Malaysia: 6th spot in World Bank "Doing Business" report



Malaysia has surged to the sixth position among 189 economies in the latest World Bank Doing Business 2014 report, putting it ahead of economies such as South Korea, Norway, the United Kingdom, Australia and Finland.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Malaysia achieved this well ahead of its target to be among the top 10 by 2015. Last year, Malaysia was ranked 12th.

He said Malaysia achieved first position in Getting Credit and fourth in Protecting Investors six years in a row.

In the area of Trading Across Borders, Malaysia made a breakthrough to fifth position.

Other significant improvements made were in the areas of "starting a business", "“dealing with construction permits", "enforcing contracts", "resolving insolvency", and "getting electricity".

Mustapa said the World Bank further acknowledged that Malaysia was among the economies that improved the most across three or more doing business areas.

World Bank Group President Kim Jim Yong, who appointed an independent panel last year to review the Doing Business report after criticism about it from some of the bank's board members, said he would keep the rankings since they help countries improve their business climates - EPA Photo.
Singapore retained its No 1 spot in overall rankings for the eighth straight year, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand and the US.

The report judges 189 countries on 10 criteria, such as ease of opening a business and paying taxes, and assigns each country a rank. Since their inception in 2003, the rankings have come to carry a huge weight with governments eager to attract private enterprise.

"Doing Business is not about less regulation, but about better regulation," the World Bank said in the report.

Source: the STAR 29-10-2013
 



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