M’sia 18th on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business list

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s ranking in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business fell one spot to 18th among 189 economies in 2015, compared with 17th in 2014.
Released yesterday, Doing Business 2016: Measuring Quality and Efficiency Report highlighted that Malaysia will have the opportunity to improve its consistently strong business environment further by reducing the procedures for construction permits and time taken to pay taxes.
However, Malaysia has still retained its position among the top 20 economies worldwide and first among emerging economies in East Asia on the ease of doing business.
“Malaysia’s improvements in the ease of doing business, such as, by reforming business registration requirements, have benefited local entrepreneurs, who now have fewer hurdles to comply with and more resources to focus on their business,” said World Bank country manager for Malaysia Faris Hadad Zervos.
“Malaysia’s dynamic approach toward assisting business development is recognised globally with its ranking as one of the 20 best economies in the world in which to do business,” he added.
Meanwhile, for the 10th consecutive year, Singapore ranked number one in the world on the annual ease of doing business measurement.
The report said East Asia and the Pacific is the second most represented region, after Europe, in the world’s top 20 economies.
Also among the top 20 economies, in addition to Malaysia are New Zealand (2nd), South Korea (4th), Hong Kong (5th), Taiwan (11th) and Australia (13th).