Baku, October 8, 2007 - Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union surpassed East Asia on the ease of doing business, according to Doing Business 2008, the fifth in an annual series issued by the World Bank and IFC. Results from the region show that as reforms pick up pace and business regulation eases, businesses are starting up at unprecedented rates.

The findings of Doing Business 2008, which was launched on September 26, 2007, were presented to the Azerbaijan public today at an open Forum as part of a global road show.  The event took place at the Hyatt Meeting and Conference Hall and gathered was attended by some 65 representatives of the Azerbaijan Government and Civil Society, the latter including media and non-government organizations (NGOs). 

Heidar Babayev, Minister of Economic Development of Azerbaijan, delivered the opening address at the Forum. Simeon Djankov, Manager of the Doing Business Project and lead author of the report, presented the findings.

“The results show that as governments ease regulations for doing business, more entrepreneurs go into business,”  Simeon Djankov said.

Azerbaijan has intensified reforms targeted at improving the business environment and developing the country’s private sector. The 30 April Presidential Decree on setting up a single window for business registration is an important step in this direction and should have a positive affect on business start-up.

In addition, Azerbaijan cut the time needed to start a new business from 52 days to 30, and lowered the corporate income tax. These reforms contributed to an improvement in Azerbaijan’s ease of doing business ranking from 99th in 2006 to 96th in 2007 place, even with the addition of two new countries to the analysis

 “ This  is a positive development,  and with  the Government’s strong commitment to  continue with reforms, it creates a good chance for ranking even higher in the update of the report next year”, Gregory Jedrzejczak,  World Bank Country Manager for Azerbaijan said. 

Azerbaijan’s improved ranking is also attributed to the fact that some other countries of the region did not do  as well this year. For example, Russia fell ten places and is now ranked below Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan dropped eight places. 

Among countries of the former socialist bloc, Estonia is the most business-friendly country and ranks 17th world-wide on the ease of doing business, while Georgia made the biggest improvement, moving up 19 places to 18th place. 

The Doing Business project is based on the efforts of more than 5,000 local experts – business consultants, lawyers, accountants, government officials, and leading academics around the world, who provided methodological support and review. The data, methodology, and the names of contributors are publicly available online at www.doingbusiness.org.