KSA best place for business in ME says World Bank

Saudi Arabia improved its rank from 12th to 11th, making it the best place to do business in the MENA region.

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The majority of GCC countries have seen a drop in their ease of doing business rankings for the year 2011 when compared with 2010 – except for Saudi Arabia.

In its review of 183 national economies, the International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, ranked Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE lower on the ease of doing business scale for next year, with no change for Oman.

The report entitled ‘Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs’ is the 8th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Regulations affecting 11 areas covering the life of a business including  starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property , getting credit, paying taxes and closing a business  are assessed and the data ranked accordingly.

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Singapore topped the ratings for the second year, heading a top 10 that included, in order, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the UK, US, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Ireland and Australia.

While almost all GCC countries saw a dip in their rankings, Saudi Arabia countered the trend with a step up in its standings, from 12th to 11th best country in the world, and best country in the MENA region to do business.

Among its biggest improvements was its ability to deal with construction permits – the Kingdom having made dealing with construction permits easier for the second year in a row by introducing a new, streamlined process.

Other improvements were related to businesses getting credit (KSA having amended its commercial lien law which has eased access to credit), trading across borders, and closing a business.

Within the MENA region, another country to do well was Egypt, which jumped up five places from 99 to 94.