Pakistan progresses in ease of doing business: World Bank

KARACHI: Pakistan’s position in the Doing Business global rankings slid three notches to 147 out of 190 economies, although the World Bank expressed optimism over the progress made by the country to implement business-friendly reforms. 

“Pakistan, which implemented four reforms in the past year, also made it easier to register a new business, transfer commercial property and facilitate cross border trade,” the Bank said in the Doing Business 2018 report, which monitors the ease of doing business for small and medium enterprises around the world.

Pakistan’s position in the Doing Business global rankings improved to 144 in 2017 as against 148 in 2016.

The World Bank’s Doing Business flagship report uses 11 indicator sets to measure aspects of business regulation that matter for entrepreneurship. The indicators include starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, access to finance, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labour market regulations.

The Bank said India has carried out the most reforms in the region in the past 15 years, with 37 reforms, followed by Sri Lanka (22) and Pakistan (19).  South Asia is the only region not represented in the top 50 ranking for ease of doing business. However, India stands out this year as one of the 10 economies that improved the most in the areas measured by Doing Business.

The region’s top ranked economies are Bhutan, in 75th place, India (100), and Nepal (105). South Asian economies carried out a record 20 business reforms in the past year, bringing to a total of 127 the number of reforms enacted in the region over the past 15 years.

The World Bank said a major focus of reforms in the past year were in the area of protecting minority investors, with half of the region’s eight economies implementing measures to strengthen protections for minority shareholders. 

The reforms included enhanced remedies to address cases of prejudicial transactions between interested parties in India; rules to clarify ownership and control structures in Bhutan; greater corporate transparency in Nepal; and facilitating legal action against directors in case of prejudicial transactions with interested parties in Pakistan.

“With three-quarters of regional economies making positive reforms, it’s no surprise that this is a record year for regional reforms,” the Bank said.