Ease of Doing Business 2011



Thats what I call ease of doing business.

I was really impressed when Malaysian Insider reported that Malaysia has risen ranks to number 18th on World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report for 2011. But this was somehow shattered when I saw 113th for the "Dealing with Construction Permits" category, and took another level when they ranked 1st for "Getting Credit" category, along with countries such as United Kingdom, and ironically, South Afirica. Recalling my previous post on rising household debt, I don't know whether I should see our position in being number one in getting credit as a positive thing.

Korea & Japan ranked 8th and 20th respectively; I was rather dumbfounded to see Japan being ranked below Malaysia. It seems that South Korea had a major advantage in ranking when it comes to Enforcing Contracts, whereas Japan was ranked well below in terms of Paying Taxes. Also surprisingly, Malaysia was seen as a better place compared to both of the countries in terms of protecting investors - something which a country still short of high income status really needs (capital investments in particular). All in all, aside from the Getting Credit category, I think there is still much room for improvement in Malaysia's rankings.

Looking forward to next year's rankings.