IOE Welcomes Business Reforms Reported in World Bank Doing Business 2016

DoingBusinessThe World Bank’s Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency finds that 85 developing economies implemented 169 business reforms during the past year, compared with 154 the previous year. High-income economies carried out an additional 62 reforms, bringing the total over the period to 231 in 122 economies.

The majority of the new reforms were designed to improve the efficiency of regulations by reducing their cost and complexity, with the largest number of improvements made in “Starting a Business.”  A total of 45 economies, 33 of which developing, undertook such reforms.  India, for example, eliminated the minimum capital requirement and a business operations certificate, saving entrepreneurs unnecessary bureaucracy and five days’ wait. Kenya simplified pre-registration procedures, reducing incorporation time by four days.

Efforts to strengthen legal institutions and frameworks were less common, with 66 reforms implemented in 53 economies. The largest number of such reforms were carried out under “Getting Credit,” with 32 improvements – nearly half in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“A modern economy cannot function without regulation and, at the same time, it can be brought to a standstill through poor and cumbersome regulation,” said Kaushik Basu, World Bank chief economist and senior vice president. “The challenge … is to tread this narrow path by identifying regulations that are good and necessary, and shunning ones that thwart creativity and hamper the functioning of small and medium enterprises.”

Singapore retains the top spot in the global ranking of the most business-friendly regulatory environments. The top ten also includes New Zealand (2); Denmark (3); Republic of Korea (4); Hong Kong SAR, China (5); United Kingdom (6); United States (7); Sweden (8); Norway (9); and Finland (10).

Read the full report.

More information available at the International Organization of Employers website.

Staff Contact:   Ewa Staworzynska

Director, Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs
Tel: 212.703.5056

Ewa Staworzynska is USCIB’s Director of Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs. Staworzynska brings to USCIB her extensive policy experience from both public and private sectors. Prior to joining USCIB, she led DoorDash’s policy efforts in international markets and was in charge of diplomatic relations. Before her position at DoorDash, Staworzynska was an officer at the International Labor Organization (ILO), where she worked multilaterally to advance support for decent work and related policies at UN headquarters. Staworzynska began her career in New York working for a real estate start-up. Staworzynska will be based in USCIB’s New York office and will work with Jose Arroyo, USCIB policy associate on corporate responsibility and labor affairs, on a wide range of issues, including human rights and industrial policy, responsible business conduct, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She was born and raised in Norway and has a B.A. in Economics and M.A. in International Relations, with a specialty in International Business, from New York University.
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