The World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) Doing Business 2009 report ranks Israel 30th out of 181 countries for ease of doing business. However, Israel badly lags in registering of property, ranked 160th, behind even Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa).
Israel's ranking in the current report is the same as in the Doing Business 2008 report and worse than its 26th ranking in the Doing Business 2007 report. The IFC published the Doing Business 2009 ahead of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meeting this week in Washington.
Israel's representative at the World Bank, Yoav Sofer, told "Globes", "Israel is ranked in a petty good place." However, he added, "The bad things in the report will surprise no Israeli… There are definitely things that need improvement." He said that the report's authors told him that increased Internet use should greatly improve Israel's ranking.
The annual Doing Business reports are considered to be highly influential in the investor community. The reports examine the regulatory environment for doing business by entrepreneurs in each country.
The top five countries in the Doing Business 2009 report are Singapore, New Zealand, the US, Hong Kong, and Denmark. The bottom five are all in Africa: Congo-Kinshasa (181st place), the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), and Burundi.
Several European countries are ranked as less business friendly than Israel: France (31st place), Portugal (48th), Spain (49th), Luxembourg (50th), and Italy (65th). Saudi Arabia, in 16th place, is ranked as the most business friendly country in the Middle East.
The general ranking comprises of several items, in which each country is ranked from 1 to 181. Each item has equal weight. Israel's rankings in each item in the Doing Business 2009 report are as follows (the ranking in the Doing Business 2008 report is in parentheses):
- Starting a business - 24th place (18);
- Dealing with construction permits - 120th place (111);
- Employing workers - 92nd place (unchanged);
- Registration of property - 160th place (158);
- Getting credit - 5th place (unchanged);
- Protecting investors - 5th place (unchanged);
- Paying taxes - 77th place (74);
- Trading across borders - 9th place (8);
- Enforcing contracts - 102nd place (100);
- Closing a business - 39th place (43).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 12, 2008
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