TBILISI, October 31, 2018 – Georgia has maintained its position among the world’s top 10 economies in the World Bank Group’s annual Doing Business report, which measures ease of doing business. This year the country has moved up to 6th place in the global rankings and is currently the highest ranked economy in the Europe and Central Asia region.
With Georgia jumping 3 positions to 6th place and FYR Macedonia edging up one spot to 10th place, the region also hosts two of this year’s top improvers, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Overall, the pace of reforms accelerated in the Europe and Central Asia region, with 54 reforms implemented during the past year, compared with a revised number of 43 reforms the previous year. While reforms in the region covered all areas of Doing Business, many improvements focused on easing the process of getting a construction permit and trading across borders. Nearly all of the region’s 23 economies carried out reforms that help create jobs and stimulate private enterprise.
“I am very pleased with Georgia’s performance in the Doing Business index. The country has continued to advance its position in the rankings over the past three years. This is a testimony of the Government’s commitment to a progressive reform agenda to improve the business environment,” said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus.
In Georgia, the following three reforms were implemented:
- Georgia made it easier to start a business by cutting or simplifying post-registration procedures (tax registration, social security registration, licensing);
- Georgia made it easier to pay taxes by introducing new or significantly revised tax laws, simplifying tax compliance processes and decreasing the number of tax fillings or payments;
- Georgia made it easier to enforce contracts by expanding court automation through introduction of electronic payments and processes, automatic assignment of cases to judges and by publishing judgements.
Georgia reduced its relative gap to the best regulatory performance on starting a business the most in 2017-2018. Previously, entrepreneurs had to make a separate visit to the Revenue Service for value added tax registration after company registration. Georgia also enhanced its existing one-stop shop for business incorporation, allowing entrepreneurs to start a company through a single procedure.
“Georgia’s improvement in the ranking of the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report, is yet another evidence of the effectiveness of the reforms implemented by the Government of Georgia that are directed at improving the business environment. It is owing to these reforms that Georgia has risen from the 9th position to the 6th in the international Doing Business ratings. One of the important contributors to the improvement of ratings was the profit tax reform, which significantly (by 40 percent) reduced the tax burden for businesses, and decreased the time needed for taxpayers in order to declare taxes (by nearly 20 percent). I would like to take this opportunity and once again thank the World Bank Group for their unwavering support to the Georgia’s reform agenda,” said Ivane Matchavariani, Minister of Finance of Georgia.
In the World Bank Group’s annual ease of doing business rankings, the top 10 economies are New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark, which retain their first, second and third spots, respectively, for a second consecutive year, followed by Hong Kong SAR, China; Republic of Korea; Georgia; Norway; United States; United Kingdom and FYR Macedonia.
The full report and its datasets are available at www.doingbusiness.org
