(Prensa.com) The World Bank (WB) said today “encouraging” and “important” efforts to improve business regulation in Latin America, with Panama, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico to the head, while watching other setbacks as Argentina and Venezuela.
Data is collected in the study, “Doing Business 2013: Smart Regulations for Small and Medium Enterprises” held jointly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), now in its tenth edition and finds a global trend towards regulatory simplification.
“There are countries that these indicators are taken very seriously and have made very significant progress,” he told Reuters, Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director of Global Indicators and Analysis, World Bank Group.
The report shows that Chile is the regional leader in terms of the ease of doing business, ranking 37th of 185 economies in the global ranking, followed by Peru (43), Colombia (45), Mexico (48) and Panama (61).
Countries that are more obstacles to doing business in Latin America are Argentina (124), Honduras (125), Bolivia (155) and Venezuela (180). ‘
“Doing Business” focuses on regulations applicable to small and medium enterprises in ten areas of their life cycle.
Which include: the opening of a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes and trading across borders.