Estonia has come in 17th among the 189 countries listed in the World Bank’s recently published Doing Business 2015 index, scoring higher than its southern neighbours.
Singapore continues to be the economy with the most business-friendly regulations, according to the index. New Zealand scored second and China’s special administrative region of Hong Kong third.
Of the big economies of the world, the United States came seventh, the United Kingdom eighth, Australia 10th and Germany 14th. Of Estonia’s closest neighbours, Finland scored ninth, Sweden 11th, Latvia 23th, Lithuania 24th and Russia 62nd.
Tanel Rebane, the director of the development unit at Enterprise Estonia, said in a statement that the competitiveness of the Estonian business environment woos investors and helps the companies operating in Estonia grow. He added that the Doing Business index is one of the most important scoreboards concerning foreign investments.
According to the World Bank, the Doing Business index looks at how business regulations determine whether good ideas can get started and thrive or will falter and wither away.
The index focuses on regulations that affect domestic small and medium-size enterprises, operating in the largest business city of an economy, across 10 areas: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Businessalso measures labour market regulation.
