DUSHANBE, November 15, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan has taken important steps towards the ease of doing business and facilitation of activities of entrepreneurs, Mr. Andrea Dall’Olio, the World Bank Chief Economic for Finance and Private Sector Development in Europe and Central Asia, said at the presentation of the
Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs
Report in Dushanbe today.
Simplification of the registration procedures makes starting business in Tajikistan easier, he said, noting that Tajikistan has also strengthened protection of investments through making amendments to the law on joint-stock companies and extended access to corporate information through permitting shareholders without controlling interest to get access to all corporate documents.
“The legal entity income tax rate has been reduced from 25 to 15 percent,” Mr. Dall’Olio added.
“However, the business environmental remains not so favorable though it has become easier to doing business in the country that is confirmed by the
Doing Business 2011
ranking,” the WB official said, noting that the indicators “dealing with construction permits,” “external trade” and “access to loans” are especially low.
Issues relating to running business in Tajikistan, and rankings of the countries of the region on the ease of doing business were also discussed during the report presentation in Dushanbe, the source said.
According to
Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs
, among the world’s economies, Kazakhstan improved business
regulation the most in the past year. Kazakhstan improved conditions for starting a business, obtaining construction permits, protecting investors, and trading across borders. As a result, it moved up 15 places in the rankings on the ease of
doing business—to 59 among 183 economies. Tajikistan that climbed 10 places to 139th is also among the 10 most-improved
economies.
In the past five years about 85 percent of the world’s economies have made it easier for local entrepreneurs to operate, through 1,511 improvements to business regulation.
Doing Business 2011
pioneers a new measure showing how much business regulation has changed in 174 economies since 2005.
For eight consecutive years, Eastern Europe and Central Asia has been the most active region in improving business regulation for domestic firms. In the past many changes were driven by the prospect of joining the European Union. More recently, the financial crisis has triggered new activity. This past year 21 of 25 economies improved business regulation for local firms.
Doing Business
analyzes regulations that apply to an economy’s businesses during their life cycle, including start-up and operations, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business.
Doing
Business
does not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors. For example, it does not measure security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, skill level, or the strength of financial systems. Its findings have stimulated policy debates in more than 80 economies and enabled a growing body of research on how firm-level regulation relates to economic outcomes across economies.
