Singapore ranked as most business-friendly economy

Singapore has topped a global ranking as the easiest place to do business for the 7th straight year.

A report from the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank finds Singapore remains the top economy with the most business-friendly regulatory environment for local entrepreneurs.

Singapore scored well in areas such as cross-border trading regulations, dealing with construction permits and protecting investors. But, it received lower scoring in areas like registering property, getting credit and enforcing contracts.

According to the “Doing Business 2013” report, Hong Kong was placed second, followed by New Zealand and the US.

The World Bank report shows that in the past year Eastern Europe and Central Asia once again had the largest share of economies registering improvements, with 88 percent implementing at least one institutional or regulatory reform making it easier to do business.

It adds that in the years since the first report was published in 2003, 180 of the 185 economies covered have made improvements in terms of ease of doing business through 2,000 reforms in total.

The report covers the period from June 2011 to June 2012.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 23 Oct 2012

Join The Discussion

Compare listings

Compare