The World Bank?s Ease of Doing Business report ?Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All? ranks the UAE top on the list of MENA economies followed by Bahrain (63) and Oman (66)
The UAE improved its global ranking in ease of doing business by five points this year to 26th position.
In global country rankings of business efficiency, New Zealand tops the list as Singapore slipped to second position. Others in the top ten include Denmark, Hong Kong, China, Republic of Korea, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States.
The report has also revealed that based on reforms undertaken, the UAE and Bahrain are also among the global top 10 improvers. It states the pace of business reforms in MENA region accelerated considerably in the past year, despite conflict and turmoil in the region. The report also noted that starting a business in the region remains challenging as it costs 26 per cent of income per capita on average, compared with three per cent in OECD high-income economies.
The UAE implemented risk-based inspections during construction and has taken measures that make it easier to start a business by streamlining name reservation and articles of association notarisation and merging registration procedures, the report stated.
