Turkey eyes progress in ease of doing business index

ISTANBUL

The government is working to improve Turkey’s rank in the World Bank’s “ease of doing business” index, Deputy Premier Mehmet Şimşek said on Feb. 20.

In his presentation on the Turkish economy at the World Business Angels Investment Forum in Istanbul, Şimşek said the government had made it easier to establish a company in Turkey and vowed that it remains focused on structural reforms, especially in the education
sector.

He added that investments worth $900 billion are expected via China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative, and Turkey is working with China in transportation projects as part of the trade corridor, state-run Anadolu Agency  reported.

Turkey ranked 60th on the World Bank’s most recent “ease of doing business” index out of 119 economies, up nine places from the previous year.

The main reasons behind the upgrade are methodology refinements and improvements in Turkey’s business regulatory environment stemming from various reforms and data revisions, the World Bank said in a separate Turkey brief on Nov. 1, 2017.

Turkey’s score has gone from 67.19 in Doing Business 2017 to 69.14 in Doing Business 2018, using a comparable methodology.
In its Turkey brief, the World Bank said the country had implemented substantive changes in the local regulatory framework.