Egypt ranks 126 on 178 countries this year in Doing Business 2008, and is the top reformer. October 2007 - This year Egypt tops the list of reformers that are making it easier to do business. Egypt's reforms went deep with substantial progress in 5 of the 10 areas studied by Doing Business, and the country greatly improved its position in the global rankings as a result. Egypt cut the minimum capital required to start a business, from 50,000 Egyptian pounds to just 1,000 and halved the time it takes. It reduced fees for registering property from 3 percent of the property value to a low, fixed amount. It eased the bureaucracy that builders face in getting construction permits. And it launched new one-stop shops for traders at Egyptian ports, cutting the time to import by seven days and the time to export by five. Much remains to be done, however, especially in the following areas where Egypt trails the regional and income group averages: (i) Getting Credit (Legal Rights Index), (ii) Employing Workers, and (iii) Paying Taxes (time in hours). Doing Business in Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
Saudi Arabia —the seventh-fastest reformer globally and second-fastest in the region—joined the ranks of the top 25 countries worldwide on the ease of doing business. It had reforms in three of the 10 areas studied. The country has made starting a business more accessible by eliminating what had been, in U.S. dollar terms, the highest minimum capital requirement in the world. The Middle East and North Africa saw 25 reforms including three negative changes—in 11 of its economies. The region ranks fourth in the world—behind Europe and Central Asia, South Asia, and the OECD high-income countries—on the pace of reform. Rankings criteria
The rankings are based on 10 indicators of business regulation that track the time and cost to meet government requirements in business start-up, operation, trade, taxation, and closure. They do not reflect such areas as macroeconomic policy, quality of infrastructure, currency volatility, investor perceptions, or crime rates. Since 2003 Doing Business has inspired or informed more than 113 reforms around the world. “The report finds that equity returns are highest in countries that are reforming the most,” said Michael Klein, World Bank/IFC Vice President for Financial and Private Sector Development. “Investors are looking for upside potential, and they find it in economies that are reforming—regardless of their starting point,” he added. Large emerging markets are reforming fast: Egypt, China, India, Vietnam, and Turkey all improved in the ease of doing business. The report also finds that as more countries simplify regulation to make it easier to do business, more entrepreneurs are going into business. Besides Egypt, the other top 10 reformers this year are, in order, Croatia, Ghana, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, China, and Bulgaria. Reformers made it simpler to start a business, strengthened property rights, enhanced investor protections, increased access to credit, eased tax burdens, and expedited trade while reducing costs. In all, 200 positive reforms—in 98 economies—were introduced between April 2006 and June 2007. Higher rankings on the ease of doing business are associated with higher percentages of women among entrepreneurs and employees. “Increased regulatory reform leads to especially large benefits for women,” said Dahlia Khalifa, Doing Business spokesperson. “Women often face regulations that may be aimed at protecting them, but that instead force women into the informal sector, where they have little job security and few social benefits.” Women in the United Arab Emirates and Yemen are forbidden to work at night. And now so are women in Kuwait, because of a new law passed in June 2007. |
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