SINGAPORE: Singapore has maintained its top ranking in the
World Bank's survey on ease of doing business for the fourth
straight year.
But the World Bank's "Doing Business" report said there is
still room for improvement, as Singapore lags behind in areas such
as property registration and enforcing contracts.
Despite having been ranked the easiest place to do business for
three years running, Singapore continued to implement more reforms
over the past year, helping it to remain on top for the fourth
time.
New Zealand came in second, while Hong Kong took the third
place.
Four more Asia-Pacific countries clinched the top 20 places in the
survey, with Australia at number 9, Thailand in 12th place, Japan
in 15th and South Korea in 19th.
The World Bank said Singapore simplified business start-ups by
making it possible to incorporate a company and register for taxes
by using the same online form.
Singapore also made it easier to deal with construction permits,
with new workplace safety and health regulations that allow
low-risk industries to submit documents online.
In addition, Singapore eased property registration by improving its
computerised system.
However, property registration remained Singapore's weakest point.
It was ranked 16th in the world in this area, lagging behind
countries such as Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and Thailand.
The World Bank noted that in Singapore, property registration
requires three procedures and five days. It said Singapore could
perhaps learn a thing or two from some of the economies that came
out tops in this area.
Sylvia Solf, programme manager of the "Doing Business" report,
said: "One example is Norway. In Norway, you go through your
lawyer, there's an electronic system, the land cadastral is mapped
directly to the registry.
"Everything is done electronically, very secure and the land
transfer is a question of an hour. It's the most efficient system
that we have seen globally, and that could maybe be an inspiration
for how to move forward in Singapore."
Another weak area for Singapore was the enforcement of contracts,
in which it was ranked 13th globally. But this was mainly due to
cost.
While Singapore was ranked highly when it comes to the speed and
efficiency of the court system, it costs almost 26 per cent of the
claim to enforce a contract here, compared to about 12 per cent in
Thailand and just 6 per cent in Iceland.
- CNA/ir
