Originally posted to the Reuters website, 24 October 2019
WASHINGTON/RIYADH (Reuters) – Gulf countries sharply improved their rankings in the World Bank’s latest Doing Business report, while Latin American countries largely lagged in reforms and New Zealand took the top spot for the fourth year in a row.
The report released in Washington late Wednesday night ranks countries on their business climates, and found that the most improved countries over the previous year were Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, India and Nigeria.
Saudi Arabia climbed 30 places to 62nd, while Jordan climbed 29 to 75th, driven by reforms aimed at building more economic diversification, the World Bank said.
The World Bank said Saudi Arabia’s reforms included establishing a one-stop shop for business registration, introducing a secured transactions law and an insolvency law, improving protections for minority investors, and measures to bring more women into the workforce.
“Something clearly is happening in the Gulf which has not happened before,” Simeon Djankov, World Bank senior research director and founder of the Doing Business report, told Reuters in Riyadh.
Link to the original post: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-worldbank-regulation-rankings/gulf-countries-climb-world-bank-business-climate-rankings-latin-america-fades-idUSKBN1X304R
