The World Bank published the Doing Business 2011 report earlier this week, measuring how easy and pricey it is to complete the various bureaucratic procedures and red tape involved in setting up, running and shutting down a firm. Israel went up one spot from last year in the latest report, ranking 29 among the 183 countries included in the study. For more information on how the study was conducted, check out the The full methodology page.
The data summary page for Israel shows that on one hand, Israel has improved by one point in some categories like dealing with construction permits , trading across borders and closing a business. But on the other hand, “starting a business” became harder in Israel, down 4 points from last year, bringing Israel to #36 place worldwide in this category. The table below summarizes the costs and procedures associated with starting a business in Israel:
The Economist discusses the report in detail in the current print edition, but some interesting stats are analyzed in Snipping off the shackles:
- Singapore is the easiest country to do business in, according to the report.
- Mexico became the most straightforward economy for doing business in Latin America, overtaking Colombia
- Mexican firms can file their taxes on the web, which is still impossible in most Latin American countries.
- Kazakhstan became the top reformer in 2010, leaping 15 places to 59th after making it quicker and cheaper to start a firm, and simplifying construction permits
- However, it still takes 81 days to export from Kazakhstan compared to 5 in Estonia
- In New Zealand it takes one day to create a new company; in Suriname it takes almost two years
- The charge for registering a change of property ownership in Syria amounts to more than a quarter of the building’s entire value
- Emerging markets are still struggling to climb to the top 50 spots: China is ranked 79th and India is at #134
- India could be 55 places higher if it had consistency of service across its states
Below is a summary of the top ten countries to do business in (click to enlarge):
Israel is a young country, with plenty to learn. The report didn’t take corruption and the state of the economy into account, but I can’t wait to see less red tape, more online government services and lower costs for Israeli entrepreneurs. Without many natural resources, Israel has to get this right if it wants to continue growing it economy.
Download your free copy of the Doing Business Report in this link: http://www.doingbusiness.org/Reports/Doing-Business/Doing-Business-2011
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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