This year Egypt tops
the list of reformers that are making it easier to do business.
Egypt's reforms went deep with substantial progress in 5 of the 10
areas studied by Doing Business, and the country greatly improved
its position in the global rankings as a result.
Egypt cut the minimum
capital required to start a business, from 50,000 Egyptian pounds to
just 1,000 and halved the time it takes. It reduced fees for
registering property from 3 percent of the property value to a low,
fixed amount. It eased the bureaucracy that builders face in getting
construction permits. And it launched new one-stop shops for traders
at Egyptian ports, cutting the time to import by seven days and the
time to export by five.
Much remains to be
done, however, especially in the following areas where Egypt trails
the regional and income group averages: Getting Credit (Legal Rights
Index), Employing Workers, and Paying Taxes (time in hours).
The rankings are
based on 10 indicators of business regulation that track the time
and cost to meet government requirements in business start-up,
operation, trade, taxation, and closure. They do not reflect such
areas as macroeconomic policy, quality of infrastructure, currency
volatility, investor perceptions, or crime rates.
“The report finds
that equity returns are highest in countries that are reforming the
most,” said Michael Klein, World Bank/IFC Vice President for
Financial and Private Sector Development. “Investors are looking for
upside potential, and they find it in economies that are
reforming—regardless of their starting point,” he added. Large
emerging markets are reforming fast: Egypt, China, India, Vietnam,
and Turkey all improved in the ease of doing business. The report
also finds that as more countries simplify regulation to make it
easier to do business, more entrepreneurs are going into business.
