ROC ranks 19th in World Bank doing business survey

2014-10-31

Taiwan was rated 19th among 189 economies worldwide in the Doing Business 2015 survey released Oct. 29 by the World Bank.

Although scoring 78.7 points in the latest assessment, up 1.1 from last year, Taiwan dropped one place in the rankings. Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong remained the top three in that order.

The National Development Council attributed the slight dip to the fact that more time is needed for central government reforms to take effect.

“We feel that the survey has yet to take into account implementation results of measures in applying for construction permits, facilitating cross-border trade, registering properties and starting a business,” an NDC official said. “We will organize a cross-ministerial meeting next month to address areas of concern and coordinate efforts of relevant agencies in these regards.”

Among the 10 categories employed by the survey to assess an economy’s business environment, Taiwan fared best in getting electricity, moving up seven places to the second with a score of 98.94 out of 100, trailing only South Korea.

Obtaining an electricity connection is essential for any business. Yet in many economies, the process is complicated by multiple laws and regulations involved, the survey said, citing Taiwan’s decision to eliminate onsite inspections as a praiseworthy development.

Getting credit was another category of strong performance for Taiwan. It moved up three places up to 52nd on the back of improved access to credit information by including data from utility companies in related reports.

Although Taiwan’s 37th ranking in paying taxes remains unchanged, the survey recognized continuous government reforms in this regard since 2010. These include extending electronic filing and payment to value-added and vehicle license taxes, as well as streamlining tax return forms and procedures.

Also unchanged for Taiwan were its rankings in starting a business, 15th, protecting minority investors, 30th, registering property, 40th, and enforcing contracts, 93rd.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=223447&CtNode=413)