A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business
I recently came across some interesting numbers while going through the Doing Business Survey 2010 undertaken by the World Bank. The Survey basically provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 183 countries. Countries (economies) are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1 – 183, with first place being the best. A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business.
To be honest, it wasn't pleasant to see India ranked 133 in the most important "Ease of Doing Business" category. Speaking in terms of our industry, if India is to meet its infrastructure investment targets of Rs40 lakh crore + for the 12th Plan, it is imperative that we attract huge FDI. And attracting FDI is directly linked with several things - a key factor being ease of doing business.
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I hope you will take care to post new one.Thank you 3 Comments
We definitely need to create a better business environment. The Doing Business Survey reflects this.
As mentioned on Doing Business website, the survey serves as 'a kind of cholesterol test for the regulatory environment for domestic businesses. A cholesterol test does not tell us everything about the state of our health. But it does measure something important for our health. And it puts us on watch to change behaviors in ways that will improve not only our cholesterol rating but also our overall health.' Very important.
Following are India's rankings across categories just for reference. I have also gleaned out China's rankings to put things in a perspective. These are mentioned in brackets just after India's rankings. Next to that are the top three rankers across all categories.
Categories - India's ranking (China's Rankings) - Top three rankers Ease of Doing Business - 133 (89) - Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong (China)
Starting a Business - 169 (151) - New Zealand, Canada, Australia
Dealing with Construction Permits - 175 (180) - Hong Kong (China), Singapore, St Vincent & the Grenadines
Employing Workers - 104 (140) - Singapore, US, Australia
Registering Property - 93 (32) - Saudi Arabia, Georgia, New Zealand
Getting Credit - 30 (61) - Malaysia, UK, South Africa
Protecting Investors - 41 (93) - New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong (China)
Paying Taxes - 169 (125) - Maldives, Qatar, Hong Kong (China)
Trading Across Borders - 94 (44) - Singapore, Hong Kong (China), Estonia
Enforcing Contracts - 182 (18) - Luxemborg, Iceland, Hong Kong (China)
Closing a Business - 138 (65) - Japan, Singapore, Norway
Hong Kong is considered as an independent economy in this survey. Politically it is part of China. The bracket followed by Hong Kong denotes this.
See all rankings here: http://www.doingbusiness.org/economyrankings/?direction=Asc&sort=11
See the method of ranking here: http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/DB10Easeofdoingbusinessrankmethod.pdf
Note: The rankings are from the Doing Business 2010 report, covering the period June 2008 through May 2009.
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Readers' Comments
Manivone Khounviengsay (Dec 8, 2010) SahidNagar, India
Manivone Khounviengsay
I hope you will take care to post new one.Thank you
Jason Webb (Jul 28, 2010) alaska, USA
Ease of doing business
Great post and ideas! I'm going to share this with the rest of my team as we work more with enterprise-level clients.
Thanks and Regards/-
Jason Webb
Arun Kumar (Jun 30, 2010) Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ease of doing business!!!
Ease of doing business is - like many adjectives - a matter of perspective. Actually the so called 'lack in ease of doing business' has been one main reason why huge foreign behemoths with cash stockpiles have not been able to crush the small and medium scale industries. And more importantly a nation's ease of doing business is indirectly related to the fluidity of the economy. A more fluid economy will permit the transition of the shape of business, availability of credit, aquisitions and mergers and a lot of other business dynamics. But it also means that the rise and fall of the businesses and therefore the economy will be very quick. If you closely observe the rankings of the top 3 countries as listed by the author and look at the extent of fluctuation in GDP during the global financial meltdown of the first decade of the 21st century, it will be evident that these countries suffered the most. All the same, countries like India where they say 'it is difficult to do business' have escaped relatively unscathed. So instead of relying on rankings, it is better we excel in what we do best.
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COMMENT
I hope you will take care to post new one.Thank you