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Azerbaijan 38th in "Doing Business 2010: Reforms in Difficult Times" rankings

Business Materials 9 September 2009 15:10 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.9. / Trend N.Ismayilova /

Azerbaijan has ranked 38th in the ranking of favorable conditions for entrepreneurial activity according to the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC)'s "Doing Business 2010 Reformers in difficult times" joint report, the IFC Baku office said.

The study involved 183 countries.

On Sept.10 in Baku the authors of the report will hold a videoconference publicizing the results.

According to the latest report, Azerbaijan held effective reforms in 2008-2009, in areas such as receiving loans and in international trade.

By creating new ventures and commercial transactions, much can be achieved through efficient reforms from the point of view of expenses and return to administrative system reforms. While in Burkina Faso applying procedures on business registration through the "single window" system cost $200, 000, in Azerbaijan it required five million dollars, the report said.

These expenses are outweighed by the volume of funds that the company ahs saved. It is estimated that in Burkina Faso companies can save about $1.7 million each year while in Azerbaijan they can save $8.4 million," the report added.

According to the authors, setting long-term goals and steadily following a of course of reform could help countries recover from the shock of the current global financial and economic crisis.

"Azerbaijan has set the goal of becoming a gateway to the region," the report said.

Among the CIS countries, Georgia ranked 11th, Kyrgyzstan 41st, Armenia 43rd, Belarus 58th, Kazakhstan 63rd and Russia 120th. Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Belarus, UAE, Canada, Colombia, Tajikistan, Egypt and Liberia are leading counties in the ranking. Last year, the leader in this list was Azerbaijan.

The business climate has been significantly improved by simplifying business registration (the principle of "single window" in the Taxes Ministry was introduced since 2008) and the passage of goods and vehicles through the customs checkpoint (since 2009 the "single window" at customs), improved tax policies and implementing measures for property registration.

In 2008 in "Doing Business-2009" Azerbaijan ranked 38th out of 96 by making an unexampled increase in the rating of countries with acceptable business-climates. Hence the country was recognized as a leader in economic reforms. Azerbaijan not only became a leader in the ratings for economic development, but also in economic reforms directed at improving business.  

The "Doing Business" report has been published since 2004, adding to the list of criteria annually. The country's rating is made according to this list. There were five criteria in 2004. In the last report research was held in 10 areas: launching business, permission for construction, job admission and dismissal, property registration, receiving loans, protecting investors' interests, payment of taxes, registration of export-import operations, fulfillment of contracts and closing of business.

Azerbaijan significantly improved its positions on 7 of 10 criteria in the new report. For example, Azerbaijan ranked 64th in "launching business" in 2008 but ranked 13th in the new report. Azerbaijan ranked 15th in "job admission and dismissal" but earlier had ranked 80th. Azerbaijan ranked 9th in "property registration" but earlier had ranked 56th. Azerbaijan was 12th for "receiving loans" but earlier had been in 26th place.

But the most evident result was in the "protection of investors' rights" section in which Azerbaijan ranked 18th, though it had been in 107th place in the last report.

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