HK ranked 2nd in ease of doing business globally: WB

Hong Kong continues to provide one of the world's most business-friendly regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs, second only to Singapore, according to a new report released by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

"Hong Kong is the global leader in making it easy to deal with construction permits by having implemented exceptional coordination among service providers", said Christine Bowers, East Asia and the Pacific Investment Climate specialist for IFC, the World Bank Group member focused on private sector development.

"With this reform and others in the past, Hong Kong has shown that top economies keep reforming even when they are performing well. Hong Kong should pick up its reform efforts again", Christine Bowers said.

The report finds that the Republic of Korea is among the top 20 in the global ranking on the ease of doing business and Mongolia is East Asia and Pacific's top improver in this year's Doing Business report.

The report titled Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises finds that 23 economies in East Asia and the Pacific have made their regulatory environment more business-friendly since 2005. Chinese mainland made the greatest progress in improving business regulations for local entrepreneurs during the time.

The Doing Business 2013 report covers the period from June 2011 to June 2012 and uses data for indicators that measure regulation affecting 10 key areas in the life cycle of local businesses. It found that Hong Kong did not implement a business-regulatory reform during those 12 months, but it is the world's easiest economy among them to deal with construction permits.

According to the report, Mongolia in the past 12 months eliminated the minimum capital requirement for establishing a local limited liability company, guaranteed the right of borrowers to inspect their own credit data, and enacted new legislation to strengthen disclosure requirements for related-party transactions. These reforms made it one of the economies that improved the most between June 2011 and June 2012.

"This year, Mongolia joined the global list of top 10 improvers for ease of doing business in the report", said Augusto Lopez-Claros, analyst of World Bank Group. "Mongolia implemented reforms that cut regulatory hurdles and make it easier for local firms to do business. The Republic of Korea, already among the top 20, continued to make it easier for enterprises to do business through regulatory reforms in four areas".

Singapore tops the global ranking on the ease of doing business for the seventh consecutive year. Joining them on the list of the 10 economies with the most business-friendly regulations are, in this order, New Zealand, the United States, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, Georgia and Australia.

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. Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world.