Belarus has been ranked among the world’s 10 reformers that made more business-friendly changes to its regulations in the past year than any other government.
In its seventh annual Doing Business report, the bank`s International Finance Corporation recorded 287 reforms across 131 economies in the 12-month period that ended in June, up from 239 reforms in 113 economies in the same period a year before.
"Belarus eased the process for getting construction permits by simplifying approval processes," the report said. "Restrictions relating to redundancy dismissals were eased by raising the threshold for prior notification requirements. Tax payments were made more convenient through increased use of electronic systems—reducing tax compliance times—while lower ecological and turnover tax rates and a reduction in the number of payments for property tax reduced the tax burden on businesses."
The report also mentioned the improvement of property registration, the simplification of formalities for business start-ups, as well as the implementation of a risk-based management system and the improvement of border crossing operations that "reduced transit times for trade."
Belarus vaulted to the 58th from the 85th rank in the bank’s 2010 Doing Business Report, ahead of Kazakhstan, Poland and Moldova.
The index ranks 183 participants by their rules for setting up, running and closing a business.
Singapore topped the list, followed by New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US and the UK.
The report, which helps private investors decide where to direct funds, showed some emerging economies losing ground, with China sinking to the 89th from the 86th place and Brazil slipping to the 129th from the 127th place.
