (202) 473-3011 Rebecca Ong +1 (202) 458-0434
E-mail: nsghannam@ifc.org E-mail: rong@worldbank.org
Contacts for region-specific queries on
Doing Business 2010:
South Asia
Minakshi Seth +91 (11) 4111-1058 Jan Erik Nora +1 (202) 458-4735
E-mail: mseth@ifc.org E-mail: enora@worldbank.org
