DUSHANBE, December 6, Asia-Plus  -- On December 4, IFC, the World Bank, and the Tajik State Committee for Investments and Management of State-owned Property, held a joint presentation and discussions with key decision makers of the recently released World Bank Group Doing Business 2008 report. The report, updated annually, ranks 178 economies on the ease of doing business based on 10 indicators of business regulation. Asia-Plus has learned from Ms. Dilya Zoirova, communications analyst, World Bank Tajikistan Country Office, 

Tajikistan ranks 153 in the overall global standing on the ease of doing business in this year’s report. It had reforms in one of the 10 areas studied by the report—starting a business became easier due to recent business licensing reforms. Tajikistan ranks 161 in starting a business, up 10 places from the previous year.

Press release issued by the World Bank said that according to the report’s lead author Simeon Djankov, results show that as governments ease regulations for doing business, more entrepreneurs go into business. This has been especially evident in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  

There is however, room for improvement. Compared to other economies in the region, Tajikistan continues to rank low on most of the Doing Business indicators. Tajikistan’s ranking slipped in several categories this year, including dealing with construction licenses, getting credit,  registering property, paying taxes, protecting investors, and trading across borders. 

According to Andrea Dall’Olio, IFC Project Manager for the Tajikistan Business Enabling Environment Project, several factors contributed to this lower ranking. They include poor performance on some indicators such as tax administration, the faster pace of regulatory reform in other countries, and the addition of three new countries to the Doing Business 2008 report list.

“Several key issues continue to hinder progress for small and medium enterprises.  For example, Tajikistan has no credit bureaus, which makes lending risky. Also, conditions for cross-border trade and the legislation that protects investors are in serious need of improvement,” said Dall’Olio.  

            In the meantime, Nematjon Buriyev, Senior Advisor to the President of Tajikistan for Economic Policy, said that the Tajik government was taking and would  continue to take steps towards creation of favorable business environment in Tajikistan.  Over the last few years, some improvements have been made in the legislation which made it easier to do business in Tajikistan, he said.  “We realize that these measures might not be sufficient and therefore, the government plans to coordinate efforts of all state authorities to remove barriers on the way of private sector development in the country”, - he added.

Participants also discussed the Tajikistan Private Sector Development Strategy , which was developed jointly by the Tajikistan government and the World Bank.  According to this document, despite Tajikistan''s significant economic growth in recent years and its progress in various areas of economic reform, private sector investments still account for only about 50 percent of GDP compared to 65 percent in Kyrgyz Republic, 65 percent in Kazakhstan, and 70 percent in Armenia. 

The Doing Business project is based on the efforts of more than 5,000 local experts – business consultants, lawyers, accountants, government officials, and leading academics around the world, who provided methodological support and review.