Doing business in the country has eased further over the past one year, according to the “Ease of Doing Business (EDB) 2014” index issued by the World Bank (WB), which ranked Bangladesh in the 130th position among 189 countries. The 2014 Doing Business Report, an annual survey on business environment around the world, was released on Monday.Bangladesh went two steps up the EDB 2014 index from the 132nd on the previous index.
The index comprising all economies was finalised on the basis of individual benchmarks in June 2013. A higher place on the index means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the start and operation of a local firm.
The index averaged the countries’ percentile rankings on 10 topics, made up of a variety of indicators, giving equal weight to each topic, said the annual survey of the WB.
In South Asia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal were more business-friendly than Bangladesh as the countries were placed at 85th, 95th and 105th places on the EDB index 2014.
The three countries were, however, placed at 83rd, 81st and 103rd places respectively on the EDB 2013 index.
The index for 2014 placed Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Myanmar in 85th, 110th, 134th, 141st, 164th and 182nd positions respectively as the business atmosphere deteriorated in those countries.
Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India were downgraded by two, four and three steps respectively from the 83rd, 106th and 131st positions on the EDB 2013 index. However Afghanistan and Bhutan improved their positions from 170th and 146th.
The business atmosphere in Myanmar was unchanged as it remained in the 182nd position as was on the previous index.
Georgia, Malaysia and eight other high-income economies remained the 10 most business-friendly countries on the globe.
But the gap between the developed and developing worlds is narrowing as countries such as Rwanda, the Philippines and the Russian Federation improve regulations to foster entrepreneurship and trade, according to the WB survey.
While the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) high-income economies continue to perform the best across most areas measured by the index, Eastern Europe and Central Asia is narrowing that gap. In 3 of the 10 areas, Europe and Central Asia are at the same level or ahead, and falls close behind in another two areas, the study has said.
Since 2009, 92 per cent of countries in the region have improved their process for starting a business – a higher share than any other region, says the World Bank-IFC survey, being published since 2003. Europe and Central Asia has overtaken East Asia and the Pacific over time as the second most business-friendly area after the OECD economies.
In Africa, 66 per cent of countries enacted at least one reform last year, vs. 33 per cent in 2005. Nine African countries are among the top 20 most improved economies in terms of business regulations since 2009: Benin, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
The Doing Business 2014, a World Bank Group flagship report, covers 189 economies and 10 indicator sets: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, paying taxes, trading across borders, getting credit, protecting investors, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.
Countries that have improved the most since 2005 include China in East Asia and the Pacific, Colombia in Latin America and the Caribbean, Rwanda in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Poland in the OECD high-income economies.
-With The Financial Express input
