http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11350069
[h=1]NZ one of the easiest places to run a business - World Bank[/h] 2:22 PM Wednesday Oct 29, 2014
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<figcaption class="caption">Three small but hot Pacific economies - NZ, Hong Kong and Singapore - lead the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report. Photo / Thinkstock</figcaption> </figure>
Small and well-run Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong are the world's easiest places to run a business, while global giants China, Brazil and India remain far down the list, according to the World Bank.
Three small but hot Pacific economies led the bank's annual "Doing Business" report, released on Wednesday, which focuses on where businesses are best helped and least hindered by government.
Australia was ranked 10th, with Denmark, South Korea, Norway, the US, Britain and Finland above it, mostly the same developed economies as in previous years.
Read more:
• NZ wealth growth on top of the world
• NZ second best place to do business
But the report, despite revisions to its methodology after upsetting China in past years, left emerging market giants far down the list, fast growth and success in drawing investment notwithstanding.
China ranked 90th out of 189 countries and territories, barely improved from 93 a year ago; Brazil is 120th, also up three places; and India was ranked at 142, two spots worse than before.
All three ranked lower than troubled economies and difficult investment environments like Russia and Greece.
But that only underscored the admittedly narrow focus of the survey, in terms of assessing a country's success.
"Doing Business measures a slender segment of the complex organism that any modern economy is," admitted World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu in a forward to the report.
"An economy can do poorly on Doing Business indicators but do well in macroeconomic policy or social welfare interventions."
The scores measure the operating environment for a business, including how easy it is to start a company, to transfer a property or resolve a commercial dispute; the time and cost of clearing imports and exports through a port; how easy is it to get an electricity connection, and other issues that face business owners in any country.
By those measures, Singapore was, as in recent past years, on top with a score of 88.27, and New Zealand close behind with 86.91.
The top 30 countries all had more than 74 points, while the bottom five, with isolated and authoritarian East African pariah Eritrea in last spot, all scored below 40.
The contrast between the best and worst underscored why Singapore is highly praised and successful.
Entrepreneurs in the Southeast Asian island nation need just 2.5 days to open a business, 31 days to get electric power and four days and US$440 (A$476) to import a container.
Meanwhile in Eritrea, a similar businessman would need on average 84 days to start a company and 59 days to get electricity, while importing goods takes 59 days and US$2000 per container.
Basu stressed that the survey is not a measure of the level of government intervention in an economy.
"A significant number of the top 30 economies in the ease of doing business ranking come from a tradition where government has had quite a prominent presence in the economy," he noted.
"The top-performing economies... are therefore not those with no regulation but those in which governments have managed to create rules that facilitate interactions in the marketplace without needlessly hindering the development of the private sector."
"Ultimately, 'Doing Business' is about smart regulations that only a well-functioning state can provide."
BEST COUNTRIES TO DO BUSINESS IN:
1 Singapore
2 New Zealand
3 Hong Kong
4 Denmark
5 South Korea
6 Norway
7 United States
8 Britain
9 Finland
10 Australia
Source: World Bank's Doing Business report 2014
[h=1]NZ one of the easiest places to run a business - World Bank[/h] 2:22 PM Wednesday Oct 29, 2014
<figure>
Small and well-run Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong are the world's easiest places to run a business, while global giants China, Brazil and India remain far down the list, according to the World Bank.
Three small but hot Pacific economies led the bank's annual "Doing Business" report, released on Wednesday, which focuses on where businesses are best helped and least hindered by government.
Australia was ranked 10th, with Denmark, South Korea, Norway, the US, Britain and Finland above it, mostly the same developed economies as in previous years.
Read more:
• NZ wealth growth on top of the world
• NZ second best place to do business
But the report, despite revisions to its methodology after upsetting China in past years, left emerging market giants far down the list, fast growth and success in drawing investment notwithstanding.
China ranked 90th out of 189 countries and territories, barely improved from 93 a year ago; Brazil is 120th, also up three places; and India was ranked at 142, two spots worse than before.
All three ranked lower than troubled economies and difficult investment environments like Russia and Greece.
But that only underscored the admittedly narrow focus of the survey, in terms of assessing a country's success.
"Doing Business measures a slender segment of the complex organism that any modern economy is," admitted World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu in a forward to the report.
"An economy can do poorly on Doing Business indicators but do well in macroeconomic policy or social welfare interventions."
The scores measure the operating environment for a business, including how easy it is to start a company, to transfer a property or resolve a commercial dispute; the time and cost of clearing imports and exports through a port; how easy is it to get an electricity connection, and other issues that face business owners in any country.
By those measures, Singapore was, as in recent past years, on top with a score of 88.27, and New Zealand close behind with 86.91.
The top 30 countries all had more than 74 points, while the bottom five, with isolated and authoritarian East African pariah Eritrea in last spot, all scored below 40.
The contrast between the best and worst underscored why Singapore is highly praised and successful.
Entrepreneurs in the Southeast Asian island nation need just 2.5 days to open a business, 31 days to get electric power and four days and US$440 (A$476) to import a container.
Meanwhile in Eritrea, a similar businessman would need on average 84 days to start a company and 59 days to get electricity, while importing goods takes 59 days and US$2000 per container.
Basu stressed that the survey is not a measure of the level of government intervention in an economy.
"A significant number of the top 30 economies in the ease of doing business ranking come from a tradition where government has had quite a prominent presence in the economy," he noted.
"The top-performing economies... are therefore not those with no regulation but those in which governments have managed to create rules that facilitate interactions in the marketplace without needlessly hindering the development of the private sector."
"Ultimately, 'Doing Business' is about smart regulations that only a well-functioning state can provide."
BEST COUNTRIES TO DO BUSINESS IN:
1 Singapore
2 New Zealand
3 Hong Kong
4 Denmark
5 South Korea
6 Norway
7 United States
8 Britain
9 Finland
10 Australia
Source: World Bank's Doing Business report 2014
