Phl ranking slips 2 notches in ease of doing business

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines continued to drop in the global ranking based on the ease of doing business, placing 136th among 183 countries, the World Bank said yesterday.

In its 2012 Doing Business Report, the World Bank said the country’s ranking slipped two notches from 134 the previous year – among the laggards in the East Asian region.

The average rating for East Asia and the Pacific region is 87.

The World Bank’s Doing Business report 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. It, however, does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, the level of skills, or the strength of financial systems.

“While the Philippines has passed several laws and initiated programs to improve its regulatory environment, it is imperative that implementation has to happen more quickly and in full,” said Jesse Ang, resident representative in the Philippines of the International Finance Corp.(IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank.

“In particular, improvements such as setting up the Credit Information Corp. and fully operating the Philippine Business Registry, have to be sped up to make a real difference for domestic entrepreneurs.”

The Philippines, however, has adopted a new insolvency law, the Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act, which provides a legal framework for liquidation and reorganization of financially distressed companies.

“This is a very significant reform that will help improve the investment climate in the Philippines,” said World Bank acting country director Chiyo Kanda. “Accelerating reforms to further simplify requirements for opening and closing a business will unleash the power of small and medium enterprises to create more jobs and reduce poverty in the country.”

In the survey, the Philippines is far outranked by its neighbors Thailand (17th), Malaysia (18th), Brunei (83rd), Vietnam (98th) and Indonesia (129th). It only surpassed Cambodia (138th), Laos ( 165th) and Timor Leste (168th).

Even other developing countries ranked higher than the Philippines, including Bangladesh (122nd), Nigeria (133rd) and Sudan (135th).

For the sixth consecutive year, Singapore led the list of business-friendly nations, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, the US and Denmark.

Others in the top 10 were Norway, the UK, South Korea, Iceland and Ireland.

Of the 10 major indicators in doing business, the World Bank said the Philippines managed to improve in only three - enforcing contracts, trading across borders, and getting electricity.

The eight indicators where the Philippine failed to improve anew are: starting business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, and resolving insolvency.

The Philippines was likewise ranked among the countries with “weaker legal institutions and more expensive regulatory processes.”