Despite all the hype about the country under President Aquino’s term being open for business and his administration’s institution of a level playing field, the Philippines slipped two notches to 136th from 134th last year in the latest edition of the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” survey of 183 countries.
The two-notch fall in the survey gained extra relevance as the result of the latest poll showed the dominance of Asian countries with Singapore remaining the easiest place to do business to keep its title for a sixth straight year.
Hong Kong was in second place while South Korea barged into the eighth place from 15th last year.
The lackluster status of the Philippines also compared with nearly all its Asian neighbors that managed to notch respectable positions in the World Bank ranking.
Thailand was at 17th from 16th last year, Malaysia at 18th from 23rd, Taiwan at 25th from 24th, Brunei Darussalam at 83rd from 86th, Sri
at 89th from 98th, China at 91st from 87th, Vietnam at 98th from 90th, Bangladesh at 122nd from 118th, Indonesia at 129th from 126th and India at 132nd from 139th.
The Philippine ranking was only better than that of Cambodia which was at 138th place in this year’s ranking.
The Philippines dropped in seven of 10 criteria in the survey including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes and resolving insolvency.
It improved on the aspects of getting electricity, trading across borders and enforcing contracts.
2011 set a record for regulatory reforms that boost business conditions, among emerging-market and developing economies in particular, according to the annual survey.
Among the major emerging economies, China was middle-ranked at 91st, ahead of Russia (120th), Brazil (126th) and India (132nd).
For the report, the World Bank gathered information on changes in legal frameworks, administrative procedures and technical obstacles in launching or expanding a business.
The Washington-based development lender also drew on public institutions, universities, legal experts and entrepreneurs to measure trading conditions.
Africa overall ranked at the bottom of the list, despite efforts to improve, the World Bank report said.
Dahlia Khalifa, a co-author of the report said 2011 saw 125 economies implementing 245 institutional regulatory reforms, an all-time high.
In Sub-Saharan Africa 36 of 46 governments improved the regulatory environment for domestic businesses in 2010/11 — a record number since 2005, according to the survey.
Chad, however, ranked last. The next four poorest performers, in ascending order, were Eritrea, East Timor, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
According to the annual report, Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World, the World Bank assessed regulations affecting domestic firms in 183 economies and ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency and trading across borders.
This year’s report showed that governments in 125 economies out of 183 measured implemented a total of 245 business regulatory reforms, 13 percent more reforms than in the previous year.
The report found that over the past six years, 163 economies have made their regulatory environment more business-friendly. China, India and Russia are among the 30 economies that improved the most over time.
“At a time when persistent unemployment and the need for job creation are in the headlines, governments around the world continue to seek ways to improve the regulatory climate for domestic business. Small and medium-sized businesses that benefit most from these improvements are the key engines for job creation in many parts of the world,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, director of Global Indicators and Analysis of the World Bank. –Daily Tribune
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