Washington D.C./Sarajevo, October 20, 2011 — A new IFC and World Bank report finds that for the ninth consecutive year, Eastern Europe and Central Asia led other regions in improving regulations for entrepreneurs. Bosnia and Herzegovina slightly improved its ranking and is currently ranked at 125th place versus 127th last year.
Released today, Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 183 economies. The report ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency, and trading across borders. The study’s methodology expanded this year to include indicators on getting electricity connections. On the list of the most improved economies on the ease of doing business, two countries from Europe and Central Asia are among the top three in the world: Moldova is number two – moving up 18 places from 99 to 81 – and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is number three – moving up 12 places from 34 to 22.
This past year, 21 of the region’s 24 economies improved business regulations for domestic firms by implementing a total of 53 reforms in areas such as resolving insolvency, dealing with construction permits, enforcing contracts, and protecting investors. Amid a global economic crisis, 40 percent of the region’s economies improved insolvency proceedings by implementing such measures as amended bankruptcy laws.
A new measure that looks at how economies changed their business regulations over the past six years shows that all economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have made their regulatory environments more business-friendly. “Research shows that a streamlined business regulatory environment helps a country’s economic growth,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director, Global Indicators and Analysis, World Bank Group. “By simplifying regulations and expanding access to credit, countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia continue to enhance opportunities for entrepreneurs.”
Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked 125th among 183 economies on the ease of Doing Business 2012. Bosnia and Herzegovina made dealing with construction permits easier by fully digitizing and revamping its land registry and cadastre. In addition, it made starting a business easier by replacing the required utilization permit with a simple notification of commencement of activities and by streamlining the process for obtaining a tax identification number.
On overall ease of doing business, other economies of Southeast Europe have been ranked as follows: FYR Macedonia (22), Slovenia (37), Montenegro (56), Bulgaria (59), Romania (72), Croatia (80), Moldova (81), Albania (82), Serbia (92) and Kosovo (117).
„Authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina recognize the need to improve business environment in order to improve the overall competitiveness of the country’s economy“ stated Anabela Abreu, World Bank Country Manager for Bosnia and Herzegovina. „We in the World Bank are ready to assist the reform efforts to improve business environment and investment climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina“.
About the Doing Business report series
Doing Business analyzes regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycle, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and resolving insolvency. The aggregate ease of doing business rankings are based on 10 indicators and cover 183 economies. Previous year’s rankings are back-calculated to account for the addition of new indicator(s), data corrections, and methodology changes in existing indicators so as to provide a meaningful comparison with the new rankings. Doing Business does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors. For example, it does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, the level of skills, or the strength of financial systems. Its findings have stimulated policy debates in more than 80 economies and enabled a growing body of research on how firm-level regulation relates to economic outcomes across economies.
About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world.
