Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I.Khalilova / This year Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union surpassed East Asia on the ease of doing business, according to Doing Business 2008-the fifth in an annual series issued by the World Bank and IFC.
According to assessments by the WB and IFC, the ranking of Azerbaijan improved compared to 2006 and this year the country rose to 96th place. Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Uzbekistan improved their positions in the ranking of the World Bank while the positions of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Tajikistan worsened.
The time and cost of implementing State requirements for legalizing a new enterprise, its activity, foreign trade, taxation and closing of the enterprises are taken into consideration while devising the report. Since 2003 Doing Business has inspired or informed over 113 reforms around the world.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia saw 59 reforms over the past year-52 positive and seven negative-that affected the regulatory ease of doing business. "Results show that as governments ease regulations for doing business, more entrepreneurs go into business; and this is especially evident in Eastern Europe," said Simeon Djankov, lead author of the report. "Eastern Europe has witnessed a boom in new business entry that rivals the rapid growth of East Asia in the past."
Doing Business 2008 ranks 178 economies on the ease of doing business based on 10 indicators of business regulation. Singapore, for the second year, tops the aggregate rankings across 178 economies.
The ranking of the CIS countries in 2006 and 2007:
2007 2006 Georgia 18 37 Armenia 39 34 Kazakhstan 71 63 Moldova 92 103 Kyrgyzstan 94 90Azerbaijan 96 99 Russia 106 96 Belarus 110 129 Uzbekistan 138 147