WASHINGTON AND KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia advanced for the first time into a top 10 ranking of nations the World Bank deems friendliest to businesses.
Malaysia vaulted to sixth from 12th a year ago after easing procedures for registering a company, applying for a construction permit and getting electricity, the bank said in its 2014 ‘Doing Business’ report.
Singapore led the annual competitiveness scorecard for the eighth straight year, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United States of America and Denmark, unchanged from a year ago.
China slid five spots to 96th, while the United Kingdom dropped to 10th from seventh.
A Bloomberg report said bureaucracy has improved under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s economic and government transformation programmes, even as the country grapples with crime and corruption.
“Malaysia has done a good job in streamlining business processes in the past few years,” said Transparency International Malaysia secretary-general KM Loiin a phone interview yesterday.
“But we still need to strengthen business integrity and anti-bribery practices. Corruption hurts everybody.”
While Malaysia moved to 54th from 60th place among 176 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index last year, it was ranked worst for bribery among 30 countries surveyed.
However, the government has tightened anti-corruption legislation, set up specialist courts and is introducing tighter detention laws.
The World Bank’s study, in its 11th year, covered a record 189 economies, assessing them on measures such as the costliness of commercial regulations and the strength of public institutions.
Nations are ranked based on indicators such as the time required to start a business, fi le tax returns and export or import goods.
World Bank president Jim Yong Kim pledged in June to improve the report, which he called “an important catalyst in driving reforms around the world”.
“Governments play a crucial role in supporting a dynamic ecosystem for firms,” the Washington-based lender said in the report.
“Without good rules that are evenly enforced, entrepreneurs have a harder time starting and growing small and medium-size firms that are the engines of growth and job creation for most economies around the world.”
The report counted 238 policy improvements, an increase of 18 per cent from the previous year and the second highest total since the financial crisis.
Ukraine, rising to 112th after coming in 137th a year ago, was identified as the country that made the greatest progress with reforms, having simplified measures in areas such as customs, bankruptcy and a value-added tax.
Greece, whose insolvency helped trigger the European debt crisis, rose in the ranking to 72nd from 78th; while Spain, beset with a 26 per cent unemployment rate, slipped to 52nd from 44th, according to the report.
Other emerging economies also gained in the World Bank’s report, with Russia jumping to 92nd from 112th a year ago and being named among the most improved, while Brazil rose to 116th from 130th.
Chad is the worst place to do business, switching positions with the Central African Republic, which ranked second-to-last, according to the World Bank. — Bloomberg