Ease of doing business in Turkey only improves for construction: World Bank

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Ease of doing business in Turkey has only improved over the past year in terms of acquiring construction permits, the World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2016 has revealed, noting that the ease of doing business has otherwise fallen across the board.

Turkey only registered positive development in the ease of acquiring construction permits across 10 indicators, according to the report, which was released late Oct. 27. 

Overall, Turkey regressed four points to 55th compared to last year’s report, as developing countries stepped up their pace of business-friendly reforms over the past year.

Turkey’s rank in starting a business fell by six points, in generating electricity by one point, in registering property by one point, in obtaining credit by eight points, in paying taxes by five points, in trading across borders by one point, in enforcing contracts by 19 points and in resolving insolvency by 22 points, the report said.

Meanwhile, there was no change in terms of protecting minority investors, according to the 2016 report.
 
Singapore remains the easiest place to do business, according to the report. The dynamic Asian city state held onto its business-friendly top ranking from last year in the “Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency” report, which covers 189 economies.

There were barely any changes in the report’s top 10, according to adjusted data using this year’s criteria for both the 2015 and 2016 rankings.

New Zealand remained number two, followed by Denmark (3), South Korea (4), Hong Kong (5), Britain (6) and the United States (7). Sweden moved up a notch to number eight, switching places with Norway. Finland kept its 10th place.

The world’s top 10 improvers – economies that implemented at least three reforms during the past year and moved up the rankings scale – are Costa Rica, Uganda, Kenya, Greek Cyprus, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Jamaica, Senegal and Benin, according to the report. 

By region, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for about 30 percent of the improved global regulatory reforms and half of the world’s top 10 improvers. Multiple reforms were also implemented in Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Niger, Togo and Rwanda. The region’s highest ranked economy is Mauritius, which has a global ranking of 32.

The Europe and Central Asia region was also a major reformer during the past year, with Greek Cyprus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan among the world’s top 10 improvers. The region had both the largest share of economies implementing at least one reform and the largest average number of regulatory reforms per economy.

In South Asia, six of the region’s eight economies implemented a total of nine reforms – the second largest share of any region after Europe and Central Asia. Economies that implemented several reforms included India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The region’s highest ranked economy is Bhutan, which has a global ranking of 71, according to the report. 

Reform activity continued apace in East Asia and the Pacific, with more than half of the region’s 25 economies implementing a total of 27 reforms in the past year. The region hosts four of the top five economies in the world, including Singapore, according to the report. 

In the Middle East and North Africa, reform activity picked up slightly with 21 reforms implemented in 11 of the region’s 20 economies. Economies that undertook more than one reform included the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. The UAE is the region’s highest ranked economy, with a global ranking of 31. 

Latin America and the Caribbean region had the smallest share of reforms, with less than half of the region’s 32 economies undertaking a total of 24 reforms. Costa Rica and Jamaica were among the world’s top 10 improvers, while Mexico is the region’s highest-ranked economy, with a global ranking of 38.

“It is heartening to see so many economies, particularly low-income economies and fragile states, undertaking reforms to improve the business environment for local entrepreneurs. In time, this can result in increased job creation, economic growth and greater prosperity for their people,” said Rita Ramalho, manager of the Doing Business project.