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CIS: WORLD BANK ASSESSES REGION'S BUSINESS CLIMATE
By Julie A. Corwin
Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
Sept 6 2006
Armenia is one of the simplest countries in the world in which to
register property (TASS)
WASHINGTON, September 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The World Bank today released
its annual survey on ease of doing business.
The report evaluates 175 countries in 10 specific areas of business
regulation, including the ease of registering a business, paying taxes,
and trading across borders.
According to "Doing Business 2007," Armenia and Georgia -- ranked
34th and 37th, respectively -- scored better than EU countries such
as Spain and Portugal.
Showing Greater Initiative
This doesn't mean that international investors are going to start
pulling their money out of large markets like the EU and shift to
Yerevan and Tbilisi. But World Bank senior economist Caralee McLiesh,
the lead author of the report, says it does show that emerging market
economies can sometimes show greater initiative than established ones
in simplifying the commercial regulations and procedures.
And, McLiesh says, the results of such reforms can be a dramatic
improvement in their own international and domestic business
opportunities. She cites Georgia as an example.
"Business registrations jumped up by 55 percent on previous years,
and also unemployment is on the decline," McLiesh says. "It's fallen
by about 2 percentage points in the last year to 18 months. And so
these are signs that the economy is moving in the right direction."
Georgia made it a lot easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses
and reduced the minimum capital required to start a new enterprises.
In addition, the number of days exporters would need to get their
goods out of customs has dropped from 54 to 13.
McLiesh says Armenia was not such a vigorous reformer this year as
Georgia, but it too has consistently been improving over the years:
"[Armenia] is one of the simplest countries in which to register
property in the world," she says.
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli's (left) government is doing
something right (InterPressNews, file photo)It takes only four days
on average to register a property in Armenia, compared to 231 days
in Belarus.
Taxes High And Hard To Pay
She notes Belarus is the worst country in the world in terms of
paying taxes. Businesses in Belarus must pay 186.1 percent of their
profits and make 125 tax payments a year in order to comply with
tax regulations.
Neighboring Ukraine ranks just behind Belarus in terms of the
difficulty of paying taxes. McLeish says it's not just the high
rate of taxation there, but the "complexity of the tax system" that
creates problems for businesses. For example, Ukraine's annual tax
return for businesses is 92 pages long.
"In Ukraine it takes [medium-sized businesses] 2,185 hours per year
if they were to comply fully with all tax payments," McLeish says.
Trade Barriers
Ukraine and Belarus also score poorly in terms of ease of trading
across borders, but not as poorly as all five Central Asian
countries. Even Kazakhstan, which has the highest overall ranking
-- 63 -- of any of the Central Asia countries retains considerable
barriers to trade. For example, it takes 93 days on average to export
a product and 87 days on average to import one.
McLiesh says high trade costs raises domestic prices, limit the
growth of domestic businesses by restricting their exports abroad,
and increase opportunities for corruption.
"In many of the countries in the [Central Asia] region, customs
is one of the most corrupt areas of business regulation," McLiesh
explains. "And one of the reasons is the fact that there are a number
of different documents and a number of different procedures behind
trading. There are enormous delays if you choose to go through all of
the official procedures. And so entrepreneurs are basically almost
forced to pay bribes in order to be able to do business, to be able
to import and export."
Will Power
Why are some countries, such as Georgia, able to successfully reform
business regulations, while such reforms have stalled in other
countries, such as Russia? McLiesh suggests that both political will
and timing can be critical factors.
"When we look at the countries that have reformed the most -- the top
reformers in the past three years since the 'Doing Business' project
has been running -- 85 percent of the reforms in those countries were
implemented in the first 15 months of a government," she explains.
"So the lesson is that when you have a lot of political capital right
at the start of a government's term, that's the time to spend it."
And what about governments that have long ago missed that critical
15-month window of opportunity? McLiesh says they should not stop
trying. She notes there are still significant reforms that can be
made through "simple administrative changes" that are not necessarily
"politically contentious," such as reducing the number of days it
takes for a business to be registered.
By Julie A. Corwin
Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
Sept 6 2006
Armenia is one of the simplest countries in the world in which to
register property (TASS)
WASHINGTON, September 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The World Bank today released
its annual survey on ease of doing business.
The report evaluates 175 countries in 10 specific areas of business
regulation, including the ease of registering a business, paying taxes,
and trading across borders.
According to "Doing Business 2007," Armenia and Georgia -- ranked
34th and 37th, respectively -- scored better than EU countries such
as Spain and Portugal.
Showing Greater Initiative
This doesn't mean that international investors are going to start
pulling their money out of large markets like the EU and shift to
Yerevan and Tbilisi. But World Bank senior economist Caralee McLiesh,
the lead author of the report, says it does show that emerging market
economies can sometimes show greater initiative than established ones
in simplifying the commercial regulations and procedures.
And, McLiesh says, the results of such reforms can be a dramatic
improvement in their own international and domestic business
opportunities. She cites Georgia as an example.
"Business registrations jumped up by 55 percent on previous years,
and also unemployment is on the decline," McLiesh says. "It's fallen
by about 2 percentage points in the last year to 18 months. And so
these are signs that the economy is moving in the right direction."
Georgia made it a lot easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses
and reduced the minimum capital required to start a new enterprises.
In addition, the number of days exporters would need to get their
goods out of customs has dropped from 54 to 13.
McLiesh says Armenia was not such a vigorous reformer this year as
Georgia, but it too has consistently been improving over the years:
"[Armenia] is one of the simplest countries in which to register
property in the world," she says.
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli's (left) government is doing
something right (InterPressNews, file photo)It takes only four days
on average to register a property in Armenia, compared to 231 days
in Belarus.
Taxes High And Hard To Pay
She notes Belarus is the worst country in the world in terms of
paying taxes. Businesses in Belarus must pay 186.1 percent of their
profits and make 125 tax payments a year in order to comply with
tax regulations.
Neighboring Ukraine ranks just behind Belarus in terms of the
difficulty of paying taxes. McLeish says it's not just the high
rate of taxation there, but the "complexity of the tax system" that
creates problems for businesses. For example, Ukraine's annual tax
return for businesses is 92 pages long.
"In Ukraine it takes [medium-sized businesses] 2,185 hours per year
if they were to comply fully with all tax payments," McLeish says.
Trade Barriers
Ukraine and Belarus also score poorly in terms of ease of trading
across borders, but not as poorly as all five Central Asian
countries. Even Kazakhstan, which has the highest overall ranking
-- 63 -- of any of the Central Asia countries retains considerable
barriers to trade. For example, it takes 93 days on average to export
a product and 87 days on average to import one.
McLiesh says high trade costs raises domestic prices, limit the
growth of domestic businesses by restricting their exports abroad,
and increase opportunities for corruption.
"In many of the countries in the [Central Asia] region, customs
is one of the most corrupt areas of business regulation," McLiesh
explains. "And one of the reasons is the fact that there are a number
of different documents and a number of different procedures behind
trading. There are enormous delays if you choose to go through all of
the official procedures. And so entrepreneurs are basically almost
forced to pay bribes in order to be able to do business, to be able
to import and export."
Will Power
Why are some countries, such as Georgia, able to successfully reform
business regulations, while such reforms have stalled in other
countries, such as Russia? McLiesh suggests that both political will
and timing can be critical factors.
"When we look at the countries that have reformed the most -- the top
reformers in the past three years since the 'Doing Business' project
has been running -- 85 percent of the reforms in those countries were
implemented in the first 15 months of a government," she explains.
"So the lesson is that when you have a lot of political capital right
at the start of a government's term, that's the time to spend it."
And what about governments that have long ago missed that critical
15-month window of opportunity? McLiesh says they should not stop
trying. She notes there are still significant reforms that can be
made through "simple administrative changes" that are not necessarily
"politically contentious," such as reducing the number of days it
takes for a business to be registered.