PH slips in Ease of Doing Business ranks

Being an entrepreneur in the Philippines became more difficult relative to the rest of the world this year, with several basic indicators such as the amount of red tape associated with starting a business showing slow progress.

The World Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business report showed the Philippines slipping by six spots to place 103rd from last year’s 97th.

Last year’s report placed the Philippines at 95th, but this was revised to reflect a change in methodology.

Results of the latest survey are a setback to the Aquino administration’s goal of cracking the top third of global rankings in the annual report. In 2010, the Philippines ranked 162nd.

Among the country’s regional peer group, the Philippines placed fourth behind Malaysia (18th in global rankings), Thailand (49th), and Vietnam (90th). The Philippines was also below the average rank of Asian countries of 96th.

The Philippines was ahead of Indonesia (109th), and Laos (134th).

Countries are ranked by the World Bank based on several indicators such as Starting a Business, Dealing with Construction Permits, Property Registration, Getting Construction Permits, and Paying Taxes.

The Philippines’ worst score was in Starting a Business, where the country ranked 165th out of 189 countries. It required a total of 16 procedures to start a business in the Philippines–a process that takes 29 days.  CDG

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