World Bank: Macedonia among top ten reformers
The Balkan country was cited as the third top pro-business reformer in the world.
(World Bank, AFP, Bloomberg, BBC, Makfax – 09/09/09; Reuters, Wall Street Journal – 08/09/09)
Macedonia stands out as among the best global reformers, according to the report. [AFP]
Economic reforms implemented between June 2008 and May 2009 have helped Macedonia become the easiest place to do business in Southeast Europe (SEE), according to a new World Bank report, released on Wednesday (September 9th).
The Bank’s seventh annual Doing Business study named Macedonia as the third top reformer in the world during the survey period, after Rwanda and the Kyrgyz Republic. The other seven countries in the top ten were Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Colombia, Tajikistan, Egypt and Liberia.
“Globally, a record 131 of the 183 economies surveyed reformed business regulations between June 2008 and May 2009,” the report published by the Bank and its private arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), said.
Although severely hit by the global crisis, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, including all SEE countries except for Greece, led the world in making pro-business reforms for the sixth year in a row, the report noted.
“Reforms continue to move eastward across the region,” Svetlana Bagaudinova, one of the authors, said, naming Albania, Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic and Macedonia as the countries that implemented reforms in several areas for the third consecutive year. “Inspired by their neighbours, Kazakhstan, Montenegro and Tajikistan have also picked up the pace of reform.”
The report ranks countries for ease of doing business on the basis of an analysis of the regulations that affect the life-cycle of small to medium-size domestic firms. There are ten indicators used in determining an economy’s position on the global list. They include the time and cost to start and close a business, trading across borders, investor protections, registering property, construction permits, enforcing contracts, paying taxes, getting credit and employing workers.
Macedonia, which implemented reforms in seven of those areas, was 32nd in this year’s global rankings, up 37 places from last year. The reforms implemented during the survey period have translated, inter alia, into increased investor protections and a more flexible regime for hiring workers.
Property registration has also become easier and the procedures for starting a business have been simplified significantly by the introduction of a one-stop shop. It now takes only four days before an entrepreneur can operate a business in Macedonia.
Of the other SEE nations, Cyprus was ranked highest as 40th in the world, but eight places behind Macedonia. Bulgaria, which was the region’s leader in ease of doing business last year, slipped one position to stand 44th this year.
They are followed by Romania (55th), Montenegro (71st), Turkey (73rd), Albania (82nd), Serbia (88th), Croatia (103rd), Greece (109th) and Kosovo (113th). Placed 116th this year, Bosnia and Herzegovina was again ranked worst among the countries in the region.
Germany’s ‘debt queen’ kicks austerity to the curb
Her rivals call her Germany’s “debt queen,” but Hannelore Kraft’s victory in a state election on the weekend has driven speculation she could challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel as the mother of a nation famed for its frugality. Ms. Kraft’s ready smile and common touch helped her turn around the fortunes of her centre-left Social Democrats [...]
Witnesses describe Breivik’s “battle cry” during killing spree
Anders Behring Breivik screamed a “battle cry” and appeared both angry and joyous as he shot his victims one by one, survivors of the Norwegian far-right killer’s massacre told a court on Wednesday. “I heard screaming but I couldn’t make out the words,” Ingvild Leren Stensrud, 17, who was shot in the leg and shoulder, [...]
Mexican novelist, essayist Carlos Fuentes wrote with a social conscience
Author Carlos Fuentes, who played a dominant role in Latin America’s novel-writing boom by delving into the failed ideals of the Mexican revolution, died Tuesday in a Mexico City hospital. He was 83. Fuentes died at the Angeles del Pedregal hospital where he was taken after his doctor, Arturo Ballesteros, found him in shock in [...]
Social issues take centre-stage after Obama’s gay marriage declaration
Will it be Greece or gay marriage? As the American presidential election campaign enters the serious phase, social issues seem to have taken a front seat in the debate over who best can lead the country into an almost certainly tumultuous future. Less than 24 hours after Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at Barnard [...]
Ottawa has second chance to save millions of lives
Canadians want to take concrete action on behalf of those in developing countries who are needlessly suffering from fully treatable ailments. They want to help millions of people worldwide gain access to live-saving, affordable medicine. Our politicians have this very opportunity in the form of Bill C-398, currently making its way through Parliament. The bill [...]
Ouster of China’s security chief points to battle between reformists, hardliners
First came the purge of Bo Xilai, a rising star in the Communist Party who fell into disgrace just before he was expected to join the inner circle of power in China. Now a sitting member of that omnipotent club – the Standing Committee of the Politburo – has reportedly been stripped of his main [...]
At least 9 killed in Nepal plane crash
A plane carrying 21 people crashed Monday while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in Nepal’s northern Himalayas, killing at least nine, authorities said. Eight survivors in critical condition were flown by helicopter to a hospital. The plane hit a mountain while it was turning around to land at Jomsom Airport, said Laxmi Raj [...]
