Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Indonesia Is the Most Active Business Regulatory Reformer in East Asia and the Pacific

Original source: World Bank - Doing Business ( http://www.doingbusiness.org/)

In a record year for regulatory reform worldwide, most economies in East Asia and the Pacific strengthened business regulations, making them more efficient to help increase opportunities for local firms. Three economies from the region—in order, Singapore, New Zealand, and Hong Kong (China)—led the world in ease of doing business.

Between June 2008 and May 2009 a record 131 of 183 economies around the globe reformed business regulation, according to Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times, the seventh in a series of annual reports published by IFC and the World Bank. In East Asia and the Pacific 17 of 24 economies made reforms against the backdrop of the global economic crisis.

As a result of its reforms, Indonesia—the region’s most active reformer—moved up to 122 from 129 on the global ease of doing business rankings. Indonesia cut the time required to start a business by 16 days and the time to transfer a property by 17 days. The country also strengthened disclosure requirements for related-party transactions to protect investors.

Doing Business analyzes regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycles, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business. Doing Business does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors. For example, it does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, skill level, or the strength of financial systems.