Myanmar debuts in Doing Business Report
Myanmar for the first time ever featured in the World Bank’s new report on doing business in global economies. The report named “Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises” was released on October 29 by World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The report finds 22 of 23 economies in East Asia and the Pacific have made their regulatory environments more business-friendly since 2005. Among the region’s economies, China made the greatest progress in improving business regulations for local entrepreneurs.
According to this year’s report, Singapore continues to be the most business-friendly in the world for eight consecutive years, followed by Hong Kong. Malaysia jumps from 12th to sixth place, and the Philippines ranks among the top 10 economies making the biggest improvement in business regulation in the past year.
However, Myanmar just ranked 182nd overall behind Zimbabwe (170th) and Venezuela (181st) and just ahead of the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (183rd). The poor ranking comes as the country begins to modernise regulations to match growing interest from foreign investors.
According to the Bank, Myanmar ranks last in the world for ease in starting a business, citing a lengthy registration process of 72 days that is spent navigating outdated laws and bureaucratic practices that force entrepreneurs into an average of 11 different registration processes. Minimum capital costs remain high, averaging 7,016 per cent of income per capita, while total expenditures equate to 176.7 per cent of income per capita.
“Economies still require entrepreneurs to deposit capital before registering a business. This amount varies greatly–from 1 euro in Germany to more than $58,000 in Myanmar,” the report states.
Myanmar also performed poorly for its ability to enforce contracts, ranking 188th in the world, or second to last, as it takes an average 1160 days, or more than three years, to settle, while the process is expensive – averaging 51.5 per cent of claims.
Myanmar did not break into the top 100 for any of the ten categories, but the World Bank credited it for its reduction of the corporate income tax rate last year from 30 to 25pc, ranking Myanmar 107th in the world when it comes to paying taxes.
Myanmar for the first time ever featured in the World Bank's new report on doing business in global economies. The report named "Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises" was released on October 29 by World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The report finds 22 of 23 economies in East Asia and the Pacific have made their regulatory environments more business-friendly since 2005. Among the region's economies, China made the greatest progress in improving business regulations for local entrepreneurs. According to this year's report, Singapore continues to be the most business-friendly in the world for...
Myanmar for the first time ever featured in the World Bank’s new report on doing business in global economies. The report named “Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises” was released on October 29 by World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The report finds 22 of 23 economies in East Asia and the Pacific have made their regulatory environments more business-friendly since 2005. Among the region’s economies, China made the greatest progress in improving business regulations for local entrepreneurs.
According to this year’s report, Singapore continues to be the most business-friendly in the world for eight consecutive years, followed by Hong Kong. Malaysia jumps from 12th to sixth place, and the Philippines ranks among the top 10 economies making the biggest improvement in business regulation in the past year.
However, Myanmar just ranked 182nd overall behind Zimbabwe (170th) and Venezuela (181st) and just ahead of the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (183rd). The poor ranking comes as the country begins to modernise regulations to match growing interest from foreign investors.
According to the Bank, Myanmar ranks last in the world for ease in starting a business, citing a lengthy registration process of 72 days that is spent navigating outdated laws and bureaucratic practices that force entrepreneurs into an average of 11 different registration processes. Minimum capital costs remain high, averaging 7,016 per cent of income per capita, while total expenditures equate to 176.7 per cent of income per capita.
“Economies still require entrepreneurs to deposit capital before registering a business. This amount varies greatly–from 1 euro in Germany to more than $58,000 in Myanmar,” the report states.
Myanmar also performed poorly for its ability to enforce contracts, ranking 188th in the world, or second to last, as it takes an average 1160 days, or more than three years, to settle, while the process is expensive – averaging 51.5 per cent of claims.
Myanmar did not break into the top 100 for any of the ten categories, but the World Bank credited it for its reduction of the corporate income tax rate last year from 30 to 25pc, ranking Myanmar 107th in the world when it comes to paying taxes.
