Azerbaijan , Baku , Oct. 29 / Trend, I. Khalilova /
Azerbaijan took the 70th place in "Doing Business - 2014" ranking, which reflects the evaluation of the acceptability of business climate in the country, the Tuesday report by the World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation ( IFC) said.
"Azerbaijan's economy improved its position by one step, taking 70th place among 189 countries in the world, and by a number of indicators, it is among the advanced countries. In the last year's report, Azerbaijan was ahead of 118 countries of the world, then in "Doing Business 2014" report, the number of those countries reached 119", - Ministry of Economy and Industry (MEI) of Azerbaijan told Trend on Tuesday.
In the current report, Azerbaijan's economy, as a result of implementation of 18 targeted reforms on regulation and improvement of legislation in the sphere of improving the business climate, has entered the list of the first 15 countries of the world .
In "Doing Business 2014" report, Azerbaijan entered the list of 29 reformist countries through "starting a business", "construction permits" and "international trade" reforms conducted in 2012-2013.
"As a result of the increased use of e-business registration, Azerbaijan for the first time entered the top ten counties of the world in the "starting business" category, along with Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong, and has been noted as the country with the best practice in the world", - the ministry said.
MEI noted that, by applying the Building Code, Azerbaijan became known as a reformer country in the category of "obtaining the construction permits", and is shown as an example in this area, along with such countries as France, China, Taiwan and Estonia.
"Through further acceleration of customs procedures, Azerbaijan was marked in the report as a reformer country in the category of "international trade". As a result of using the "one window" principle in international trade, Azerbaijan entered the number of developed counties such as Singapore, and is frequently given as an example," the ministry said.
The report also noted that, the principle of "one window" in the customs system of Azerbaijan was implemented using the most positive experience in the world. If earlier customs clearance at checkpoints lasted two or three hours, then after the reforms, this time was reduced to 15-20 minutes.
The authors of the report specifically noted the organization of customs control in particular, through the creation of a single database, which covers 29 border and customs posts.
By the "registration of property" indicator of the "Doing Business 2014" report, Azerbaijan took the 13th place. By "investor protection" and "realization of contracts" indicators, the country took 22 and 28 places respectively.
"The carried out work and ongoing activities allow to improve not only positions of Azerbaijan in the report of World Bank, and the "Doing Business" report, but also in the reports of other influential international organizations, as well as create conditions for increasing attractiveness of Azerbaijani economy for investors.
All of this serves as evidence of increasing the weight of the country on the international arena, and increasing of acceptable business and investment climate in the country.", - the ministry said.
Last year, the "Doing Business 2013" report covered 185 economies around the world. Four countries have been added this year - San Marino, Myanmar, South Sudan and Libya.