Mercy Tembon: Georgia's Economy Is Leading in Europe and Central Asia

Mercy Tembon, Regional Director of the World Bank, says that Georgia is the most credible economy of Europe and Central Asia.

Tembon made the statement during her visit to Tbilisi, while speaking about the country’s progress in the Doing Business 2019 report, where it takes the 6th place among 190 countries in terms of ease of doing business.

“Key reforms helping in the improvement of ranking have been carried out and entrepreneurs no longer need to make a separate visit to the Revenue Service for value added tax registration upon company registration. Similarly, Georgia has improved the one-stop-shop for business incorporation, allowing businesses to start a company through a single procedure. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Government and the people of Georgia for this performance. I encourage you to keep up the reforms and spirit to move the ranking higher next year,” she stated at the joint press-conference with the Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze.

Tembon added that Georgia has been consistently advancing in the rating over the years due to progressive reforms and programs that improve the business environment.

“Reforms implemented this year and planned for future will further advance Georgia's position. It has become easier to incorporate a business by cutting or simplifying the post-registration procedures, tax registration, social security registration or licensing. Payment of taxes has become simpler by introducing new or revised tax laws, by simplifying compliance processes and decreasing the number of tax filings or payments. At the same time, Georgia made it easy to enforce contracts by having electronic payments and automated assignment of cases to judges, which end in published judgments. It reduced its relative gap in the regulatory performance of starting a business,” she added.

In DB 2019, Georgia's score improved by 1.24 points and reached 83.28 points. Previously Georgia’s score was 82.04 points.

Moreover, with its score, Georgia exceeds the average regional score - 72.3.

In the rating, Georgia is ahead of such developed countries as Norway, The United States and the United Kingdom.

By Thea Morrison

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