WASHINGTON: Singapore remains the easiest place to
do business, the World Bank said in a report published on
Wednesday, with the Asian financial centre keeping its title for a
sixth straight year.
2011 set a record for regulatory reforms that boost
business conditions, among emerging-market and developing economies
in particular, the annual "Doing Business" survey of 183 countries
found.
After Singapore, rounding out the top five and
unchanged from 2010 were, in order, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the
United States and Denmark.
Among the major emerging economies, China was middle-ranked at
91st, ahead of Russia (120th), Brazil (126th) and India
(132nd).
For the report, the World Bank gathered information on changes in
legal frameworks, administrative procedures and technical obstacles
in launching or expanding a business.
The Washington-based development lender also drew on public
institutions, universities, legal experts and entrepreneurs to
measure trading conditions.
Africa overall ranked at the bottom of the list, despite efforts to
improve, the World Bank report said.
Dahlia Khalifa, a co-author of the report, told AFP that 2011 saw
125 economies implementing 245 institutional regulatory reforms, an
all-time high.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 36 of 46 governments improved the regulatory
environment for domestic businesses in 2010/11 - a record number
since 2005, according to the survey.
Chad, however, ranked last. The next four poorest performers, in
ascending order, were Eritrea, East Timor, the Democratic Republic
of Congo and the Central African Republic.
- AFP/fa
