RP slips further in World Bank ranking on ease of doing business

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines further slipped in the World Bank’s annual ranking of economies based on the ease of doing business in their respective domains.

In the latest Doing Business (DB) report, the Philippines fell to 144th place out of a total of 183 countries, from 141st a year earlier and 136th in 2008.

In the Asia Pacific region alone, the country ranked at the bottom four against 23 other economies, managing to place slightly higher than Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Lao PDR.

In a teleconference held yesterday, Sylvia Solf, presentor and co-author of the Doing Business team in Washington, DC, said the Philippine government must have a larger and long-term plan for the economy if it hopes to improve in the ranking.

“The government must make it clear what kind of regulatory environment it wants, and it must have a larger and long-term plan,” she emphasized.

She pointed out that a drop in the country’s ranking does not necessarily mean its business climate worsened. It could mean that other economies posted improvements in their economies, causing the Philippines to lag behind.

Doing Business 2010 is the seventh in the series of annual reports that take a look on regulations that enhance or constrain business activity in different economies. The report measures regulations in starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.

The report, however, does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, labor skills, and strengths of institutions, quality of infrastructure, and strength of financial system or financial market

Solf further explained that the Philippines may have implemented a number of reforms, but other countries may have implemented more reforms and in a shorter period of time. –Ted P. Torres (The Philippine Star)