WASHINGTON, June 7, 2013—World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today made the following statement on the Doing Business report and Independent Panel Review:
“The World Bank Group's work on business climate development, including the Doing Business report, is core to our mission of ending poverty, and in fact we expect it to grow. Our client countries are demanding it, because there is broad consensus about the need for jobs to eliminate poverty and boost growth. We are committed to this work.
Doing Business has evolved over time, and I requested a review at the report’s 10 year mark in order to seek further ways to improve the product.
We have received a preliminary review of Doing Business from the Chair of the Independent Panel, Trevor Manuel, and I have discussed the Panel’s views with Trevor and with the World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors. The Panel benefited from diverse, informed and constructive views of member countries and other stakeholders, and I am very grateful to Trevor and his colleagues for their work.
We will reflect on the Panel’s work and look to improve and refine the report further. In the coming weeks the Panel will deliver a final review, which we plan to release to the public.
Preparation of this year’s Doing Business is well advanced and the report will proceed as planned.
As I discussed with Board members today, it is indisputable that Doing Business has been an important catalyst in driving reforms around the world. The Panel has made valuable suggestions for how to enhance the report, which merit consideration. Going forward, I will be pushing World Bank Group staff to focus their efforts on improving all aspects of Doing Business, including its data, methodology, and rankings. I am committed to the Doing Business report, and rankings have been part of its success.
I would like to thank all the members of the Independent Review Panel for their work: Trevor Manuel (PANEL CHAIR), Minister in the Presidency: National Planning Commission, South Africa; Carlos Arruda, Professor of Innovation and Competitiveness, Executive Director of the International Advisory Council and Coordinator of the Innovation Center of Fundação Dom Cabral, Brazil; Jihad Azour, Vice President, Booz & Co, former Minister of Finance, Lebanon; Chong-en Bai, Professor of Economics and Chairman of the Economics Department, Tsing Hua University, Beijing, China; Timothy Besley, Professor of Economics and Political Science, London School of Economics, UK; Dong-Sung Cho, Professor of Strategy and International Business at Seoul National University, Korea; Sergei Guriev, Professor of Economics and Rector, New Economic School, Moscow, Russia; Huguette Labelle (Canada), Chair of the Board of Directors, Transparency International; Jean Pierre Landau, Visiting Lecturer of Public and International Affairs and former Deputy Governor of Banque de France; Arun Maira, Member of the Planning Commission (Minister Level) of the Government of India and former Chairman of the Boston Consulting Group in India; and Hendrik Wolff (Germany), Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Washington."
