Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, October 29, 2013—A new World Bank Group report finds that Mongolia implemented three positive business reforms between June 2012 and June 2013, making it easier to start a business, deal with construction permits, and access electricity.
Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises finds that 15 of 25 economies in East Asia and the Pacific made at least one regulatory reform to improve the ease of doing business.
Over the past year, Mongolia eliminated the requirements to get company statutes and chartered notarized and to register a new company with the local tax office, thereby making starting a business easier. The country also removed a rule requiring companies to submit building plans for lower-risk construction projects to the state for technical review. The third reform involved increasing operational efficiency while lowering the costs of getting electricity access.
IFC, the World Bank Group member focused on private sector development, has worked closely with the Mongolian government to support investment climate regulatory reforms, including providing advice on business reforms that are covered by the sub-indicators of the Doing Business index.
“For the second year in a row, Mongolia has implemented three positive business reforms, which demonstrates the country’s commitment toward improving its business environment, particularly for smaller businesses,” said IFC’s Resident Representative in Mongolia Tuyen Nguyen. “The World Bank Group will continue to support Mongolia’s reform agenda, paving the way for ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity in the country.”
With IFC’s partnership, the Mongolian government is drawing lessons from other economies that are successful at implementing business reforms. Last year, a Mongolia reform delegation visited Georgia, one of the top Doing Business performers, to learn how information technology can make governance more transparent and efficient.
Globally, Singapore continues to provide the world’s most business-friendly regulatory environment for local entrepreneurs, followed by Hong Kong SAR, China. Joining Singapore and Hong Kong on the top 10 list this year are, in this order, New Zealand, the United States, Denmark, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Georgia, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
About the Doing Business report series
The joint World Bank and IFC flagship 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. The aggregate ease of doing business rankings are based on 10 indicators and cover 189 economies. Doing Business does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors. For example, it does not measure the quality of fiscal management, other aspects of macroeconomic stability, the level of skills in the labor force, or the resilience of financial systems. Its findings have stimulated policy debates worldwide and enabled a growing body of research on how firm-level regulation relates to economic outcomes across economies. This year’s report marks the 11th edition of the global Doing Business report series and covers 189 economies. For more information about the Doing Business reports, please visit doingbusiness.org and join us on doingbusiness.org/Facebook.
About the World Bank Group
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: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and www.ifc.org.
