DUSHANBE, September 18, 2008, Asia-Plus — The Government of Tajikistan will take all efforts to improve Tajikistan’s place in the global rankings, head of the State Committee for Investments and State-run Property Management (GosKomInvest), Farrukh Hamraliyev, remarked at the presentation of Tajikistan’s indices in the Doing Business 2009 published by IFC and the World Bank in Dushanbe on September 17.
According to him, the country has done enough for improvement of the business environment. Tajikistan has adopted the laws on inspections, licensing, open joint-stock companies, mortgage, registration of real estate, diligence, and the code on economic legal procedure.
Hamraliyev noted that indeed, Tajikistan had fallen several places in the global rankings. However, some of ten indictors of business regulation, on the basis of which Doing Business 2009 ranks economies, have risen. “Tajikistan, in particular, showed good results on the property registration; however, we hope the law on registration of real estate that will take effect in March 2009 will improve our positions,” the GosKomInvest head said.
On the fact that Tajikistan fell three places in the global rankings, Hamraliyev said that “country competition has become high; thus 113 countries made 239 reforms to simplify business procedures.”
He also noted that that some indicators, in particular obtaining construction permits and starting a business, require review.
According to him, the GosKomInvest asks the World Bank to send an independent expert group to consider those indicators more objectively.
We will recall that Doing Business ranks economies based on 10 indicators of business regulation that track the time and cost to meet government requirements in starting and operating a business, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business. The rankings do not reflect such areas as macroeconomic policy, quality of infrastructure, currency volatility, investor perceptions, or crime rates. The Doing Business project is based on the efforts of more than 6,700 local experts—business consultants, lawyers, accountants, and government officials—and leading academics around the world who provided methodological support and review.
Tajikistan fell three places to 159 out of the 181 economies measured by Doing Business.
According to press release issued by the World Bank, the report recognizes one positive reform over the last year, the Joint Stock Companies Act adopted by Parliament in May 2007. The report also points out one negative change in Tajikistan’s business environment: administrative backlogs in obtaining location permits added 160 days to the overall time for dealing with construction permits.
The Joint Stock Companies Act enhanced investor protections by requiring that transactions between interested parties be approved by a shareholders meeting at which interested directors cannot vote. In addition, the transaction must be disclosed to the board of directors. The new law allows minority shareholders to sue directors on behalf of the company.
“Sustained commitment to reform is essential to achieving higher rankings on international benchmarks like Doing Business,” said Chiara Bronchi, World Bank Country Manager for Tajikistan. “Successful implementation of the government’s reform agenda requires both new legislation and new procedures on-the-ground. For example, the Tax Committee, GosKomInvest, and other government agencies are designing both legislative and procedural solutions to establish a one-stop shop with the aim to simplify and speed up business registration.”
Azerbaijan, the world’s top country in reforming business regulations, rose from 97 to 33 in the global rankings on the ease of doing business. Kyrgyzstan was the world’s fourth top reformer, jumping from 99 to 68 in the global rankings. Kazakhstan also showed a large improvement, moving from 80 up to 70 in the global rankings. Uzbekistan’s establishment of new credit registries helped it improve from 145 to 138.
Singapore leads the global rankings on the overall regulatory ease of doing business for a third consecutive year. New Zealand is runner-up, and the United States third. Top-ranked countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are Georgia (15), Estonia (22), Lithuania (28), Latvia (29), Azerbaijan (33), and Slovakia (36).
