Even as Guyana readies itself to make the requisite adjustments to its economy to better streamline its engagements with investment-keen external businesses, the country still ranks a disappointing 134th out of 190 surveyed in terms of ease of doing business, the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 says.
On the whole Caribbean economies are among the slowest in the world in terms of effecting meaningful reforms as it relates to doing business in the region, according to the publication.
In the publication which details the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it, the World Bank Group says that of the 294 regulatory reforms implemented between May 2018 and May 2019 worldwide, 115 economies made it easier to do business, though it says that “economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean continue to lag in terms of reforms.” No Latin American or Caribbean country ranks in the top 50 in terms of ease of doing business while only two Sub-Saharan African economies are listed in the top 50 on the Bank’s rating list.
“Those economies that score well on Doing Business tend to benefit from higher levels of entrepreneurial activity and lower levels of corruption,” the Bank notes, while asserting that while economic reasons are the main drivers of reform, the advancement of neighbouring economies provides an additional impetus for regulatory change.” It notes that over the past year “26 economies became less business-friendly, introducing 31 regulatory changes that stifle efficiency and quality of regulation”.
The Doing Business 2020 publication ranks Jamaica as the top Caribbean Community country, at number 71 of the 190 countries surveyed, followed by St Lucia (93) Trinidad and Tobago (105), Dominica (111), Antigua and Barbuda (113), The Bahamas (119), Barbados (128), St Vincent and the Grenadines (130), Guyana (134), Belize (135), St Kitts-Nevis (139), Grenada (146), Suriname (162) and Haiti (179).
The World Bank publication notes that economies that score highest on the ease of doing business scale share several common features including the widespread use of electronic systems in their operations. All of the 20 top-ranking economies have online business incorporation processes and electronic tax-filing platforms, and allow online procedures related to property transfers. Latin American and Caribbean countries remain among those with the most cumbersome tax compliance processes.
Meanwhile, the World Bank notes that no economies from Latin America and the Caribbean appeared in the 10 top ‘improvers list’ over the past two years. At the same time “not a single economy in Latin America and the Caribbean ranks among the top 50 on the ease of doing business.”
Some Caribbean countries have been singled out as having made some progress in specific areas with Barbados and Belize cited as having invested in training utility personnel and capacity-building. The Bank also noted that the most common features of property registration reform included greater transparency of information, better reliability of infrastructure, and reduced taxes and fees.
Overall, economies in the Middle East and North Africa improved the most. Qatar created a one-stop shop, eliminating five procedures and lowering property transfer time by 11 days. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Jamaica reduced the cost of property registration by almost seven per cent of the property value while Brazil and Ecuador introduced electronic property-transfer systems.
