Myanmar has dropped one place to 171th among 190 countries in terms of ease of doing business, a drop from 170th place in 2016. This was reflected in the World Bank’s recently released report on “Ease of doing business”
The report reviews changes in business regulations in 190 countries for domestic firms using 11 indicator sets, including 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.
For “starting a business” area, Myanmar drops 9 places to 155th rank to compare with 2017 edition of doing business report. Similarly, there is slippage in “trading across border” area. Myanmar drops 14 places to 153th rank to compare with the 2017 edition.
On the contrary, Myanmar jumps 24 places to 125th rank for “paying taxes” area to compare with the 2017 edition. Two economies in the East Asia and Pacific region rank among the top 10 economies globally in the doing business rankings. The top-ranked economies are Singapore (2), and Hong Kong SAR, China (5). The region’s lowest ranked economies are Myanmar (171) and Timor-Leste (178).
Neighboring countries of Myanmar such as Thailand gained 22 positions, and moved from 48 to 26, and Brunei Darussalam gained 20 positions and is now ranked 56 in the global ranking. Other economies that improved in the ranking were Indonesia, Vietnam, Samoa, Mongolia, and Taiwan, China.
