UK edges up ease of doing business list
THE UK has risen up the ranks of countries it is easy to do business in, a day after it was downgraded in a key ranking of global competitiveness.
Britain now ranks fifth in the world for ease of doing business after gaining one place, according to the World Bank Doing Business Report 2010.
This places it top in Europe on the scale, just ahead of Denmark which came in sixth, although it continues to lag behind the US.
The result comes after the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness Report on Tuesday saw the UK fall one place to 13th.
Lord Davies, the minister for trade, investment and business, said he was delighted with the result for ease of doing business.
“Britain is very much open for business, attracting five new companies from a wide range of countries every day with an attractive proposition of high skill levels, high tech industries and high end products and services,” he said.
But there was less to celebrate in other areas, with the UK ranking a dire 35th for ease of employing workers and 16th for paying taxes or starting a business.
Three Asia-Pacific economies – Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong – were ranked top on the ease of business scale, after most of the region’s economies have carried out regulatory reforms in the face of the global economic crisis.
Indonesia was the most reformed economy, after cutting the time required to start a business by 16 days and the time to transfer a property by 17 days, climbing to 122 from 129 in the rankings, according to report.
“Most economies in East Asia and the Pacific strengthened business regulations,” the report added.