Morocco Gains 21 Places In Ease of Doing Business 2012 Rankings
Morocco made important progress in terms of protecting investors, ranking 97th globally in 2012, up 56 spots from the 153rd place in 2011.
In the recently released report by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) titled “Doing Business in a More Transparent World”, Morocco gained 21 places in terms of ease of doing business in Morocco in 2012.
The report finds that Saudi Arabia remained the regional leader, ranking 12th globally in terms of ease of doing business, followed by the UAE which ranked 33rd globally.
The report ranks 183 economies in 10 areas of business, namely starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Doing Business uses a simple averaging approach for weighting component indicators and calculating rankings. The study’s methodology expanded this year to include one new indicator “getting electricity”.
Morocco made important progress in terms of protecting investors, ranking 97th globally in 2012, up 56 spots from the 153rd place in 2011. According to the report, Morocco strengthened investor protections by allowing minority shareholders to obtain any non-confidential corporate document during trial. Also, in terms of paying taxes, Morocco witnessed an improvement from the 148th place in 2011 to the 112th place in 2012, as the country eased the administrative burden of paying taxes for firms by enhancing electronic filing and payment of the corporate income tax and value added tax.
The report finds that Saudi Arabia remained the regional leader, ranking 12th globally in terms of ease of doing business, followed by the UAE which ranked 33rd globally.
Kuwait‘s rank improved to the 67th place globally in 2012, from the 71st spot in 2011. Kuwait made notable improvements in terms of resolving insolvency. Oman’s rank also progressed from the 53rd spot in 2011 to the 49th in 2012, due to advancements in terms of starting a business and getting credit. In fact, Oman introduced online company registration, reducing the time it takes to register a business and the country improved its credit information system by launching the Bank Credit and Statistical Bureau System, which collects historical information on performing and nonperforming loans for both firms and individuals.
In the MENA region, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the UAE implemented reforms in terms of starting a business in 2010/11. As a matter of fact, Jordan made starting a business easier by reducing the minimum capital requirement from 1,000 Jordanian dinars to 1 dinar, of which only half must be deposited before company registration. Syria made starting a business less costly by reducing both the minimum capital requirement and the cost of publication for the registration notice.
As for getting credit, the MENA countries that introduced reforms are Algeria, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. Indeed, the UAE made reforms to get a credit; the country improved its credit information system through a new law allowing the establishment of a federal credit bureau under the supervision of the central bank. Qatar improved its credit information system by starting to distribute historical data and eliminating the minimum threshold for loans included in the database.
The article above has been published as a part of Bank Audi`s MENA Weekly Monitor of Week 43 (2011). It can be accessed via Internet at the following web address: http://www.banqueaudi.com