Zagreb, October 24, 2017 – A new study will evaluate local business regulations affecting domestic firms in five Croatian cities, announced the World Bank Group, the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Crafts and the Agency for Investments and Competitiveness today. The cities being measured include: Osijek, Rijeka, Split, Varaždin and Zagreb.
The report – expected to be launched in mid-2018 – will analyze business regulations and identify good practices in five areas: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, and enforcing contracts. The study, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, will include three other European Union members, the Czech Republic, Portugal and the Slovak Republic.
The subnational study builds on the World Bank Group’s annual flagship Doing Business report and will examine the experience of small to midsize domestic firms in the selected cities. The analysis will identify good practices and recommend reforms based on examples from Croatia and 189 other economies measured by the Doing Business report. The results will support all levels of government in their reform processes to improve the ease of doing business across Croatia.
“The five selected Croatian cities are important economic engines in their respective regions. We hope that showcasing the good work cities have done and extracting best practices will motivate and inspire other Croatian local authorities to make it easier for small and medium enterprises to do business. This important exercise can also inform national-level debates and efforts to incorporate the most successful solutions into national policies to further improve the business environment,” said Elisabetta Capannelli, World Bank Country Manager for Croatia.
The Subnational Doing Business reports capture differences in business regulations and their enforcement across locations in a single country or region. The reports provide data on the ease of doing business in selected areas, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve the business climate at the local level in each area. Since 2005, the Subnational Doing Business projects have benchmarked 400 cities in 71 countries.
For more information about the Subnational Doing Business studies, please visit: www.doingbusiness.org/subnational.
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About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group plays a key role in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. It consists of five institutions: the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Working together in more than 100 countries, these institutions provide financing, advice, and other solutions that enable countries to address the most urgent challenges of development.
Since joining the World Bank Group in 1993, Croatia has benefited from financial and technical assistance, policy advice, and analytical services provided by the global development institution. To date, the World Bank has supported 54 operations amounting to around US$3.5 billion in investments. Current Bank’s financial engagement focuses primarily on the transport sector, and projects in health, social protection and innovation.
