Washington D.C., October 20, 2011—A
new report from IFC and the World Bank finds that 17
of 32 economies in Latin America and the Caribbean implemented regulatory
reforms in the past year to make doing business easier for local entrepreneurs.
Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico remain in the lead in improving business
regulations in the region, with new technologies playing a key role in
improving transparency and access to information across the region.
Over the past six years, Peru has been
among the 40 economies worldwide that have done the most to improve their
regulatory environments for entrepreneurs. This year it is positioned second
in the Region in the ease of doing business and in the position 41 of the
global ranking among 183 economies, ahead of Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.
Released today, Doing Business 2012:
Doing Business in a More Transparent World assesses regulations affecting
domestic firms in 183 economies and ranks them in 10 areas of business
regulation, such as resolving insolvency and trading across borders. This
year, the rankings on ease of doing business were expanded to include indicators
on getting electricity connections.
The report shows that Peru has made
starting a business easier by eliminating the requirement for micro and
small enterprises to deposit start-up capital in a bank before registration.
It strengthened investor protections through a new law allowing minority
shareholders to request access to non-confidential corporate documents.
“Governments in Latin America and the
Caribbean continue to adopt new technologies to make life easier for local
businesses,” said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director, Global Indicators and
Analysis, World Bank Group. “They have made it easier to pay taxes, get
credit, trade across borders, and register property.”
Five of the seven regional economies
that made paying taxes easier did so by improving electronic filing systems.
Peru made paying taxes easier for companies by improving electronic filing
and payment of the major taxes and promoting the use of the electronic
option among the majority of taxpayers.
“Economic activity is supported by
rules that increase efficiency and transparency and are accessible to all,”
said Sylvia Solf, lead author of the report. New data show that governments
around the world are making use of new technologies to facilitate access
to relevant information and increase transparency in business regulation.
In Latin America, 25 economies make documentation requirements for trade
available either online or via public notices. Transparency and efficiency
often go hand-in-hand. Globally, trade processes are on average twice as
fast in economies where documentation requirements are easily accessible.
About the Doing Business report
series
Doing Business analyzes regulations
that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycle, including
start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and resolving
insolvency. Doing Business does not measure all aspects of
the business environment that matter to firms and investors. For example,
it does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, the
level of skills, or the strength of financial systems. Its findings have
stimulated policy debates in more than 80 economies and enabled a growing
body of research on how firm-level regulation relates to economic outcomes
across economies. For more information about the Doing Business
report series, please visit www.doingbusiness.org.
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DoingBusiness.org.
About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s
largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises
five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA),
which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation
(IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International
Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution
plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living
standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please
visit www.worldbank.org,
www.miga.org,
and www.ifc.org.
Regional Media Contacts:
Latin America and the Caribbean
Adriana Gomez +1 (202) 458-5204
Stevan Jackson +1 (202) 458-5054
E-mail: agomez@ifc.org
E-mail: Sjackson@worldbank.org
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