Doing Business 2019: Georgia Ranked 6th among 190 Countries
Georgia significantly improved its position in the Doing Business (DB) 2019 report of the World Bank (WB), coming in at 6th place out of 190 countries, improving its position by 3 points. Previously, Georgia was in the 9th position.
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.
DB measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business. Georgia’s scores in each field are as follows:
1.Starting a business - 2
2.Dealing with construction permits - 27
3.Getting electricity - 39
4.Registering property - 4
5.Getting credit - 12
6.Protecting minority investors - 2
7.Paying taxes - 16
8.Trading across borders - 43
9.Enforcing contracts - 8
10.Resolving insolvency – 60
DB 2019 reads that the most popular reform in Georgia is making it easier to start a business.
“More than a quarter of economies did just that in 2017/18. It now takes an average of 20 days and costs 23% of income per capita to start a business, compared to 47 days and 76% of income per capita in 2006. Thirteen of the top 20 economies have at least one procedure that can be completed online in half a day,” it says.
“Georgia –an early adopter of Doing Business and the second biggest reformer (after Rwanda) – has cut the amount of time to start a business to 2 days,” Sylvia Solf, head of the World Bank Group’s Reform Advisory Unit said.
Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
The Ease of Doing Top 10 countries are:
1.New Zealand
2.Singapore
3.Denmark
4.Hong Kong SAR, China
5.Korea, REP
6.Georgia
7.Norway
8.United States
9.United Kingdom
10.Macedonia, FYR
By Thea Morrison
Photo source: Bloomberg