Contacts
In Lilongwe: Zeria Banda (+265-1) 770611
zbanda@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, September 9, 2009 – The World Bank Group has released the Doing Business 2010 (DB 2010) Report which ranks Malawi 132 out of 183 economies. The Doing Business Report measures a set of regulations affecting 10 stages of a business’s life, namely starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes , trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. Malawi has slightly dropped in rank from 131 in DB2009 period to 132 in DB 2010 because of the pace of reforms rather than the number of reforms. “Malawi has made important reforms, but other countries are reforming faster and more aggressively,” said Timothy Gilbo, the World Bank Country Manager for Malawi. “To make substantive gains, more needs to be done and we are ready to help.” Gilbo observes that the efforts of the Malawi Government and its partners in making reforms are beginning to show, but these need to be strengthened and accelerated in the wake of the global financial crisis and economic slowdown which have made the environment more competitive. Countries are competing to attract and retain portfolio and direct investment by pushing ahead with strong reform programs. DB 2010 has the theme Reforming through Difficult Times. Malawi’s On-going Reforms The 2010 report shows that in the period June 2008 to May 2009, Malawi’s reforms were in the areas of trading across borders and closing a business. Since the beginning of 2009, the Malawi Government has made significant progress in implementing reforms aimed at improving the country’s business environment in other areas such as registering property, dealing with construction permits, and enforcing contracts. The positive effects of these are however largely yet to be felt. Ongoing reforms include: (a) improving the efficiency of the Registrar General’s business registry through training and automation; (b) improving the efficiency of the lands registry through improved record keeping and automation of the lands registry; and, (c) computerization of the Commercial Court Division’s Case Management System to better monitor and manage cases. These activities are being supported through the Business Environment Strengthening Technical Assistance Project (BESTAP) which is funded by the World Bank and European Union. Global top reformers In DB 2010, developing economies have set the pace, and for the first time a sub-Saharan economy, Rwanda, has led the world in Doing Business reforms. Rwanda was the world’s top reformer in 3 indicators – employing workers, getting credit, and protecting investors. Other reforms that Rwanda did were to reduce the number of days it takes to start a business from 14 to 3 days with only 2 procedures (Malawi 39 days with 10 procedures); introduced 2 new laws to ease access to credit, removed bottlenecks at the property registry and the revenue authority, reducing the time required to register property by 255 days to 60 days (Malawi 88 days). The other top 10 reformers globally are Kyrgyz Republic, Macedonia – FYR, Belarus, United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Colombia, Tajikistan, Egypt, and Liberia. Malawi’s neighbors at SADC regional level, are ranked as follows: Zambia (90), Tanzania (131), Mozambique (135), Zimbabwe (159) and South Africa (34) Lessons from top reformers Doing Business 2010 is the seventh in an annual series. Patterns have started to emerge from regulatory reforms tracked over the past 6 years by Doing Business, showing common features among Governments that succeed in sustaining reform programs. First, they follow a longer-term agenda aimed at increasing the competitiveness of their firms and economy. Such reformers continually push forward and stay proactive. But while successful reformers follow a clear direction in their policy agenda, they do not hesitate to respond to new economic realities and adjust accordingly. Successful Doing Business reformers are comprehensive. For example, over the past 5 years Colombia, Egypt, Georgia, FYR Macedonia, Mauritius and Rwanda each implemented at least 19 reforms, covering 8 or more of the 10 areas measured by Doing Business. This broad approach increases the chances of success and impact. Consistent reformers are inclusive. They involve all relevant public agencies and private sector representatives and institutionalize reform at the highest level. Successful reformers stay focused guided by a long-term vision supported by specific goals. Setting long-term goals and keeping a steady course of reform might help economies recover from shocks, including the current global financial and economic crisis. |
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