Ease of doing business: World Bank lauds developing countries over reforms

Reports from a World Bank Group has indicated that more developing countries have improved in the treatment of their citizens with reforms on ease of doing businesses having positive impacts on starting and operations of small and medium-sized businesses.

The research work, Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All, is the World Bank Group’s annual report on the ease of doing business.

The new report finds that developing countries carried out more than 75 percent of the 283 reforms in the past year, with Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for over one-quarter of all reforms.

According to the research work, “a record 137 economies around the world have adopted key reforms that make it easier to start and operate small and medium-sized businesses”.

Doing Business 2017, in its global country rankings of business efficiency awarded its coveted top spot to New Zealand. Singapore ranks second, followed by Denmark; Hong Kong SAR, China; Republic of Korea; Norway; United Kingdom; United States; Sweden; and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Speaking on the impacts of the reforms adopted by the countries, Paul Romer, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President said,

“Simple rules that are easy to follow are a sign that a government treats its citizens with respect. They yield direct economic benefits – more entrepreneurship; more market opportunities for women; more adherence to the rule of law,”

Furthermore, he stressed that “we should also remember that being treated with respect is something that people value for its own sake and that a government that fails to treat its citizens this way will lose its ability to lead.”

In the report, the world’s top 10 improvers, based on reforms undertaken, are Brunei Darussalam; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Belarus; Indonesia; Serbia; Georgia; Pakistan; United Arab Emirates (UAE); and Bahrain.

The report cites research that demonstrates that better performance in Doing Business is, on average, associated with lower levels of income inequality, thereby reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity.