Vietnam rises 14 places in business environment

Vietnam ranked 68th out of 190 countries surveyed by the World Bank on ease of doing business.

The World Bank (WB) has just released the Doing Business 2018 Global Business Environment Survey Report. Among 190 countries evaluated, Vietnam ranked 68th, up from 82nd last year.

In this year's survey, the World Bank assessed economies based on 10 criteria, including starting a business, obtaining construction permits, paying taxes, getting electricity, protecting minority investors, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, registering property, getting credit, and resolving insolvency.

Vietnam is one of the two countries that have implemented the most reforms in the past 15 years, with 39 reforms. In 2017, Vietnam moved up the rankings, ranking 68th out of 190 countries in terms of business conditions.

For Vietnam, the areas that are assessed to have reformed, making it easier to do business are accessing electricity, borrowing capital, paying taxes, trading internationally and enforcing contracts. Vietnam's 10 areas have rankings ranging from 20 to 129. The highest rating is still applying for construction permits (ranked 20), and the lowest is dealing with insolvency (129).

With the standard object being a limited liability company in Ho Chi Minh City, WB pointed out that the total number of administrative procedures this company must perform (to establish and operate) is 10. With the highest rated criterion - applying for a construction permit, the number of procedures to be completed is similar.

This year, Vietnam has 5 reforms. If calculated over the past 15 years, Vietnam and Indonesia are the 2 countries that have implemented the most reforms in the East Asia - Pacific region, with 39 each.

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is in the middle. Above are Singapore (2), Malaysia (24) and Thailand (26).

New Zealand is still in the top spot this year, followed by Denmark, Hong Kong (China) and South Korea. Emerging economies, such as China and India, have also moved up in the rankings.

The World Bank report assesses that economies around the world are implementing reforms to make business simpler. However, Europe and Central Asia will continue to be the region with the highest rate of reform. According to World Bank statistics, 190 economies have implemented 264 reforms in the past year, mainly focusing on reducing the complexity and administrative costs of starting a business and borrowing money.

According to VNE