DUSHANBE, September 10, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times report ranks Tajikistan among the to ten reformer countries.

“Five reforms were carried out in Tajikistan from June 2008 through May 2009,” Ms. Svetlana Bagaudinova, a senior private sector development specialist, World Bank Groups Doing Business Project, told reporters today.

The World Bank Group presented the Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times report today.  A video conference with participation of the representatives of the Doing Business Project staying in Washington, appropriate institutions and media was held and Tajik journalists participating in the video briefing might know about Tajikistan’s ranking among other economies according to the assessment of World Bank ease of doing business as well as discuss the report’s conclusions and findings.

According to Ms. Bagaudinova, Tajikistan is ranked 152nd among 183 economies in this report, improving several places compared to 2009.  The Doing Business 2009 report, which covered the period June 2007 through May 2008, ranked Tajikistan 164th among 181 economies, she said.  

To improve its rating in the future as well, the Tajik government ought to pay attention to international trade, continue reforms to improve systems of construction permits and “One-stop-shop” (OSS), Bagaudinova added.

Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time.

A set of regulations affecting 10 stages of a business’s life are measured: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business. Data in Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times are current as of June 1, 2009.  The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why.

The Doing Business methodology has limitations. Other areas important to business such as an economy’s proximity to large markets, the quality of its infrastructure services (other than those related to trading across borders), the security of property from theft and looting, the transparency of government procurement, macroeconomic conditions or the underlying strength of institutions, are not studied directly by Doing Business.  To make the data comparable across economies, the indicators refer to a specific type of business, generally a local limited liability company operating in the largest business city. Because standard assumptions are used in the data collection, comparisons and benchmarks are valid across economies. The data not only highlight the extent of obstacles to doing business; they also help identify the source of those obstacles, supporting policymakers in designing reform.

The data set covers 183 economies: 46 in Sub-Saharan Africa, 32 in Latin America and The Caribbean, 27 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 24 in East Asia and Pacific, 19 in the Middle East and North Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 27 OECD high-income economies as benchmarks.

According to the report, Tajikistan amended its insolvency law, aiming to reduce statutory time limits and the costs of proceedings.  Changes were introduced that simplified the construction permit process, reducing procedures and time.  A new law on credit histories improves access to credit information by creating a private credit bureau. Investor protections were strengthened with amendments to the joint stock company law, increasing disclosure requirements for transactions involving conflicts of interest, allowing for greater director liability, and giving shareholders the chance to request that harmful related-party transactions be rescinded. The state duty for property transfer has quadrupled, raising the cost of registering property by 2.8 percent of a property’s value. Business start-up was eased by reducing the minimum capital requirement and shortening the time to obtain a tax identification number.