For the 4th year running, Singapore has once again gotten the first place ranking in a global study of 183 economies as to its “Ease of Doing Business”. In 2nd place is New Zealand, 3rd is Hong Kong, 4th is USA and 5th, the UK.
How this ranking is reached [PDF] is through a simple average of the 10 topics covered during the ranking process: (1) Starting a Business (2) Dealing with Construction Permits (3) Employing Workers (4) Registering Property (5) Getting Credit (6) Protecting Investors (7) Paying Taxes (8) Trading Across Borders (9) Enforcing Contracts (10) Closing a Business.
While Singapore ranked top 5 for eight out of the ten topics covered, we ranked 13/183 for Enforcing Contracts and 16/183 for Registering Property.
Top 10 economies under “Ease of Doing Business”. Click to enlarge.
Do you agree? As this latest Doing Business 2010 report only covers the June 2008 to May 2009, the latest change to the requirements for an Entrepass (with effect from 28th Sept 2009) wasn’t factored in. Considering how much discontent I’ve been hearing over this change from some foreign entrepreneurs (both who have benefited from the previously liberal Entrepass requirements and those who are now finding it difficult to fulfill the requirements), I’m not sure how this will affect Singapore’s standing in the Doing Business 2011 report.
But for foreign entrepreneurs looking for a quick guide to your visa choices here in Singapore and how you may still try to set up a business here in Singapore, check out our article,
Navigating the Visa Jungle for Foreign Entrepreneurs in Singapore.
For all past year reports, download the PDF files from the Doing Business website. Singapore was 2nd in the 2006 report and 3rd in Doing Business 2005.
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