BD falls three steps back in WB’s doing business ranking

Despite efforts to improve the environment, Bangladesh's position in world rankings in respect of creating conditions for doing business has dropped three stages from last year's mark of 170.
Out of 189 economies surveyed, Bangladesh ranked 173rd in the latest World Bank annual report published Wednesday from its headquarters in Washington.
The WB published the 12th annual report titled Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency' by investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. The ratings were based on the data collection as of June 1, 2014.
However, the rank of the country in respect of ambiance for business start-up is much better at 112.
But retrograde developments came from two sides to pull down its overall ranking to 173.
Its position fell back to 144 as regards dealing with construction permit while to 188 for hurdles in getting electricity for doing business.  
In a statement issued on the occasion, the World Bank says the report finds that like Nepal and Pakistan, Bangladesh has focused their efforts on adopting modern electronic systems to facilitate business activity during 2013-14.
Bangladesh made trading across borders easier by introducing a fully automated, computerized customs data-management system, ASYCUDA (Automated System for Customs Data) World.
World Bank Communication Officer Mehrin Ahmed Mahbub said Bangladesh ranking has dropped mainly for adding more indicators and countries in comparison with last year's doing-business report.
This year, for the first time, Doing Business collected data for a second city in economies with a population of more than 100 million. Bangladesh is among the 10 such countries, and here it analyzed the business regulations in Chittagong and Dhaka.
The report this year expands the data for three of the 10 topics covered, and there are plans to do so for five more topics next year.
In the doing business last year, Bangladesh's position was 130, a two-step improvement from the previous corresponding year.
The report says four of eight economies in South Asia implemented at least one regulatory reform making it easier for local entrepreneurs to do business last fiscal year.
India implemented the region's largest number of regulatory reforms in that period, with 20, followed by Sri Lanka with 16.
The multilateral development-funding agency ranked Singapore on top of the global rankings on the ease of doing business.
Joining it on the list of the top 10 economies with the most business-friendly regulatory environments are New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, China, Denmark, the Republic of Korea, Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Australia.
The Doing Business 2015 scored Bangladesh 46.85 in the overall distance to frontier (DTF) closing with Nigeria. The rank of the country in starting business is 112 and its DTF score in the same is 81.36. Starting-process time is almost 20 days.
Bangladesh's ranking in dealing with construction permit is 144 for taking procedures 13.5 numbers and times of 270 days. Its rank in getting electricity is assessed 188 for taking nine procedures and 429 days.
The survey also found that Bangladesh is also among four economies that have the same tax system in both the two major business cities.
In the area of starting a business the paid-in minimum capital requirement is the same in the two cities in all 11 economies.
"Only in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the time and cost to start a business is same where it differs between the two cities in eight economies," the WB report says.
Regarding introducing computerized systems, the report said Bangladesh is among the eight economies that reduced the time to export and import by allowing web-based submission of documents through the systems.
The report appreciated the systems for making it easier to trade across border.
Obtaining a zoning clearance from the Capital Development Authority (Rajuk) in Dhaka takes 45 days in Bangladesh, which is, however, nine times more than the Philippines' five days on average.
Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
Doing Business also measures labour-market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking.
"Doing business is easier in economies with administrative efficiency and strong regulatory protections," said Rita Ramalho, the Doing Business report lead author.

smunima@yahoo.com