Doing Business 2010: Latin America Steps Up Business Regulatory Reform; Colombia Continues Four-year Streak as Region’s Top Reformer
In Washington, D.C.:
Nadine Ghannam
Phone: +1 (202) 473-3011
E-mail: nsghannam@ifc.org
Washington, D.C., September 9, 2009—In
a record year worldwide, Latin America intensified its business regulatory
reform efforts to expand opportunity for local firms, according to Doing
Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times.
The seventh in a series of annual reports
published by IFC and the World Bank, the report found that between June
2008 and May 2009, 14 of 20 economies in the region implemented regulatory
reforms.
Colombia is the region’s leading reformer,
ranking at 37 of 183 global economies in terms of overall ease of doing
business. Colombia is also among the world’s 10 most active reformers—for
the fourth time in seven years. Colombia reformed in eight of the 10 regulatory
areas assessed by Doing Business. It facilitated business start-up,
improved access to credit, expedited trade, strengthened investor protections,
and simplified construction permits, property registration, and tax payments.
Peru, the region’s runner-up reformer,
moved up to 56 from 65 in the global ease of doing business ranking by
implementing reforms in six of the 10 areas measured by the report. It
reformed business start-up, property registration, and contract enforcement,
made it easier to pay taxes, and sped up international trade.
“Latin American economies have continued
to implement regulatory reforms, with efforts intensifying this year,”
said Sylvia Solf, lead author of the report. “The region’s most popular
reforms involve starting businesses, dealing with construction permits,
trading across borders, registering property, and creating online systems
to pay taxes. Seven economies made it easier to start a business, four
made it easier to trade, and another four made construction permits more
efficient,” she added.
As part of its program to simplify business
licensing, Brazil made it easier to start a business, as did Argentina,
Colombia, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. Guyana and Paraguay shortened
trade times by introducing electronic declaration systems; Paraguay also
added a risk-based inspection system.
Other active reformers in the region
include Guatemala, which improved property registration and remains Latin
America’s best performer on ease of registering property, made it easier
to deal with construction permits, and expanded access to credit by improving
credit information and creating a collateral registry for movable assets.
Mexico introduced electronic filing to simplify tax payments, while Panama
eased dealing with construction permits and expedited property transfers.
This year, there were 4 new reformers
among the global top 10: Liberia, the United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan
and Moldova. Others include Rwanda, the top global reformer this year,
Egypt, Belarus, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Kyrgyz Republic,
and Colombia.
Doing Business analyzes regulations
that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycles, including
start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing
a business. 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, skill level, or
the strength of financial systems.
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),
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. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org,
www.miga.org,
and www.ifc.org.
For more information about the Doing
Business report series, please visit: www.doingbusiness.org
For more information on Doing
Business 2010, please contact:
Nadine Ghannam +1 (202) 473-3011
Rebecca
Ong +1 (202) 458-0434
E-mail: nsghannam@ifc.org
E-mail: rong@worldbank.org
Contacts for region-specific queries
on Doing Business 2010:
Latin America and the Caribbean
Adriana Gomez +1 (202) 458-5204
Gabriela Aguilar +1 (202) 473-6768
E-mail: agomez@ifc.org
E-mail: gaguilar2@worldbank.org
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