PHL ranking in World Bank 2012 'Ease of Doing Business' survey slips

(Updated 6:24 p.m.) The Philippine ranking in the World Bank's "ease of doing business" survey slipped two notches from 134 to 136, the multilateral lender said in a report Thursday. In its 2012 Doing Business Report, the Philippines dropped to 136 from 134, despite instituting a single reform intended to make regulatory environment more business-friendly. The reform dealt with resolving insolvency easier. The Philippine ranking placed the country among the laggards in the East Asian region in terms of business-friendliness. The report polled 183 economies. Singapore retained its position as the friendliest place to do business in, followed by Hong Kong and New Zealand. Others in the top 10 were the US, Denmark, Norway, UK, South Korea, Iceland and Ireland, respectively. Meanwhile, other Asian countries fared better than the Philippines in terms of ranking. Thailand was ranked 17, Malaysia was 18, Japan was 20, Taiwan was 25, Brunei was 83, China was 91st, Vietnam was 98, Indonesia was 129, Cambodia was 138, and Lao PDR was 165. Other countries in Africa — considered among the least developed in the world — even outranked the Philippines, including Sudan which placed 135th. Sudan was recently partitioned into a North and South divide following two decades of civil war. The report assesses regulations affecting domestic firms and ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency and trading across borders. The 2012 Doing Business Report covered regulations measured from June 2010 through May 2011. “The global report shows that governments in 125 economies out of 183 measured implemented a total of 245 business regulatory reforms — 13 percent more reforms than in the previous year," the World Bank said. In a teleconference and press briefing at the International Finance Corp. office in Makati City on Thursday, IFC officials explained that the Philippines may have slipped in the survey rankings but it actually made slight improvements in making the the country more investor friendly. IFC is the World Bank's private sector investment unit. — CMA/OMG/VS, GMA News